Pacific Northwest Traditions

The traditions of the Tlingit, Haida, Kwakwaka’wakw and neighbours, of Raven, crests and the potlatch.

ancient → · Northwest coast of North America · Indigenous & Animist

The peoples of the northwest coast tell of Raven stealing the light, of the Thunderbird and of ancestral crest beings carved on totem poles. The potlatch, a feast of giving that confirms rank and history, was banned in Canada from 1885 to 1951 and is now revived.

Key figures

• Raven, trickster and creator
• Thunderbird
• Ancestral crest beings

Texts

• Oral tradition
• Totem poles and crests

Beliefs

• Clans descend from crest beings
• Raven brought light to the world
• Salmon and cedar are sacred gifts

Rituals

• The potlatch
• Winter dances
• First Salmon ceremonies

Grew from

• Indigenous American Traditions

Connections in the atlas

• Dzunukwa
• Franz Boas
• Thunderbird and Whale
• Thunderbird
• The hidden sun
• The Persona
• Sacred meals (ritual)
• Into the Americas
• Thunderbird
• The cosmic hunt
• The Trickster
• Sasquatch / Bigfoot