THE KWAKIUTL INDIANS. 341 



III. The Potlatch. 



Before proceeding any further it will be necessary to describe the 

 method of acquiring rank. This is done by means of the potlatch, or 

 the distribution of property. This custom has beeu described often, 

 but it has been thoroughly misunderstood by most observers. The 

 underlying principle is that of the interest-bearing investment of 

 property. 



The child when born is given the name of the place. whore it is born. 

 This name (g-i'uLaxLc) it keeps until about a year old. Then his father, 

 mother, or some other relative, gives a paddle or a mat to each member 

 of the clan and the child receives his second name (nn'iiiap'axLeya). 

 When the boy is about 10 or 12 years old, he obtains his third name 

 (SomiatsExLa/ye). In order to obtain it, he must distribute a number 

 of small presents, such as shirts or single blankets, among his own 

 clan or tribe. When the youth thus starts out iu lite, he is liberally 

 assisted by his elders, particularly by the nobility of the tribe. 



I must say hero that the unit of value is the single blanket, now-a- 

 days a cheap white woolen blanket, which is valued at oO cents. The 

 double blanket is valued at three single blankets. These blankets form 

 the means of exchange of the Indians, and everything is paid for in 

 blankets or in objects the value of which is measured by blankets. 

 When a native has to pay debts and has not a sufficient number of 

 blankets, he borrows them from his friends and has to pay the following 

 rates of interest: 



For a period of a few months, for 5 borrowed blankets (> must be 

 returned (Lc'k-o) ; for a period of six months, for 5 borrowed blankets 7 

 must be returned (ma/'Laxsa Lc'k-oyo) ; for a period of twelve months or 

 longer, for 5 borrowed blankets 10 must be returned (dc'ida or g-G/La). 



When a person has a i)oor credit, he may pawn his name for a year. 

 Then the name must not be used during that period, and for 30 blaiikets 

 which he has borrowed he must pay 100 in order to redeem his name. 

 This is called q'a'q'oaxo (selling a slave). 



The rate of interest of the Lr''k'o varies somewhat around 25 per 

 cent, according to the kindness of the loaner and the credit of the 

 borrower. For a very sliort time blankets may be loaned without 

 interest. This is designated by the same term. 



W^hen the boy is about to take his third name, he will borrow 

 blankets from the other members of the tribe, who all assist him. He 

 must repay them after a year, or later, with 100 per (;ent interest. Thus 

 he may have gathered 100 blankets. In June, the time set for this act, 

 the boy will distribute these blankets among his own tribe, giving 

 proportionately to every member of the tribe, but a f«^w more to the 

 chief. This is called La'X'uit. When after this time any mend)er of 

 the tribe distributes blankets, the boy receives treble the amount he 

 has given. The people juake it a point to repay him inside of a month. 



