CLANOLOGY

Continued from last week.

The people and the elders listened very closely to what the man told them. Everyone was amazed at what the man said. It seemed to make very good sense. It was at that point the elders said they would give the man a special name. The elders chose the name Ronikonhrowa:nen (He who has great ideas). Ronikonhrowa:nen gathered the people and told them that they should all be ready to travel early the next morning. The next day the people were ready, and they did travel. As the people travelled, they followed the river. Then Ronikonhrowa:nen saw a grape vine hanging from a tree. He pulled the grape vine down and threw one end across the river where it got caught and hooked itself to the opposite side of the river. At this point Ronikonhrowa:nen began crossing the river holding onto the grape vine. As he crossed the river, he asked the people to cross with him. One by one the people did so, but eventually the vine let go and not all were able to make it across the river. Now it came to be that half of the people were on one side of the river and the other half on the other side. Ronikonhrowa:nen then told the people on his side of the river that in the coming morning, they should pay close attention to whatever seemed strange or abnormal. The people on both sides of the river set up their camps. Early the next morning the eldest woman woke up and immediately gave thanks to the Creator for allowing her to pass through the night without incident. She gave thanks for the beauty and the miracle of a beautiful new day. The elderly woman then went down to the river to fetch water so that she could prepare the morning meal. As she dipped water from the river she heard a noise. Looking up, she saw a deer standing there. Later on, in the day Ronikonhrowa:nen asked the lady if she had seen anything unusual. She told him that, while dipping water at the river she had seen a deer standing there and the deer was staring at her. Ronikonhrowa:nen then informed her that the deer would be the clan that she and all her offspring would belong to forever more.

The following day another elderly lady from one of the families gave thanks to the Creator, and then went down to the river to fetch water to prepare the morning meal. When the old lady looked up she saw a bear. Soon afterward Ronikonhrowa:nen approached her and asked her what she had seen that was unusual. The old lady said she saw a bear. From that point on the old lady was informed that she and all her offspring would from then on belong to the clan of the bear. This same occurrence was repeated twice when the snipe and eel were seen by two other older women. This happened on one side of the river. From that day forward the Deer, the Bear, the Snipe, and the Eel would always be brought together as one united group. This is what modern Anthropologist call a moiety.