Potlatch-The Traditions of a Historic Culture

Well, this weekend was, for lack of a better word, UNBELIEVABLE!!! I learned so much about the culture of these people that I have been living with this year. I learned about how they make different parts for their ritual Potlatch as well as a lot about the Potlatch itself. It was a very big learning experience for my roommate, who was allowed to participate in her first dance this year and had a lot of things to do to prepare for this event. 

Many of these fan-like things were hanging from the ceiling

Let me back up a minute. Potlatch is the biggest event of the year in the Yup'ik villages. It is where mostly children have their very first dance. I've mentioned Eskimo dancing in other blogs, but this one is the one where you become a part of the community; sort of like a rite of passage into becoming an adult. The typical age to have your first dance is around the age of 10. Of our staff of sixteen teachers, only three had participated before this year, and one of those is a native man, so he did it as a child. This year, another teacher joined this rare group. She has told me a lot about it and how mentally and physically exhausting it is not only from learning the moves for your specific dance, but also for all the preparation one has to do to be ready for this dance.

Boots made mostly of seal skin

Each dance represents something. The words and movements go together to tell a story. Unfortunately, many of the young people don't understand the words and many of the stories that the dances are telling have been forgotten. My coworker and I tried to figure out what the dances meant as we watched, but it was quite confusing to us. 

Fans, made of caribou fur and owl underarm patches. 

The Potlatch goes on for three nights. The first night is the longest. Everyone does their first dance as well as many dances added in for the community who has already danced. The second night is a little bit shorter because it is just the first dancers dancing. One of my students informed me that first dancers from other villages would come dance at our Potlatch on the second night. The third night is where anyone can dance. The new dancers are allowed to dance to any song they want, as opposed to the specific ones they danced the nights before.

Headdress, made from wolf fur and wedding dress embroidery

Night one started out with a speech from one of the elders. It was all in Yup'ik, so I was't exactly sure what he was saying, but I'm pretty sure it was something about the traditions and customs that go along with Potlatch. Then we had a prayer by the Priest from the Catholic Church. Then the dancing began. People wore their headdresses, Qaspaks, belts, boots, and had fans in their hands. Qaspaks are fancy shirts, the boots are traditional style, mostly made from seal skin, but occasionally cow. The belts are not like our belts in that they don't fasten in the front. I've been told that any time other than Potlatch you wear a belt to show that you have had a family member pass away recently. The headdresses are my favorite because of how unique and beautiful they are. The picture of one I have here belongs to one of my students. 

Handing out gifts to the people, better gifts go to elders 

Before a person is allowed to do their first dance on the first night, they must hand out gifts. These gifts include candy, soda, akutaq (Eskimo ice cream) dishes, paper towels, and things for elders like shovels, seal skins, and buckets. They have their family members and friends that have already danced help them pass out all of these things. The first night is the biggest amount of these items, so it takes the longest. Then they begin the dance by singing through it once without doing the movements. Once they have gone through the song one full time, they dance. The dances are beautiful and rhythmic. I think my favorite thing is how after you go through your dance one full time by yourself everyone else who has already had their first dance is allowed to join you. A massive crowd envelopes the dancers, their family members standing closest to them and friends fanning out around them. It is wonderful.

My roommate's first dance. People joined
her after she did it once through by herself

Something else I found very interesting is how many times they repeat a dance. The elders sit in the front rows. They watch very closely. If someone messes up during the dance, it is believed that an elder who has passed on is "being mischief" with them. If this happens, the present day elders will have them do the dance again until the passed on elders stop toying with them and allow the dancers to do it perfectly. I thought this was a very interesting concept.

This was called a stand up dance. No one used fans,
 instead they all had gloves on
 and the boys were standing as well instead of kneeling on padded floors.

On the second night, things were a little different. The dancers began by handing out all of the things they brought first at the same time. This made the night flow a little more smoothly because we weren't stopping every so often to get more things. They also had two dances called Stand Up Dances. In a normal dance, there is a pad on the floor in front of the women dancers that the men dancers will kneel on to dance from. The drummers are behind the female dancers. However, in the Stand Up Dances, there was no pad on the floor and the men dancers stood among the women dancers. Also, instead of folding around the padded floor, they had about four rows. No one had on their headdresses or had out their fans. They had on gloves, instead. It was so very interesting to watch. After they did two Stand Up Dances, the first dancers began to do their dances again. Everything else was pretty much the same as the night before. 

I loved Potlatch. It was a lot of fun and a very interesting experience. I look forward to watching it some more next year. I hope you understand a little more about the culture and these people. They have a very beautiful history. Their way of life that they have had for the past four thousand years is truly incredible.