The Seattle Potlatch was an annual event which began in 1911 to celebrate Seattle's prosperity after the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in 1897. This souvenir was collected at the Dreamland Pavilion, once located at the corner of Seventh and Union Street, where many of the Potlatch activities took place.

The name "Golden Potlatch" appropriates a Chinook Jargon word describing a Native ceremony celebration and gift giving. It also reflects the importance of the Klondike Gold Rush to Seattle's growth. Many organizers and participants in the Golden Potlatch dressed in stereotyped imitations of traditional Native attire, as part of a created Potlatch myth. The appropriation of Indigenous culture in order to market products or events was one common example of discrimination and marginalization faced by Native peoples in the United States.