Potlatches of the Pacific Coast
Among all Pacific Coast tribes (including the Tsimshian-related Kitasoo and XaisXais people of Klemtu, south of Green Inlet), the feasting and gift-giving ceremony of the potlatch has been an enduring cultural ritual. Today, potlatches are practiced as a reminder of traditional ways of life, but in centuries past, they were a powerful symbol of the complex social order that evolved among the First Nations of the Northwest coast.

Status Symbol: The word "potlatch" is thought to be derived from the Nootka word "pachitle," meaning "to give." It is a celebratory occasion in which a family invites guests to witness the host's status. In the past, the chief of one lineage or tribe would customarily invite outside dignitaries for feasting, dancing and gift giving.

Significant changes in social status - the coming of age of a child, a marriage, a transfer of hereditary title -could signal the need for public affirmation. The greater the host's prestige, the greater the material wealth he distributed. Gift worth corresponded to the guest's social ranking and often included:
• Canoes
• Slaves
• Elaborate masks, murals and dishes
• Eulachon oil

The Rule of Reciprocity: Some chiefs carried gift-giving to extremes, impoverishing themselves and even destroying their own property as a further display of wealth and prestige. But their apparent recklessness was founded on another aspect of the potlatch culture: high-ranking guests were expected to return the favours bestowed upon them. At the next potlatch, a chief could count on his wealth being returned and perhaps even increased.

Clans and Crests
In sharp contrast to the harsh conditions that many Canadian aboriginal people faced, the First Nations tribes of the British Columbia Northwest coast enjoyed the benefits of mild weather and plentiful resources. Their relative wealth and security allowed them to remain in permanent settlements, which led to a highly developed social organization and elaborate art forms based on ancestral lineage.

In the community of Klemtu, on Swindle Island south of the Green River, the people of the Kitasoo/Xaisxais culture carry on the tradition of tracing family history through four clans and their corresponding crests. These include:
• Gaanhaanda (Raven)
• Gispudwada (Killer Whale)
• Laxgeek (Eagle)
• Laxgibu (Wolf)

The crests are representations of animal beings believed to be the founders of lineages that gave families special privileges (such as specific sites for fishing, shellfish gathering, woodcutting and bark collecting), or special powers (such as the right to perform certain dances, use certain names or wear particular ceremonial masks).

Ancestral Art: Ancestral crests form the basis for much of the Northwest Coast's distinctive aboriginal art, often employing the "multi-perspective" technique to depict an animal in full face, in profile, from the back, from above and below and even from the inside. Crests were displayed in countless mediums, from totem poles to furniture, facades and ceremonial clothing. An abundance of red and yellow cedar for carving led to an intricate and highly sophisticated use of wood. Durable paints were made with pigments ground in stone mortars and mixed with salmon eggs to create a heavy texture and a slight gloss.

Masks and Mythology: Elaborately carved masks were used to perpetuate the stories of ancestral characters. Some masks, fitted with a clever system of strings and moving parts, could transform human characters into bird, animal and abstract figures. Masks played an important role in ceremonial dances and theatrical performances.