Whiskey jack, the bird, and high muck

[Colin Bruce]

As a student of the BC public school system, I was taught about potlatching
as an aboriginal social/political/religious ceremony.  Potlatching was
portrayed as an alternate economic system.***  The injustice of past
anti-potlatching laws was clearly expounded and attention was drawn to the
Nuu-cha-nulth origin of the word.

*** In our modern globalised economy it would be interesting to think about
how learned, corporate potlatching might develop.






David Lewis <coyotez at OREGON.UOREGON.EDU>@LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG> on
11-07-2002 03:53:43

Please respond to David Lewis <coyotez at OREGON.UOREGON.EDU>

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Subject:  Re: Whiskey jack, the bird, and high muck


>From Dave R.
> A final association:  Though the word "potlatch" is fairly widely known
> still in NW English, probably less so in Oregon and Washington than in BC
> and Alaska, it too has become ever less recognizably Jargon, if not
> less "Indian".

In Reply:
If a word comes into regular English usage, does it become less Indian?
Maybe, if the general public is not educated in the true histories of the
lands they live on. However in indian communities it is not less indian,
because we continue to pass on our histories to our children. This is an
interesting question and maybe a subject that deserves some action on the
part of this listserve, those people who are most interested in finding the
origins of Indian words and restoring CJ to a survivable status. Indeed, I
have found professors here at UO questioning my use of terms like potlatch,
giveaway, gifting, and the like. they do not see these words and ideas as
legitimate in academic writing.
David







      ____________________________________
      Colin Bruce
      Smartline Home Loans
      Phone 02 8226 3670 / 02 9877 0099
      Fax 02 9877 0952
      Email cbruce at smartline.com.au
      http://www.smartline.com.au
      ____________________________________