Potlatch Mask.

Alert Bay elder and children in Potlatch regalia

From 1885 to 1951, Potlatch, both a ceremony and a complete way of life for the Native People of Canada’s northwest coast, was prohibited by the federal government. The ban threatened a tradition of cultural gathering in which dance, song, rituals and the wearing of traditional regalia were used as a means of remembrance, of gift-giving and for other social functions. A revival to preserve Potlatch emerged after the ban was lifted, and this Historians Recount episode tells of how it was preserved and how the retrieval of its ceremonial artifacts such as symbolic masks, headdresses, costumes and totem poles was brought about.