Pages - Bighouse

Long before the first Europeans set foot on the shores of what is now known as the Northwest Coast of British Columbia, the Kwakwaka 'wakw practiced an age-old tradition of potlatching. Extended families occupied the four corners of the Gukwdzi (Bighouse), and when it came time to commemorate a milestone in the family, the aforementioned areas were cleared away, people were invited to act as witnesses to validate the transactions, and the potlatch got underway, with the host's family performing the dances.

House Support Posts

Interior of Present Day Big House

After the arrival of the Europeans the Kwakwaka 'wakw eventually adopted the european style of housing, more through coercion for the sake of practicality than logical, rational choice. And with more and more families adopting and adapting to the european way of doing things, the place to perform ceremony and ritual had to change as well.

In former times, the belief system of the Kwakwaka 'wakw were such an integral part of their everyday lives, everything was spelled out and clearly understood, they didn't need a ceremonial house to keep things in order.

Big House Built in 1998

However, with their ever-changing world, and their belief system slipping away, the Bighouse was instituted specifically for conducting ancient rites and ceremonials, to help the Kwakwaka 'wakw to retain important aspects of their heritage, to keep things in order.

The Importance of Dance in Our Lives

We dance to celebrate life, to show appreciation for all the gifts bestowed upon us by Gigame' Kana'l, the Creator God, in our lives today, and all the generations past since the beginning of time. The dances reflected our daily lives but were represented as bigger, greater and more wonderful. Dance was, and continues to be, a very important aspect of who we are as Kwakwaka'wakw. It encompasses all four areas which make up our living beings.

Boys Learning the Hamat’sa

Dance is spiritual, intellectual, emotional and physical and dances should be appreciated and accepted as they are presented. In many ways, dance reflected our everyday lives ~ whether it was hunting, traveling from village to village in canoes, giving thanks to the salmon, the mighty grizzly or giant sasquatch.

Dancing allowed us to re-enact segments of our daily lives but with greatness and solemnity ~ the Rites of Passage which is the Hamat’sa Initiation Ceremony, or a young girls first menses, a baby’s first haircut, a marriage or standing up a new Chief.

Ritual or ceremonial dancing was, perhaps, the most important manner by which we were sustained as a People. For everything that happened in the Bighouse, there was a dance (or, dancing) to go with it. Everything we do in the Bighouse we do to acknowledge and reaffirm who we are as a People ~ knowing our true beginning.

And knowing our true beginnings makes us who we are today.