Culture

The longhouse

In a culture without writing, history was remembered and vital information was spread by specially designated witnesses. The community and visitors from all over the coast would gather in the longhouse for a potlatch, and the witnesses would be called to remember forever what took place there.

 Since the time before memory, the longhouse, also known as a bighouse or feasthouse, has been the heart of the Pacific Northwest's First Nations. Within its walls they celebrated marriages, marked births and deaths, bartered and exchanged gifts, inaugurated chiefs, and conducted the great potlatch -- where those who had much gained honour by giving to those who had less.


Thunderbird Bighouse

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