362 ACCULTURATION IN SEVEN AMERICAN INDIAN TRIBES Nothing resembling the fierce rivalries and the great destruc- tion of property that take place on the Coast appeared at Al- katcho. A defeat in a potlatch meant only a temporary humilia- tion, the loser having every opportunity of recouping his lost prestige. For the most part Carrier nobles desired not so much to crush a rival, as to stand out above the rest. Rank status was objectified in a number of ways. Both the invitation to a potlatch and seating in the potlatch house fol- lowed a definite hierarchial order. ‘To mistake a noble’s proper place or to invite improperly was to insult the guest and inci- dentally give him an opportunity for “throwing into the fire” property. The usual seating arrangement within the rectangu- lar potlatch house was as follows: the most prominent guests sat at the rear behind the fire-place, lesser nobles sat along the side walls, and the common people crowded into the space along the front walls. Spouses sat together with their children (those that had not yet been elevated to nobility) before them. After the fourth elevation potlatch the child was permitted to sit between its parents. Thus the more children a family had potlatched the more room it occupied, and the amount of spread of a family was a concrete symbol of its prominence. The status of a great potlatch chief was marked by his possession of a large potlatch house, decorated with his crests, which had been dedicated at a large potlatch. The construction of such a house was the high point in any noble’s life and entailed considerable expense. Once built, the house was the center of the village and the scene of all potlatches. Rather striking personality differences among women seemed to have been correlated with social status. Two examples have already been cited, the behavior of women in climbing over the threshold into the Grizzly Bear potlatch house, and the woman DzEgwanli dancer who permitted male dancers to stroke her vulva. ‘This behavior must be understood against the prevailing sex mores, and the strong emphasis upon sexual shame, particularly at indecent exposure. One other case can be cited. One woman meotih accumulated most of her wealth through gambling. She traveled about from village to village playing the stick game with men. Her technique was simple. When playing with a man she