Family brings a feeling of strength when parents, grandparents, siblings, cousins, aunties, uncles come together for a common purpose. It reminds us that we are not alone in this world, that we are part of something bigger, a community of people who are invested in each other. That togetherness is comforting for a family during times of loss, struggle, and pain.

In many first nation communities, there is a formal gathering for this purpose. It is called a potlatch. A potlatch is used for various ceremonies, such as the coming of age for girls and boys, celebrations of life, naming ceremonies, the passing down of a leadership role, weddings, anniversaries, and wealth distribution. Potlatch means “to give”.

There is value among community for generosity, and the more someone gives, the more honorable they were.

In 1885, the Canadian government banned potlatches. Despite the potlatch ban, there are indications that we continued to meet in so-called underground potlatches. People continued meeting despite a law threatening a 2–6-month jail sentence for anyone attending a potlatch because it was so critical that the the community was strengthened, provided for, and encouraged by these gatherings, especially during the mass threat of colonial expansion. The ban, which lasted for 66 years, was finally removed in 1951. The prohibition was part of a policy aimed at forcing Indigenous assimilation to colonial ways. The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide categorizes the potlatch ban as cultural genocide.

Sadly, some Christian churches supported this racist and genocidal policy, believing that our people needed to be saved from our cultural traditions. Little did they know that their colonial worldview of imperialism, capitalism, and forced cultural assimilation were more drastically in contradiction to our Creator’s ways as described in the Bible than our relational worldview.

The counterfeit “christianity” that was influenced by colonial worldview originated with the Roman Government, and although protestants had begun to see elements of its deceptiveness, they were still very much entangled in its empire-building distortions. Our cultural traditions like the potlatch system were embedded in our principle of taking care of the whole community, ensuring that everyone had enough, so that there was no poverty and excessive wealth. This value is in perfect alignment with the principle of our Creator’s Kingdom of Love, as described in the Bible.