Potlatch As Pedagogy

de Sara Florence Davidson, Sara Davidson

"In 1884, the Canadian government enacted a ban on the Potlatch, the foundational ceremony of the Haida people. The tradition, which determined social structure, transmitted cultural knowledge, and redistributed wealth, was seen as a cultural impediment to the government's aim of assimilation. The tradition did not die, however; the knowledge of the ceremony was kept alive by the Elders through other events until the ban was lifted. In 1969, a potlatch was held. The occasion: the raising of a totem pole that Robert Davidson had carved, the first the community had seen in close to 80 years. From then on, the community publicly reclaimed the knowledge that had almost been lost from the Elders who remained to share it. Sara Florence Davidson, Robert's daughter, would become an educator. Over the course of her own education, she came to see how the traditions of the Haida practiced by her father--holistic, built on relationships, practical, and continuous--could be integrated into contemporary educational practices. From this realization came the roots for this book. Banned for 67 years by the Canadian government, the potlatch, the foundational ceremony of the Haida people, determined social structure, transmitted cultural knowledge, and redistributed wealth. When these public ceremonies were revived in 1969 by the Elders who collectively remembered the historical ways, the potlatch was embraced by a new generation, who reclaimed practices that had almost been lost forever. Sara Florence Davidson, an educator, saw how these traditions, learned from her father, renowned artist Robert Davidson, could be integrated into contemporary educational practices. In this book, father and daughter present a model for learning that is holistic, relational, practical, and continuous."--