Sharing wealth was highly regarded and practiced by most high-ranking and wealthy families. This distribution of wealth is a key component of the potlatch gift-giving festival, and was encouraged through the display of values celebrated in the culture such as generosity, humility and respect. Some families were considered nobility because of their connection to spiritual powers or ceremonialism. Shamans, prophets and medicine doctors were considered nobility because of the training and expertise they possessed. Some jobs or positions held by members of the community also signified members of this class. These positions were often related to the mountain goat, like hunting or the weaving of mountain goat wool blankets. One's class was not always predetermined and set for life under this system, and before European contact commoners or slaves had the ability to sometimes rise through the ranks to one day reach a higher class designation.