Origin of the Clans

Continued from last week

When one of the parties addresses the other they will call each other cousins. If someone dies from the Wolf, the Turtle, the Hawk, or the Beaver Clan, it is said that all the people on that side of the house will be in grief or mourning. It will then be the responsibility of the people on the other side of the house to aid those who are in grief. The people who did not lose anyone on their side of the house are called Roti’nikonkate (they whose minds are strong). The people who are from the clans of the Roti’nikonkate will do all the speaking at the wake and the funeral. They will do the cooking, the digging of the grave and what ever else it takes to respectfully put away the dead. The people called Roti’nikonkate will be obligated for a period of nine days and on the tenth day they will be officially released from their duties for that particular death.

The side which loses a loved one are called Rotinikonhkwenhtara:on (they whose minds have fallen to the ground).

This recording of the history of the clans is one version and there are probably others. This particular version is said to have occurred before the Great Law of Peace was established.

The numerous clans that our people have today were given originally by Ro’nikhonrhowa:nen. This clan system was revitalized and incorporated into the new clan system by the Peacemaker. The clan system continues with a great vibrancy in all Iroquois communities today. The Peacemaker was born many hundreds of years after the original clan system was introduced.

It is important to remember that at the period of time just before the Peacemaker, almost all the people had strayed away from the Creator’s ways. This period of time was perhaps the darkest, most violent and hopeless time of our entire history. This was a time when blood stained Mother Earth. This situation was caused by the bloody wars taking place in every village. Once again there was no peace. Families argued and fought one another and people didn’t follow their clans. Some families even lost any memory of the clans. Things had simply been allowed to fall apart.

The Creator was very sad to see the deplorable situation the people were in. It is for this very reason that the Creator sent one of the Four Sacred Beings to be born among the people. This baby was born, grew up and become the Great Peacemaker. The mission of the Peacemaker was to restore kindness, love, joy, and peace to the villages of all our people.

When the Peacemaker put up the Rotiianehson, he instructed them to remember what animal they would see. The next day the Roia:ne did see an animal and that animal became his clan from that time on. The women received their clans in the same way. It is said that was how some of our ancestors received their clans. The Peacemaker also at the time instructed the women that they would be the holders of the clan and that they would pass the clan down to their children. This was a reaffirmation by the Peacemaker of the ancient clan system.

The Clan system of the Rotinonhson:ni is the fundamental building block of the Rotinonhsomni. The clans are extremely important, and in fact without the clans we would have almost nothing as a society of people. Like the human body, the bones are what gives the body structure and the ability to function, so the clan serves the same purpose in the societies of the Rotinonhson:ni people.

Clans of the Mohawk People

Turtle

Bear

Wolf

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.)

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.

CLANS

What are the clans?

The clan is the basic unit of the social organization among the Hotinonhshion:ni, with the women holding the primary responsibility for the function of the clans. This system is still in place at Ahkwesahsne as it is in many Hotinonhshion:ni communities. A clan is a group of families that share a common female ancestry. Members of one clan are considered relatives and intermarriage in the same clan is forbidden by the people who still maintain the traditional teachings.Clans are named after animals that have special assistance to the people:

Water Air Land

Turtle Haw Wolf

Beaver Snipe Bear

Eel Heron Deer

Clanship identity is very important to the Hotinonhshion:ni. Children inherit the clan of their mother. If a Mohawk woman of the Wolf Clan marries an Oneida man of the Bear Clan, the children will be Mohawks of the Wolf Clan. Identity can be seen as a series of concentric circles. In the center is the fireside family (mother, father, sisters, and brothers); next is the extended family (clan); next is nationality (Mohawk); and then the union of nations (Hotinonhshion:ni).

Each nation has a different number of clans, with all having the bear, wolf and turtle clans. Among the Kanien’kehaika (Mohawk), there are three original clans. They are the bear, wolf and turtle. In. Ahkwesahsne we presently have six clans because of events that have taken place (Ahswerkatsi). We now have deer, snipe and eel clan people.