The Kwakiutl: Indians of British Columbia

by Ronald P. Rohner, Evelyn C. Bettauer

An excellent portrayal of the life and values of a Kwakiutl group! Gilford Island, home to a contemporary Kwakiutl community in British Columbia, is the setting of this case study. This village, representative of other Kwakiutl communities, is comprised of a fishing people who have retained much of their age-old social and cultural identity as an Indian population. The authors both describe the distinctive quality of Kwakiutl life as observed on Gilford Island and outline some of the major characteristics of the traditional Kwakiutl social system including the rank-class structure, potlatches, and the impressive winter ceremonial.

Genres: Anthropology, Ethnography, History, Nonfiction

111 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1970

Reviews

[J.M. Hushour · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slightly more depressing than you might want, this little book is the result of two years' worth of living among the Kwakiutl of Gilford Island (the village now called Gwayasdums) in the early 1960s. Rohner was an anthropologist studying native folks and Bettauer, his wife, was a schoolteacher in the village. This is much more an observational report on the daily lives of the Kwakiutl who, at that time, seemed to have largely eschewed traditional mores and older ways of life. Rohner's observations consist mostly on interactions between the small population, their drinking, intra-personal conflicts and their links with other native peoples in the bays. Traditional practices, such as the potlatch and winter dances, appear almost as an afterthought, but are interesting in their own right.

[Morgan Ashleigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty decent and unbiased case study as far as I know. Easy to understand. I wonder how different Kwakiutl life is in the present time, as opposed to 1970.

[Tom Schulte · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an anthropological case study of the Gilford Island Kwakiutl community in British Columbia. This village of a fishing people have/had totem poles, big houses, and potlatches. (The ritual property transfers of the potlatch did not stop property crime and one theft is recounted that led to mass murder and dismemberment of the corpses.) Featuring several B&W images, there is also a recounting of the impressive winter ceremonial, made so pageants featuring props and primitive special effects.

At the time of study in the 1960s, alcoholism and alcohol-fueled aberrant behavior worsened the difficulties of subsistence living "in the subsisting oriented web".

Most unique cultural expressions were in the past:

The Kwakiutl were no longer exceptional because of their economic activities, their religious practices and belief, their social or ceremonial life ... they live in a style very similar to the White fishermen and loggers...