The Natives of the Pacific Northwest
An old adage says that "the best way to learn is to teach" and that is why I write the following post.
As Canadians we should be proud of and celebrate our history. A sad fact, however, is that many of us wouldn't know the first thing about Canadian history. Recently I took out a book from the library entitled "Canadian History for Dummies," and while I do not necessarily consider myself a dummy when it comes to academics, I'm not far from it when it comes to what we used to call "social studies" in high school.
This is not for a lack of trying, or because I got poor grades in my socials classes. I actually did quite well. I think the problem (back then) was that I was learning in order to get good grades, rather than learning for the sake of learning. In taking this book out from my local libray, I am trying to re-learn what I didn't retain in high school, but what is very important to the Canada and those who call it home, like myself. The book (a fat one that I have barely put a dent into) began, obviously, by talking about the first inhabitants of what would later become Canada: the First Nations.
I was particularly interested in the natives of the Pacific Northwest because that is where I was born, where I live and where I hope to reside for the better portion of my life. But it is not only for this reason that I was captivated. The first nations of the Pacific Northwest were unique, unlike any of their first nations counterparts throughout the rest of what we now call Canada.
First off they spoke a variety of different languages that were unrelated to the other. The author says to "imagine having Chinese spoken on one island, Portuguese on the next, and Swahili on the coast" and you'll know how it was like in this region.
Secondly, the natives of this region were extremely wealthy. And from this wealth came a sense of ownership and entitlement. In the Pacific Northwest all land was accounted for and even the rights to fish/hunt in certain areas were owned. This made wealth, money, ownership, bartering and business a huge part of the Pacific Northwest first nations culture. Art was also a huge part of their culture and to this date the Pacific Northwest is world renowned for its jaw-dropping first nations art that is not comparable to that from anywhere else in the world. But what intrigues me the most of their culture is the idea of "conspicuous generosity".
To the people of the Pacific Northwest the amount one gives was more important than the amount one had. Obviously, the more one had the more they could give, but the mindset is what counts. As the author notes, "lavish gift-giving" would "increase one's status" and therefore at ceremonial potlatches this lavish gift-giving took place. Boasting how much one has is an act of vanity and pride, and the opposite would seemingly be more humble, but I wonder if back then "conspicuous generosity" was just today's "conspicuous consumption". The notion is a noble one nonetheless and is something we could all learn from. I bet there is more satisfaction in it than the consumption the majority of us engage in. I'm only about thirty (big) pages into this book but it's extremely interesting, despite the author's feeble attempt at throwing humour into history. I'm looking forward to learning more --- not so much to the jokes.
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