Potlatch

Today I celebrate a sort of potlatch alone. Once one of my fellow library science students did a "Pathfinder" on the potlatch. That semester in 1974, each of us created four or five of them; this is how it went: We had to find every single reference to the subject that we chose and our paper was not the information we found, it was the bibliographic sources we found in the University library.

Potlatch is a Canadian word from Nootka. According to one definition it is the "ultimate manifestation of the principle that it is more blessed to give than to receive...Potlatches were part of the way of life of many of the Indians of the northern Pacific coast of North America. Traditional gifts included weapons, slaves, furs, and blankets. Some reports say that a particularly ostentatious host might burn the blankets that guests weren't able to take. The Canadian government banned potlatches in 1884, but they continued anyhow, becoming fully legal again in 1951.

So today I am in a give-away mode. I will never know the recipients; I will know however, that someone will stay a little warmer this winter because of my clean out and my give away. However, I will not burn down the place because I didn't give it all away. That will be the great and final potlatch, and we will know it is over "when the fat lady sings."