The Sacred and the Secular: Tlingit Potlatch Songs outside the Potlatch

Abstract

T HE SECULARIZATION OF TRADITIONAL sacred performative genres in Native North American is not an entirely recent phenomenon but it has become more common in the last few decades. During that period, the influence of Euramerican culture on many of the Indian people, particularly those who no longer speak their native languages and/or understand the meaning of traditional rituals, has increased. At the same time, with the rise of ethnic consciousness and pride among Native Americans and with the intensification of their struggle for civil and economic rights, efforts to preserve the ancestral heritage by desacralizing it, that is by teaching the younger generation sacred songs and dances and encouraging them to perform these in secular contexts (powwows, intertribal dance competitions, festivals of indian culture, etc.), have also accelerated. These efforts have been boosted by the federal money becoming available for bilingual programs and an increased interest in American Indian arts and performative genres in the wider non-native society. The positive results of these efforts include the perpetuation of some important aspects of traditional culture among the younger people, the strengthening of the link between generations, the boosting of selfesteem, particularly among the young who, in the elders' view, are being overwhelmed by the modem materialist world and, hence, lack spirituality needed for their survival.