Cherokee clans facts for kids
The Cherokee clans (in Cherokee: ᏣᎳᎩ ᏓᏂᎳᏍᏓᏢᎢ) are important traditional groups within the Cherokee people. These clans helped organize society and guided how people lived together.
How Cherokee Clans Worked
Historically, Cherokee society was matrilineal. This means children belonged to their mother's clan. Important things like leadership roles and property were passed down through the mother's family line.
Traditionally, women were seen as the head of the home. If a couple separated, the home and children stayed with the mother. Maternal uncles (mother's brothers) were often more important than fathers in a child's life. Property was shared and passed down within the clan.
Cherokee society was also often matrilocal. This means that after getting married, a couple would usually live with or near the bride's family.
Clan Rules and Responsibilities
Cherokee clans had a special role in keeping order. It was against the rules to marry someone from your own clan. It was also forbidden to marry someone from your father's clan. Breaking these rules was considered a serious matter.
Clans were also responsible for balancing serious disputes, like when someone from one clan caused the death of a person from another. The goal was to restore balance, not just to get revenge. Sometimes, if the person responsible could not be found, their clan was expected to offer another member to help settle the issue. This was to make things fair again for both clans.
Adopting New Members
In ancient times, people born outside a clan or outsiders joining the tribe had to be adopted. A clan mother would adopt them into a clan.
If a woman who wasn't Cherokee had a child with a Cherokee man, she could be adopted into a new clan. Her husband would then join her in her new clan. If a non-Cherokee man married into a Cherokee family, he also had to be adopted by a clan mother. He could not just join his wife's clan.
In 1829, a Cherokee writer named Elias Boudinot explained the marriage customs. He wrote that a Cherokee person could marry into any clan except their mother's clan (because they were considered siblings) or their father's clan (because they were considered parents or aunts/uncles). A child always joined their mother's clan.
The Gadugi System
Cherokee clans also practiced something called Gadugi. This was a system of communal work. Clans would take care of orphans or people who had lost everything. They also welcomed visiting clan members from other villages. This shared work was very important for the whole community.
The Seven Cherokee Clans
The Cherokee people have seven main clans. They have had this number since they first met Europeans. Some clans have different names. An expert named James Mooney believed that these seven clans might have come from as many as fourteen separate clans long ago.
Anigatogewi (Wild Potato Clan)
The "Anigatogewi" or "Anigadogewi" clan is known as the "Wild Potato Clan." Sometimes it is called the "Blind Savannah Clan."
Historically, members of this clan were known as 'keepers of the land.' They were also skilled gatherers. The wild potato was a very important food source for the traditional Cherokee people in the Southeast.
Anigilohi (Long Hair Clan)
The "Anigilohi" clan is translated as "Long Hairs" or "Twisters." The name can also mean "They have just become offended" or "Long Hair."
The Long Hair Clan was seen as peacemakers. In the past, the Peace Chief, an important leader, often came from this clan. People who were prisoners of war, orphans from other tribes, or others without a Cherokee family were often adopted into this clan. This is why they are sometimes called 'Strangers.'
Aniawi (Deer Clan)
The "Aniawi" is the "Deer Clan." Members of the Deer Clan were historically known for being fast runners and excellent hunters. Even though they hunted for food, they respected and cared for the animals. They were also known as messengers, carrying news from one village to another.
Anisahoni (Blue Clan)
The "Anisahoni" is the "Blue Clan." This clan was known for having many people who could make special medicines for children. The medicine was made from a blue plant, which gave the clan its name.
Anitsiskwa (Bird Clan)
The "Anitsiskwa" or "Anitsisqua" is the "Bird Clan." Members of the Bird Clan were historically known as messengers. It was believed that birds carried messages between the earth and the Creator. This belief gave clan members the job of caring for birds. Only members of this clan could collect and present earned eagle feathers.
Aniwaya (Wolf Clan)
The "Aniwaya" or "Aniwahya" is the "Wolf Clan." This clan has always been known as the largest clan. In the past, the War Chief, another important leader, would come from this clan. Wolves are known as protectors. The Wolf Clan was the biggest among the Cherokee people.
Aniwodi (Paint Clan)
The "Aniwodi" is the "Paint Clan," sometimes called the "Red Paint Clan." The Paint Clan was historically known for having many skilled medicine people. Medicine was often 'painted' onto a patient after it was prepared during a ceremony.
Changes to the Clan System Over Time
Even though many traditional Cherokee people still follow clan customs, the rules and ways of the clan system have changed over time. These changes really began in the 1800s.
One big reason for these changes was the conflict during the Cherokee–American wars. Many Cherokee people were forced to move west from their ancient homes. Also, European traders, mostly Scottish, had married Cherokee women for many years. Their children belonged to the mother's clan and were considered Cherokee.
New Laws and Leaders
The Cherokee National Council made some important changes. In 1797, they decided that clans no longer had to settle accidental deaths. They also stopped the practice of one clan member taking responsibility for another's actions if the person responsible could not be found. A leader named The Ridge helped make these changes happen.
The Ridge also helped change the Cherokee's old "Blood Law" rules.
Even bigger changes came with the first printed law in the Cherokee Nation on September 11, 1808. This law created a group called the Light Horse Guard to help keep order. It also allowed for property to be passed down through the father's side of the family, in addition to the mother's side. Major Ridge was the first leader of the Light Horse Guard. This law also further limited the old clan system of settling disputes.
In 1810, the National Council completely removed the old clan system for settling disputes from Cherokee law. They also changed inheritance rules and recognized husbands and fathers as the heads of households.
In 1825, the Cherokee Council passed a law that allowed children of mixed marriages (where the father was Cherokee and the mother was white) to be part of the tribe, just as if their mother were Cherokee.
