Identity, History and the Athabaskan Potlatch
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IDENTITY, HISTORY AND THE NORTHERN ATHABASKAN PO'rLATCH rrr ~ r A thesis Submitted to the Sctlool of Graduate Studies In partial fulfi I ment of the req u i remen ts for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy McMaster University i c! DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (1990) McMASTER UNIVERSITY (Anthropology) Hamilton, ontario TITLE: Identity, History and the Athabaskan Potlatch AUTHOR: William E.Simeone, B.A. (University of Alaska) M.A. (McMaster University) SUPERVISOR: Professor Harvey Feit NUMBER OF PAGES: vi, 274 ii ABSTRACT A basic theme underlying Athabaskan culture and the potlatch is the duality of competition and cooperation. In the literature on both the Northwest Coast and Athabaskan potlatch this duality is most often considered in one of two ways: as a cultural phenomenon which is functional and ahistorical in nature, or as a product of Native and White contact. In this study I take a less radical view. within Athabaskan culture and the potlatch cooperation and competition exist in a historically reticulate duality which provides the internal dynamic in Northern Athabaskan culture and continues to motivate attempts to redefine the culture and the potlatch. In the context of political and economic domination, however, the duality becomes an opposition in which competition is submerged and reshaped into a symbol for the White man, while cooperation becomes a symbol for unity and Indianness. The resulting ideology, or "Indian way," becomes a critique of the current situation and a vision of things as they should be. The potlatch is the major arena in which this vision derived from the past is reproduced. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Research for this dissertation would have been impossible without financial help from the School of Graduate Studies, McMaster University. Research at the Episcopal Church Archives was supported by a grant from the Alaska Historical Commission. The Anchorage Museum of History and Art provided office space. I wish to thank my academic advisers, Drs. David Damas, and Richard Preston for their constant support, encouragement, insights, and their skill as editors. I especially want to thank by supervisor, Dr. Harvey Feit for his support throughout my graduate career. A special thanks also goes to Dr. Richard Slobodin who went beyond the call of duty and provided invaluable editorial comments and Jim vanstone for his encouragement and friendship over these many years. I am also indebted to Dr. Tom Dunk and Eudene Luther for our long talks, and to Margy Rodman for asking the fundamental question; why don't you write about how Alaska Native villages continue to survive as viable communities? In Alaska I am grateful to all the people of Tanacross who allowed me to do research. Especially, I am indebted to my 'second parents' Martha and Oscar Isaac who saw me through a very difficult time, and to my brothers and sisters: Rose, Edward, Jerry, Marion, Cora, Lee and Sharon. Thanks also go to my good friends Julius and Rica Paul, Brittan and Dolly Jonathan, Gaither and Bee Paul, Bob Jonathan, and especially Larry who worked and worried with me through the whole process of field work. Mr. Paul Milanowski provided linguistic information for which I am grateful. I also want to thank Walter and Connie VanHorn for their support. My largest debt of gratitude goes to my wonderful parents, Jane and Bill, for their editorial commen-ts and continual support in every way. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page # Introduction. 1 Chapter One THE SETTING .................................... 25 Chapter Two MISSIONARIES, TRADERS and GOVERNMENT MEN ON THE UPPER TANANA RIVER ...................... 44 Chapter Three THE NATIVE RESPONSE: THE INTEGRATION OF TRADE GOODS INTO THE POTLATCH ............. " .......... 8 6 Chapter Four THE TRADITION BEARERS ......................... 112 Chapter Five IMAGES OF NATIVES AND WHITES ........ , ......... 144 Chapter Six THE UPPER TANANA RIVER POTLATCH - PART I Funerals and preparations ..................... 177 Chapter Seven THE UPPER TANANA RIVER POTLATCH - PART II Feasting, Singing, Dancing, Oratory and the Distribution of Gifts ........................ 210 Chapter Eight CONCLUSIONS: CONTINUITY and CHANGE........... 2 S,5 Bibl iography .......................................... " 266 v LIST OF FIGURES Page # Figure 1.1 Map of the upper Tanana Region. 28 Figure 1.2 Population figures for Tanacross. 31 Figure 1.3 Record of moose and caribou killed over twelve month period. 35 Figure 2.1 Map of 19th century Trading stations 52 and Gold Camps. Figure 2.2 Data on historic potlatches in the upper 73 Tanana and upper Copper River area, 1918-1930. Figure 5.1 Relationships between nine of the twelve 161 families in Tanacross. Figure 7.1 Gifts provided by a potlatch host 246 and donated by friends and relatives. Figure 7.2 List of gifts distributed. 