potlatches

Noun

potlatch (usually uncountable, plural potlatches)

1. (Canada, US, also, figuratively, usually) A ceremony amongst certain indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest in which gifts are bestowed upon guests and personal property is destroyed in a show of generosity and wealth.
   • First, the Indian himself is to be sought out; then the horse is to be tried; next the price is to be discussed, then the mode of payment, and finally the potlatch: each and all are matters of grave consideration and delay, during which the Indians make a business of watching every circumstance of...1844, Charles Wilkes, “Puget Sound and Okonagan”, in Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition during the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842. […], volume IV, Philadelphia, Pa.: […] C....
2. (Canada, US, usually, chiefly Alaska) A communal meal to which guests bring dishes to share; a potluck.
   • If all went according to plan, the bands could harvest tons of meat, fat and animal skins in a single afternoon of collective effort, and either consume these riches in a giant potlatch, or dry, smoke or (in Arctic areas) freeze them for later usage.2014, Yuval Noah Harari, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, London: Vintage Books, →ISBN

   Synonyms:

   fuddle

See all 4 meanings of potlatch