The Potlatch Is a Redistribution Ceremony Practiced Among Native American

question 61

Essay

The potlatch is a redistribution ceremony practiced among Native American groups such as the Kwakiutl people of the Pacific Northwest. The potlatch serves both a practical and ceremonial function in that it helps redistribute resources for the benefit of the group and it establishes social status and prestige via one's capacity for generosity. As a gift-giving practice, the potlatch is an important ceremony for some ranked societies. Do similar types of gift-giving practices occur in your own society? What are two examples of ceremonies in your own society in which gift giving takes place? What is the function of gift giving in these two examples and how does the act of gift giving benefit the giver, the receiver, and the social group more generally? What happens if an individual does not give a gift in the two examples you highlight? What influences from within and outside of your society may be changing the way in which gift-giving practices are occurring in the ceremonies you mention? Do you think gift giving will remain a practice within these types of ceremonies in the future?

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