Event · Canada (Northwest Coast)
The Potlatch Ban
1884 – 1951
Canadian law prohibiting the potlatch and related ceremonies of First Nations peoples.
An 1884 amendment to Canada's Indian Act outlawed the potlatch, a central ceremonial and governing institution involving feasting, dance, song, masks, and the distribution of goods. In 1921 a Kwakwaka'wakw potlatch led to arrests, and regalia and masks were confiscated and later placed in museums and private collections.
The ban was dropped in a 1951 revision of the Act. Communities have since campaigned successfully for the return of many confiscated objects.