Potlatch a ceremony of North American Indians of the northwest coast from Washington to Alaska. The word comes from patshatl, “giving” or “gift.” Although a potlatch usually included feasting, singing, and dancing, its distinctive feature was the host's lavish distribution of gifts to invited guests or his destruction of goods in their presence. The more goods he could afford to lose, the more prestige he gained for himself and his relatives. The potlatch was the only way to maintain or improve one's social status; to regain lost status; to validate the right to an inherited position; or to avenge an insult. The guests reciprocated by giving potlatches at a later time.