In the late 19th century, the Canadian government removed ritual objects from the possession of the Kwakiut'l, a Native American community on the Northwest Coast. The 'potlatch', as it was called, was their way of celebrating their culture, their identity and their heritage. A ritual passing down of treasures, it symbolized a rebirth of tradition, a positive affirmation of their identity, past and present. In 1921 the Kwakiut'l people of Alert Bay, British Columbia, held their last secret potlatch. In 1980 at Alert Bay, the U'mista Cultural Centre (U'mista means "something of great value that has come back") opened its doors to receive and house the cultural treasures which were seized decades earlier and only then returned to the people.