24.02.19

Potlatch Appropriation Strategies: Indian Agent William Halliday

"Indian Agent Halliday's official responsibility was for the welfare of the Kwakwaka'wakw. He also functioned as the regional magistrate so, ironically, he was involved in prosecuting the people whose rights he was supposed to be protecting. Over 600 potlatch-related pieces were given up and in his own statement, Halliday said that he had accumulated over 300 cubic feet of potlatch material. Their owners estimated the coppers in 1921 to have had a total value of over $35,000. However, the Canadian Department of Indian Affairs paid only a token amount of $1,485 for the masks and other materials, and no compensation was ever paid for the coppers."

-U'MISTA Cultural Society, 2019

Kwaxala'nukwame', Chief Amos Dawson and his wife, Di'dala, Alice Dawson, Alert Bay. One of the many chiefs who surrendered their regalia under duress after 1921 Cranmer potlatch.

Regalia surrendered under duress in Alert Bay Parish Hall, 1922.

- top photo: Royal Museum BC; middle photo: source unknown; bottom photo: William Halliday, Royal Museum BC, AA 176