Native American Foods: Spiritual and Social Connections: Potlatch

Appears in
Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America

By Andrew F. Smith

Published 2004

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One of the most unusual of Native American feasts was the Kwakiutl potlatch, in which the host family not only fed everyone with ample high-quality food, but also distributed all its accumulated wealth among the guests. In this economic show of power, the quantity and quality of the prepared foods earned commensurate community status.