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Potlatch : Strict Law Bids Us Dance

Accession number: 
1975.0051
Production Years: 
1975

Languages:

Film Properties: 
Length (minutes): 
53
Holding Institutions: 

University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta: 16mm, VHS.
"Presents the history of the conflict between the Canadian government and the Kwakiutl Indians of the Northwest Pacific over the ritual of the Potlatch. Archival photographs and films, wax roll sound recordings, police reports, the original potlatch files, and correspondence of agents form the basis of the reconstruction of period events, while the film centres on a Potlatch given today by the Cranmer family of Alert Bay."

Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, British Columbia: 16mm.
"Using archival photographs, film found in collections around the world, rare wax-roll sound recordings, police reports and original potlatch files, this documentary examines the history of the Potlatch, a ceremonial giving away of surplus wealth practiced by the Kwakiutl Indians of the Northwest Pacific, and the Canadian Government's attempts to outlaw it. The film centres on a present day Potlatch given by the Cranmer family of Alert Bay, the same family whose 1921 Potlatch was raided, resulting in arrests and a mass trial plus the confiscation of an enormous and valuable collection of dancing masks and costumes."