Weaponized Generosity: The Economic Warfare of the Potlatch Ceremony

How do you completely dominate a political rival and assert absolute authority over a region without ever drawing a weapon or shedding a single drop of blood? For the indigenous tribes of the Pacific Northwest, the answer was an intensely aggressive, highly calculated economic ritual known as the Potlatch. Far from a simple gathering, a Potlatch was a form of brutal financial warfare. Rival chie...