A potlatch was a ceremonial given by a chief and his group, as hosts, to guests composed of another chief or chiefs with their respective groups, at which the guests were given wealth goods as gifts (Drucker, 1967).

Kottak (1982) defines a potlatch as a festive event where, assisted by other members of their communities, sponsors gave away food, blankets, pieces of copper and other items. In return for this they got prestige. To give a potlatch enhanced a son's reputation and prestige increased with the lavishness of the potlatch and the value of the goods given away with it.

Bohannon (1966) offers another definition of the potlatch. The word potlatch is derived from the Chinook language and it means 'gift'. The potlatch is a ceremonial occasion on which one exchanges or gives gifts to one's rival, who is a man occupying a status closest to one's

In addition to the sociopolitical aspects of potlatching there are also environmental factors that need to be considered.

The spheres of exchange are widespread because they are cultural adaptive mechanisms. They help the population to adapt to their environment (Kottak, 1982). The Kwakiutl categories of wealth are different from those involved in other economies because of the fact that they live in such abundance. This means that subsistence items themselves do not really enter into the potlatching institutions (Bohannon, 1966).

Two hundred blankets went to repay the original loan at one hundred percent interest. Another two hundred went to repay the second loan, made when his first gifts were returned, also at one hundred percent interest. This left him with fifty blankets to give away.

In a potlatch a surplus is created for the express purpose of gaining prestige through a display of wealth and generous giving of gifts. Unlike the conspicuous consumption in our own society the emphasis is not so much on the hoarding of goods which would make them unavailable to others. Instead the emphasis is on giving away, or at least getting rid of, ones wealth. Thus potlatch serves as a leveling mechanism, preventing some individuals from accumulating too much wealth at the expense of other members of society (Haviland, 1989).

The boy, then, on this occasion had his original hundred blankets, his hundred blankets interest and the hundred blankets that had been given to him. He now gave these blankets out to friends in other tribes, who returned them in a shorter time and with less interest. This gave the boy a total of about 450 blankets. His father then decided that it was time to hold a potlatch. The boy took his 450 blankets and amidst vast ceremonial made his presentations.

Codere (1950) provides an example of how a 'blanket' potlatch works. This is a case in which a man wanted to set up his son in a potlatch position from which he himself was retiring. He arranged for several members of his tribe to give his son a hundred blankets. The son then took these blankets and gave them to other members of his own tribe, who paid a hundred percent interest for keeping the blankets for one year. These people also, then, at the time that they returned the hundred blankets gave him another hundred blankets which the boy would eventually have to return at the same one hundred percent interest rate.

Potlatching also prevented the development of permanent social

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