249 vi INTRODUCTION Anthropologists and laymen alike have been consistently fascinated by the splendid ceremonial distribution of gifts known as the potlatch. For the most part the literature on the potlatch has concentrated on those ceremonies held by Native people living along the Nort.hwest Coast of North America: the Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian and especially the Kwakiutl. Relatively less attention had been paid to similar ceremonies practiced by Northern Athabaskan people living in the interior of Alaska and eastern Yukon Territory. This study concerns the potlatch as practiced by the Tanacross people, a group of Athabaskan speaking people living in the upper Tanana River valley of east central Alaska. A basic theme underlying the potlatch and Tanacross culture is the duality of cooperation and competition. In the literature on both the Northwest Coast and Athabaskan potlatch less debate is focused on the phenomena of cooperation, often taken for granted, than on the nature and source of competition. Their relationship is considered in 1 2 one of two ways: as a cultural phenomenon which is functional and ahistorical in nature, or as a product of Native and White contact. In this study I take a less radical view. My thesis is that within Athabaskan culture and the potlatch cooperation and competition exist in a complex historical relationship (cf. Kan 1986). On one level the duality reflects the struggle for power and prestige, and on the other, love and respect. In the context of political and economic domination, however, the duality becomes an opposition in which competition is submerged and reshaped into a symbol for the White man, while coopera'tion becomes a symbol for unity and Indianness. The resulting ideology, or "Indian way," becomes a critique of things as they are as well as a vision of things the way they should be. 1 The potlatch is the arena in which this vision, derived from the past, is reproduced. 1. Literature Review: History and the Potlatch Although basic differences do exist between Northern Athabaskan and Tlingit potlatches, on the one hand, and the ceremony as practiced by the Kwakiutl, I have drawn on the more historically oriented Kwakiutl literature as it 1 This concept is derived from Scott (1985: 23). 3 pertains to my argument. In much of the historical literature the potlatch is viewed from basically two historical perspectives: either as maintaining a cultural continuity which is static, or as fundamentally altered through the course of cultural contact. Codere (1950), for example, argues that while the Kwakiutl potlatch was elaborated and expanded in response to a specific set of historical circumstances, the function of the ceremony remained unchanged. Through participation, initially in the fur trade, and later fishing, mining, and the lumber industry, the Kwakiutl obtained enormous amounts of manufactured items which they used to increase the size of the potlatch. At the same time, the Kwakiutl experienced a sharp decline in popUlation which caused competition over vacant hereditary titles. Finally, Canadian sanctions against Kwakiutl warfare forced the Kwakiutl to redirect their energies towards the "socio-economic contest'l (1950: VI) of the potlatch. These sanctions, combined with the increased competition over titles, led to an extraordinary increase in the frequency of potlatching. Despite these changes Codere reports the function of the Kwakiutl potlatch continued to be the ostentatious and dramatic distribution of property by the holder of a fixed, ranked and named social position, to 4 other position holders. The purpose is to validate a hereditary claim to the position and to live up to it by maintaining its relative glory and rank against the rivalrous claims of the others (1950: 63). Drucker and Heizer (1967) substantially agree with Codere's analysis. They believe the Kwakiutl potlatch maint:ained its function even though the ceremony underwent modifications in response to economic development and administrative sanctions (1967: 52). Echoing Codere, Drucker and Heizer point out that economic development not only incrE~ased the availabil i ty of commodities but made them available through labor that was both familiar and easy to the Kwakiutl (1967: 16). A major effect of this abundance was to widen participation in the potlatch both in terms of the number who gave potlatches and guests who attended. In turn the system of distribution, which had been predicated on rank, was altered as lesser ranking chiefs began potlatching. This was not entirely due to economic developments, however, but was also the result of circumventing the anti-potlatch law passed by the Canadian government. The host, instead of presenting the gifts in order of