Hi all,

Given the definition of today's word, I am thinking that potlatch islikely where the more commonly used potluck comes from.

Is that a correct assumption to make?

Thanks in advance for your answers.

Sounds like a WAG to me. It's more like the luck of what's in the pot.

Jum. Why not?

I doubt it. The first citation for potluck is the late 16th century (in an English work), and that for potlatch is the late 19th century (in a US government document). Potlatch is from a Native American trading language called Chinook Jargon.

I learned about the potlatch in 1959-ish, (all right, 1959 exactly) in a course dealing with (among other things) the Kwakiutl Indians, taught by one Clyde Kluckhohn, who should be authoritative. Is Chinook then the language-group of the Kwakiutl?

(The potlatch was described as an annual ritual during which the tribe gathered each year at the banks of the Columbia River to feast, and the wealthy of the tribe threw stuff into the river. Whoever threw away the most was declared the richest man in the tribe for that year. The word thus goes a step beyond Anu's posted definition -- not simply "lavish gifts," but extravagance and vanity to the point of folly, at least as seen through the filter of Western eyes.)

I suppose these customs appear wasteful to wastern eyes in the manner that 'food fights' appear wasteful to non wastern eyes. Not much of a difference in my eyes - yeast or waste. ":)"

The difference being that frome the Chinook waste at least the fishes could profit while foodfights are pure stupid.

Tell that to the rats and cockroaches.

Does anyone know if this word related to pahaska, as in "Pahaska Tepee" which was William "Buffalo Bill" Cody's place in Wyoming?

Is Chinook then the language-group of the Kwakiutl?

The Chinook Jargon is a pidgin-creole (link). As a result, it has heavy influences from more than one language family: Wakashan (link), Chinookan (link), and Indo-European (i.e., English). The word potlatch probably has its origin in the Nuu-chah-nulth (aka Nootka) p'achitl. (Many Native languages of the Pacific Northwest have complicated phonologies with ejective and glottalized consonants.

The term Kwakiutl (an innovation of Franz Boas) has mainly been replaced since the '80s by the ethnonym Kwakwaka'wakw. Their language, Kwak'wala (link) is in the Northern Wakashan language family.

Come on, they don't throw it at eachother and waste it for fun. That can make me real furious.

Does anyone know if this word related to pahaska, as in "Pahaska Tepee" which was William "Buffalo Bill" Cody's place in Wyoming?

I take it you are referring to:
[From Chinook Jargon, from Nootka patshatl (to give, gift).]

From all accounts I've come across, Pahashka means 'Long Hair'

What I learned about this in Alaska is that the Potlatch was more about the redistribution and sharing of wealth. Our Tlingit guide told us that those invited to a potlatch we expected to reciprocate in the next 3-5 years. I has missed this string earlier today when I put my other post up. a potlatch would be marked by a ring on the family's totem pole. the more rings the wealthier the family. You can check my photos on photobucket.com and search kahrnh to view the albums.