Potlatches are so important, that people spend a year or longer getting ready for them!

During the potlatch there are great feasts and many gifts are distributed. Many foods are eaten during the feasts that might seem strange to you. Why not try out a traditional potlatch recipe.

Sometimes a family worked all year to give away everything they had earned during a potlatch.

The types of gifts given changed when people came from other countries and traded new things with the Kwakwaka’wakw. See what kinds of gifts were given away at a potlatch in the old days and what is given away at a potlatch today.

When the Europeans came to B.C.,  they thought that Potlatches were bad and they tried to make the Kwakwaka’wakw stop holding them. It didn’t work though, and Potlatches are still held today!