Ancient Clan System

Reprinted from ‘The Haudenosaunee’, a special supplement to Indian time newspaper for educators and students

The clans are taken from the animal, bird or fish life. The clans are inherited from the mothers. This type of transmission of the clans is called a matrilineal system. Spiritual, social, economic, and political life are interwoven; one without the other is not considered whole or complete. (Spiritual and political are inseparable.) The nine clans of the Rotinonhson:ni from the sky are: the Great Blue Heron, the Hawk and the Snipe; from the land: the bear, the wolf and the deer; and from the water:the turtle, beaver and eel.

Giving of a name

Amongst the Rotinonhson:ni nations each of the clans have specific names that belong to each clan. A Bear Clan person must have a Bear Clan name. It is not proper for a Bear Clan person to have a Wolf or Turtle Clan name. A person begins his or her life with a name and that name begins one’s identity. A baby is born into a clan. This is another step to one’s identity. Another identification is the baby’s gender, a boy or a girl.

Retrieving of a Name

There is a procedure to correct or retrieve a name if taken by another clan. The women of the clan whose name was taken will make a basket and together they will go to the family that has taken their name. When the women arrive at the home of that family, they will say. “we have arrived here carrying this basket. We retrieve our name by putting it in our bas­ket and carrying it back home. This name belongs to our clan family.” The women will then leave with the name in the bas­ket and that name will now be available to a new born child of that specific clan. The Mohawk people have three principal clans, the Turtle Clan, the Bear Clan, and the Wolf Clan. Today we have other clans among us. At various times in the past people from our different nations were attacked by the people of the United States. When attacked, our people scattered with only the clothes on their back. Many of them arrived here in Ahkwesahsne for shelter. There was a community of Iroquois, namely Onondaga along with some Oneidas and Cayugas, who lived in Ahswe:katsi (Ogdensburg). In 1806, the Ahswe:katsi People moved in with the Ahkwesahsne Mohawks and for that reason, today the Ahkwesahsne Mohawks have a large number of Snipe Clan, Deer Clan, and a few Eel Clan families.

The laws of the clans are very simple and rigidly adhered to. Since everyone in a clan is part of a large extended family, it is forbidden for a man to marry a woman of the same clan. The elders have said that a Mohawk Bear Clan man cannot marry a Bear Clan woman of any other nation. They are still considered brother and sister. The elders also spoke of the greater extended family. They said if a Bear Clan person was traveling to the Navajo or Hopi country and didn’t know anyone there, we would look for the peo­ple of the Bear Clan and that family would recognize him as part of their fam­ily. Likewise if a Hopi were visiting here, we who are of his/her clan would take care of them as a member of our family.

It is said that sometimes a man or a woman finds a mate of the same clan and go to another nation or community to get married. When they arrive there they lie about their real clans, so the leaders of the community, who don’t know them, will marry them. The elders say about such doings, “You may not be truthful to your fellow human beings, but the Creator cannot be fooled. The children talk loud and will tell your secret.” What this means is that the children of such a marriage will be born with possible mental problems or even physical deformities.

Elders would also say, “Children born of parents of the same clan should never be put in any positions of leadership within the nation.” An example of this happen­ing is a person attending a meeting and he or she seems to understand and be agree­able, but after the meeting makes an incorrect report. This is not done on pur­pose, but it seems to be a natural occur­rence. If people who have parents of the same clan attain a leadership position they will most likely lead our people and nation to ruin.

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