The Kwakiutl Tribe

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses the Kwakiutl tribe, who lived in northern part of Vancouver Island, Canada. The paper describes them as a hunter-gatherer society, hunting deer, bears and moose, with their main source of food coming from the sea. The paper further examines their mode of dress, and their use of masks as adornment. The writer examines how their culture was rich with dances and theatrical performances which they improved by adapting and borrowing from other tribes. The paper concludes that although many aspects of Kwakiutl life have now disappeared, the people themselves survive and take an active part in fishing and lumbering pursuits in their old tribal territory.

From the Paper:

"They hunted deer, bears and moose but their main source of food remained to be from the sea. Sea-lions, porpoises and seals were abundant in the sea. Crabs, mussels and clams along with cod, herring and several species of salmon were also abundantly found in the sea life. These proved to be the main source of food for the Kwakiutl tribe and it was the Kwakiutl man who went out to hunt the food while the role of the woman was to gather berries and shellfish. The Kwakiutl were best at making canoes and were capable of making large canoes which they used in their hunt for seafood."

Sample of Sources Used:

• David Riches. "Hunter-Gatherer Structural Transformations." Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 1.4 (1995): 679.
• Jerome Rousseau. "Hereditary Stratification in Middle-Range Societies." Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 7.1 (2001): 117.
• Simon Harrison. "Four Types of Symbolic Conflict." Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 1.2 (1995): 255.
• Kenneth D. Tollefson. "Potlatching and Political Organization among the Northwest Coast Indians." Ethnology 34.1 (1995): 53.
• Donald Pollock. "Masks and the Semiotics of Identity." Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 1.3 (1995): 581.

More papers on The Kwakiutl Tribe:

• Essay # 16296 : "Circumcision and the Aranda Tribe"
• Comparison Essay # 147561 : "The Treaty Between the United States and the Navajo Tribe"
• Descriptive Essay # 112511 : "The Hopi Tribe"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: