Article
Potlatch Ban
From 1885 to 1951, the Indigenous ceremony known as the Potlatch was banned by the federal government of Canada. The government justified their decision to ban the Potlatch because they believed it was preventing the assimilation of Indigenous Peoples. Today, this ban is recognized as an aspect of cultural genocide (see Genocide and Indigenous Peoples in Canada). Though the Potlatch was illegal during this period of time, the ban was only ever sporadically enforced. This was in part a result of the vagueness of the wording of the law. The law was rewritten and prosecutions increased. In 1922, Indian agents, aided by police, arrested individuals who had participated in a Potlatch held in the community of ʼMimkwa̱mlis. They arrested 45 people. Ultimately, this resulted in imprisonment and the confiscation of hundreds of precious ceremonial objects.