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On 25 December 1921, a Potlatch ceremony was held in the Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw village of ‘Mimkwamlis (also spelled Memkumlis, and also known as Village Island). The Potlatch ceremony was illegal at the time. Officers of the federal government’s Department of Indian Affairs (see Federal Departments of Indigenous and Northern Affairs), as well as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and, according to some sources, the British Columbia provincial police learned of this Potlatch. They arrested 45 people for participating in the Potlatch. Approximately half of the people were sent to prison for periods ranging from two to three months. Hundreds of precious Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw ceremonial objects were confiscated. Some of these items were sold to collectors and wound up in museums without the consent of the Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw people. The arrests related to the ‘Mimkwamlis Potlatch of 1921 were an example of police and government abuse of Indigenous Peoples. It is a further example of the attempted cultural genocide of Indigenous Peoples in Canada (see Genocide and Indigenous Peoples in Canada).
Potlatch
The Potlatch is an important ceremony for some Indigenous Peoples from the Northwest Coast of British Columbia (see Northwest Coast Indigenous Peoples in Canada). It is also practised in parts of the interior western subarctic. As a ceremony, the Potlatch is vital to governance structures, cultures and spiritual traditions of diverse Indigenous Peoples. The Potlatch includes redistribution of wealth. Also, it involves the provision of status and rank upon individuals, kin groups and Clans. Additionally, the Potlatch provides claims to names, powers and rights. These claims are in relation to hunting and fishing territories.
Potlatch Ban
The Government of Canada banned the Potlatch from 1885 to 1951. The rationale was that the ban would aid in assimilation. Banning the cultural practice was considered essential to accelerate the assimilation of Indigenous Peoples. The government wished to assimilate them into what was then considered the socio-cultural mainstream of white, European-Canadian society. The Potlatch ban was a punitive reaction to Indigenous cultures, societies, politics and traditions. The Kwak’wala-speaking peoples (see Kwakwaka’wakw) were some of the most ardent defenders of the Potlatch.
‘Mimkwamlis Potlatch of 1921
Participating in a Potlatch was a criminal offense that could carry a six-month sentence. However, application of the law was mixed. The initial wording of the ban was considered vague. Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw people continued the Potlatch despite the ban. This eventually led to rewording of the law. It became extremely strict. Indigenous people who exchanged gifts or dined together at Christmas could be accused of participating in the Potlatch.
In spite of the ban and the revised law, ‘Namgis First Nation Chief Dan Cranmer held a large Potlatch that lasted several days, beginning on 25 December 1921. There are several explanations for the choice of date and location. One possible reason was that it would avoid being seen by the local Indian agents, who would likely be with their families celebrating Christmas. It is also important that the Potlatch took place close to the village of Cranmer’s wife’s family. Cranmer had separated from his wife and was expected to return the dowry, among other administrative tasks. Cranmer’s son, Hereditary Chief Bill Cranmer, suspects that his father also wanted to demonstrate the similarities between a traditional Potlatch and the various traditions associated with Christmas. These similarities include the exchanging of gifts, dining together and other related festivities. It was, by all accounts, the largest recorded Potlatch on the coast of British Columbia. This Potlatch was a multi-day event that included exchanging gifts, settling financial matters and dancing. At the time, this Potlatch was viewed by the government as a crime and an open act of rebellion.
Indian agent William Halliday heard about the Potlatch and decided to intervene. Halliday and Sgt. Donald Angerman, as well as additional police officers, arrested 45 participants after the Potlatch. These arrests took place in early 1922. Despite the common use of the phrase “‘Mimkwamlis Raid of 1921,” no arrests were made during the four to five days of the Potlatch. Police held those they arrested at a local school for several days before being loaded onto trucks and driven to Oakalla Prison in Burnaby, British Columbia. Oakalla Prison was a considerable distance from their homes on the Northwest Coast. The trials were concluded in April 1922. They were charged with a variety of crimes, including dancing and receiving gifts. Of those arrested, approximately half of the people were given two and three month prison sentences.
The other half of those arrested, about another 20 people, were given the option to avoid jail time if they agreed to never again participate in the Potlatch. They would also have to relinquish ceremonial objects. It isn’t clear exactly how many items were turned over to the police. However, current information indicates government agents confiscated approximately 600 items.
Confiscated items were initially stored at the Anglican Church Parish Hall of Alert Bay. For a while, they were put on display there. Viewers were charged admission to see the items and many were photographed. Halliday also arranged to sell 33 items to collector George Heye of New York City. Halliday argued he raised the funds for the Indigenous people for whom he was responsible. His superiors later reprimanded him for his actions, describing them as unwarranted. Other items made their way to museums in the United Kingdom, United States and elsewhere in Canada. In the process, some items were kept by various police officers, museum and government officials who handled the collection along the way.
After the mass arrests and confiscation of cultural objects, the ‘Namgis First Nation was thought to have stopped practicing Potlatches. However, other, more remote Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw communities continued the practice in secret.
Restitution
The Potlatch ban was lifted through a revision to the Indian Act in 1951. After that, Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw people made efforts to convince the various museums and government agencies to return the confiscated items. The process began in the 1950s and 1960s. However, it was conditional on the construction of a new museum to house the objects. The U'mista Cultural Society was created to do so. The process to seek out and secure the return of the precious Potlatch ceremonial objects continued well into the 21st century. Items have been returned from the National Museum of Man (today the Canadian Museum of History), the Royal Ontario Museum, the National Museum of the American Indian (a Smithsonian Institution) and the British Museum. The U'mista Cultural Centre in Alert Bay, British Columbia, now houses The Potlatch Collection. However, there are still an undetermined number of missing objects. The U'mista Cultural Society continues its search for the remaining objects.
