Potlatch as Pedagogy

Learning Through Ceremony

Sara Florence Davidson, Robert Davidson

• Publisher: Portage & Main Press
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781553797753
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Professional Development

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 carved by Robert Davidson, the first the community had seen in close to 80 years. From then on, the community publicly reclaimed, from the Elders who remained to share it, the knowledge that has almost been lost.

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.

1

Two Working Together

My father is a Haida artist who

began carving at the age of 13.

For nearly six decades, he has

contributed to the revival of Haida

art⁷. As an artist, he carefully

observes the world and translates

what he sees and learns into colours

and shapes, such as ovoids, U shapes,

and tri-negs. As an educator, I also

observe the world carefully, but I

translate what I see into words and

stories. My father refers to the shapes

that he uses as the Haida alphabet,

an insight that came to him when

he looked at a picture I had drawn

as a young child. The picture (right)

consists of shapes and letters of the

alphabet, and he says that when

I drew it, I explained to him that

“the alphabet is the doorway to the

other side…” As an educator, I have

seen the barriers that are created

Alphabet drawing by Sara

for students who have challenges

with print literacy. For these students,

mastering “the alphabet” or print

7

See Steltzer, Ulli and Robert Davidson. Eagle Transforming: The Art of Robert Davidson. Vancouver, BC: Douglas
& McIntyre, 1994.

literacy allows students to pass through “the doorway to the other side.” Today,

when I look at the drawing, I see it as a representation of the space where my

father and I both connect and diverge: we both see the world and feel compelled

to share how we understand it, but my father uses shapes to form images

whereas I use letters to form words.

My father created the painting on the cover of this book. It is called hlGed sda

sGwaansang, which means “closely related” or “two working together,” like a

bow and arrow. The first time I saw this painting in my father’s studio and heard

what it symbolized, I knew it would be the cover of this book. He explained that

the painting represented the bow and arrow, or “two working together,” and this

is the way in which my father and I work together.

Years ago, I attended an event hosted by another nation. Our traditional Haida

dance group, the Rainbow Creek Dancers, had been invited to perform.

Unfortunately, many members of our group were unable to attend the event, and

only a few of us were present that day. When the time came for us to sing our

songs, it dawned on me that I did not truly know the words to the songs. Though

I had been singing them since I was a child, in that moment, I suddenly realized

that I only knew how to follow our songs and not how to lead them. This

moment of awareness led me to wonder what would happen to these songs when

our leaders were no longer with us. What would happen when the time came for

me to lead these songs?

Sara and Robert Davidson in the studio.

8 | Potlatch as Pedagogy

When I returned home, I asked my father if he would teach me some of the songs

well enough to lead them. I worked closely with him to learn the words and the

meanings and the protocols associated with them. To learn the Haida songs,

I would listen carefully to my father singing them, and then I would practice

singing them alone. Later, I would return to my father and sing the songs for

him. He would listen to me sing and tell me when I was making a mistake,

correcting me when necessary. This was the way my father taught me the songs.

This was the way I made sure I was learning the songs correctly.

My father believes that we are “all connected to the past by a thin thread. And

when we come together as a group, then those threads form quite a thick rope”

(Davidson in Steltzer & Davidson 1994, 99). I learned those songs because I did

not want to be the one to weaken the rope that connects us to our ancestors.

This story is one of the threads that I hold.

It is my responsibility to ensure that this story accurately reflects my father’s

perspectives, even after it has been woven together with my own understandings

and interpretations. To honour this responsibility, I have based this story upon

a series of interviews that I conducted with my father in his studio between 2014

and 2018⁸. I recorded the interviews and then transcribed them to enrich my

own understanding of our con...