According to Barbara Waterbury (1987), the Tlingit’s, a Pacific Northwest Coast tribe, celebrate status changes by hosting a social event called a potlatch. Potlatch is a celebration with feasting, costumed dancing, masks, speeches, singing, and tales. Status changes are births, marriages, celebrations of a new totem pole, tribe position changes, and memorials. Potlatch can take a year to plan and lasts several weeks. Each person invited to the potlatch receives a gift or gifts. Dried fish, salt, sugar, flour, fish oil, baskets, and canoes are examples of gifts given at potlatch. They believe the more gifts given will produce more wealth for the host and reciprocated invites to subsequent
