FREE ESSAY ON POTLATCH - THE SHARING AND SHAMING

POTLATCH - THE SHARING AND SHAMING

Anth 166
Potlatch- The Sharing and Shaming
A potlatch is defined by Barbara Miller as 
"A grand feast in which guests are
invited to eat and to receive gifts 
from the hosts."
This is shown in the last film we saw, Ongka's Big Moka. 
Ongka had been the receiving end at a potlatch in the past, and it was his turn to
provide the feast. However, 
"Later, when it is the guest's turn to hold a potlatch, they will try to give away as
much as - or more than - their host did, 
thus shaming him into giving the next potlatch."
We see this in the way Ongka feels compelled to provide almost 200 more pigs than his
hosts did when he was their guest.
Ongka's people did not have any kind of wealth (other than animals). Whatever type of
class structure there might be came from the amount a person would give at their
potlatch. 
The functional theory Miller refers to 
"looks at a given practice or belief in terms of its contribution 
to the cultural continuity." 
The contribution to the cultural community. When a person gives a great amount at a
potlatch, because it is a contribution to the cultural community, that person gains a
certain stature.
Therefore, it is not really the generous nature of a person that leads him to provide
these things for his community, but rather, the stature that they can gain from this
donation.
This is not true of the Igbo people in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart. While the Igbo
people do engage in reciprocal gift giving, they are more apt to share with a guest the
kola nuts which contain, like coffee, a mild stimulant.
In the Igbo culture, wealth is more determined by the amount of wives and children that
he can support. This may be seen as true with Ongka too; since the wealth in that culture
is determined mainly by animals and the amount they can provide at a potlatch, these
things are similar to what is needed to support a family.
"Potlatching demonstrates how closely 
linked production, consumption,
and exchange are." 
Potlatching not only demonstrates these things, but also demonstrates how wealth and
stature are perceived and achieved in these cultures. It is a way to provide for others
as well, but more than that, a way to provide for onself and one's family. When one holds
a potlatch, one can expect the favor to be returned. For Ongka, he had to provide more
than the person who held the potlatch he went to, but he also knew that in the future, he
would be invited to one even larger.
Bibliography
barb miller