The Yearly Christmas Potlatch

A potlatch is a Native-American term for a ceremony in which a family hosts guests in their family's house and holds a feast for their guests. The main purpose of the potlatch is the re-distribution and reciprocity of wealth.

Within it, hierarchical relations within and between clans, villages, and nations, are observed and reinforced through the distribution or sometimes destruction of wealth, dance performances, and other ceremonies. The status of any given family is raised not by who has the most resources, but by who distributes the most resources. The hosts demonstrate their wealth and prominence through giving away goods.

To give a potlatch enhanced one’s reputation and validated social rank, the rank and requisite potlatch being proportional, both for the host and for the recipients by the gifts exchanged. Prestige increased with the lavishness of the potlatch, the value of the goods given away in it.
Does this ring a bell? Yes, it resembles so many Christmas Eve dinners, where the hosts, underprivileged as they may be, purchase exceptionally pricey goods to show off. They may well have to live on mac’n cheese for the whole month of January, but then who dares not to serve the finest seafood, ham and other delicatessen to their in-laws? After dinner comes the rush towards the parcels wrapped up in colorful gift paper. When it is an all-against-all match, this gives rise to a feeding frenzy of five minutes. You end up ignoring who gave you what and how people felt about the presents you gave them. Fortunately, invisible friends are putting an end to such fool spending, storing and recycling of gifts. Let alone the piling up of plastic and paper in (or by) the garbage bin the next morning.

As opposed to the ceremony of the Christmas potlatch, I would like to praise the potlucks. A potluck is a gathering of people where each person is expected to bring a dish of food to be shared among the group. Potluck dinners are often organized by religious or community groups, since they simplify the meal planning and distribute the costs among the participants. I believe a potluck facilitates communication by giving an easy starter for conversation on such a familiar topic as how good the food tastes.

Personally I prefer the gifts one buys just because. They show true friendship, like “You’re in my top of mind and I bought you this present which I am sure you will love”. Can you assert this from your personal Father Christmas, Three Wise Men or Santa Claus? This time of the year, I am crossing fingers!

TERESA MARTIN