Potlach

Perhaps at some point in your education or since you may have run across the word--and the meaning behind it. Potlach, for those have not encountered it before, is a ceremonial practice that originated with the indigenous peoples of the pacific northwest. Before I describe it, though, let me offer an explanation of why it is a subject of interest.

Among the many grave concerns we share as a nation and throughout the world is the divide between those with wealth and those without. I am not talking strictly about rich and poor as these words tend to carry with them pejorative contexts and over simplifications which distort our understanding. A poor man in the United States is wealthy in many parts of the world where people live on unimaginably little beyond what they can grow or forage --even in the midst of opulence on the part of some of their fellow beings.

Nor am I talking about mere wealth as measured solely in tangible assets, but wealth at an unimaginable scale and more importantly the power over vast numbers of other humans that great wealth confers. Such wealth both overtly and by less obvious means allows a select few to rule over entire nations, and some would suggest that despite national sovereignties those who hold such sway operate strictly in their own interests when it serves them to do so regardless of national interests. Laws, rules and regulations, even national charters and constitutions have little meaning and for practical purposes no enforceability. Not infrequently, those whose lives are diminished or made worthless by the indifferent power of wealth venerate those who are the cause of their grief.

The attainment of wealth--or at least on some level the attainment of agency over oneself and limited freedom from rule by others is the objective of most humans. Of course this is relative to where one begins by dint of birth. The attainment of a roof over one's head and sufficient food to live may be the end point for one man, while the acquisition of material goods, stature and social primacy may be the goal for others. But whatever the objective, we are motivated to attain, to gain and to hold onto what we have obtained by whatever means available to us.

In this context let's consider the custom of Potlach. In a few words, this ceremony embodies a mechanism for redistributing wealth within the social structure of a tribal society. It is based on two mechanisms that at first glance may seem astounding, giving away one's wealth in the form of gifts to others, and/or intentionally destroying possessions of value. Towards what end you might ask?

Well, in a strange way a very similar end to that practiced by those who accumulate wealth as a way to elevate their social status, validate their rank and establish their primacy over others. The more one gives away, the greater the value of the tangible things one destroys, the greater the esteem in which one is held. To be clear, no judgement is placed on the accumulation of wealth in whatever form, but wealth as a means to power is supplanted by the attainment of stature and standing through the distribution of that wealth and a casual dismissal of the power conferred by material possessions.

You see where I am going with this no doubt. By leveling the gap between those with means and those without, and by equating standing with the power to destroy the symbols of wealth and power--the entire society is lifted. Envy of another's possessions does not exist when those things are ephemera. This is neither socialism nor communism, but something entirely different. Although I am no anthropologist and certainly carry with me a cultural bias due to my limited understanding, this practice, like so many others we have observed in the indigenous culture is the living embodiment of the admonition of every world religion--to want for our fellow humans what we want for ourselves, to treat them as we would be treated. Or to put it simply our survival as a species is predicated on the survival of the whole and not just those with wealth and power.

A dear friend of mine described it this way. We are all in the same lifeboat. Some are bailing water out, some are bailing it in, and some are eyeing each other and wondering who would be good to eat. Which are you?