Iroquois Clans

Iroquois Clans. . , Iroquois clans are extended families that provide kinship and link members across nations, binding them beyond regional and linguistic boundaries. Clan membership influences many aspects of daily life from marriage to a person’s name. Each clan is represented by an animal and associated with certain traits. The clans exert a strong social and cultural influence within nations. The number of clans and combinations of clans within nations vary greatly. Clan ties and identity remain important to Native Americans to this day and are reflected in their material culture., Each nation’s clans are divided into two moieties or “halves,” and the division of clans between these two moieties can vary from nation to nation. Positions of ceremonial influence within the nations often have representatives from each of the two moieties., Haudenosaunee means “People of the Long House” or “Builders of the House” and is a term used to describe the alliance amongst the Cayuga, Mohawk, Onondaga, Seneca, Tuscarora, and Oneida., Women play an important role in clans and in Native American nations. The clan of a mother always determines the clan of her children. Clan mothers, the oldest and most respected women choose the chiefs and can remove them from their posts.