John Martin Blankenburg
Sitka Dancers at Potlatch in Klukwan, Alaska, 1900
Printing-out-paper print
6 x 8 inches; paper mount 8 1/2 x 11 1/2 inches
With photographer's credit in negative.
With photographer's credit in negative.
From the Haines Sheldon Museum: 'The word “potlatch” means “to give” from the Chinook jargon on the Columbian River. For many Northwest Coast Native peoples, including the Tlingit people, potlatches...
From the Haines Sheldon Museum:
"The word “potlatch” means “to give” from the Chinook jargon on the Columbian River. For many Northwest Coast Native peoples, including the Tlingit people, potlatches (ku.éex’) were an immensely important occasion featuring speeches, dancing, singing, feasting, and the lavish distribution of property. They were given by high-ranking members of a village to celebrate publicaly an event of great importance such as a house dedication, the raising of a totem pole, honoring the deceased, or even to regain status following a dishonor or simply to raise the social rank of the host. A potlatch might last for weeks and be the pinnacle of a host’s life as well as leave him destitute–but if there followed a resultant raise in prestige for himself and his clan it was considered well worth the price and effort."
From the estate of Ron Lerch.
"The word “potlatch” means “to give” from the Chinook jargon on the Columbian River. For many Northwest Coast Native peoples, including the Tlingit people, potlatches (ku.éex’) were an immensely important occasion featuring speeches, dancing, singing, feasting, and the lavish distribution of property. They were given by high-ranking members of a village to celebrate publicaly an event of great importance such as a house dedication, the raising of a totem pole, honoring the deceased, or even to regain status following a dishonor or simply to raise the social rank of the host. A potlatch might last for weeks and be the pinnacle of a host’s life as well as leave him destitute–but if there followed a resultant raise in prestige for himself and his clan it was considered well worth the price and effort."
From the estate of Ron Lerch.