Thr Russians, New England and other traders were responsible for the potlatch, according to Barbeau and some other ethnologists and historians. Trade, especially with the Russians, led to an 'embarrassment of riches' for some chiefs and groups, and the potlatch evolved to place some of the material gains in the hands of the tribe members. The custom may not have existed prior to trade with Europeans.
Ritual complexities developed as the potlatch became institutionalized.
In the 1780s, portable, uniform goods were especially in demand, including the 'potlatch coppers', sheets of copper up to five feet in length intended for hull sheathing, which were made into extraordinary shields; symbols of authority. Cotton cloth, muskets, blankets and ornamental goods also were in high demand. The explosion in the carving of totem poles was another consequence of the trade for furs. Timber cut by the tribes was sold to Hawai'i by trading vessels. Sale of slaves (many Salish) increased.

The reason potlatch was so violently opposed and suppressed is 'its very basis denied the important principle of private property'. -
Robert J. Surtees, 'Canadian Indian Policies', article in "Handbook of North American Indians," vol. 4, "History of Indian-White Relations," and James R. Gibson, "The Maritime Trade of the North Pacific Coast," article also in Vol. 4, ed. by Whitcomb E. Washburn, 1988, 838 pp., Smithsonian Institution.