Chapter 17
Tribes, Clans, and Bands
In This Chapter
Talking terminology
Checking out chiefs and their roles
Getting familiar with family types
Identifying the roles of men, women, and children
Understanding rituals and rites of passage
Families have always come in all shapes and sizes, and this has been true since the earliest days of human civilization, up through today’s advanced, technologically based societies.
At any given time in world history, human civilization has existed within a range of evolution and development, instead of all the people on earth being at a specific stage at the same time.
In the year 2000, for example, there were cultures and societies on planet earth that were, by any definition, primitive — lacking clean water, access to electricity, the ability to conceive and construct complex buildings and structures like bridges and other modern infrastructures, no access to medical care, and basic needs like food and shelter commonly going unfulfilled.
And at the very same time in that year 2000, there were cultures and societies on earth that were living, in a sense, in the future: They had unrestricted 24-hour electricity, water and sewage needs taken for granted, food of all kinds and varieties everywhere, advanced medical care a phone call away, wireless communications, Internet access.
The one constant regardless of a culture’s stage of development, though, has always been the family and, on a larger scale, community. This fact always was, and still is, the guiding principle for American Indians.
Indians have many familial and societal constructs, with family always being the core of their society. In this chapter we look at these various forms of Native American community, particularly tribes, clans, and bands.
Coming to Terms in Indian Society
When talking about Indian society, it is important to remember that tribes are both political and cultural units. A tribe can be split into different groups, all of which are recognized as independent nations by the federal government. Within a tribe, there may be smaller groupings according to an individual’s lineage or religious affiliation. Some tribes have religious societies and some have clans that are usually based on family relationships.
The tribes that are recognized as sovereign entities by the U.S. government are labeled as tribes or bands. In the case of Alaska, historical circumstances have meant that what might have been construed as a tribe in the lower 48 are instead incorporated as “Native Villages.” These villages have the same authority as tribes, but what would have been a tribe farther south may be spread throughout several villages.
Clans exist among some tribes and a person belongs to a specific clan based on their family relationship. For some tribes, clans that existed in the past are no longer recognized because that information was lost during removal. Other tribes that were able to remain in their traditional territory continue to maintain strong clans.
The leader of a tribe is frequently called its chief, but today, the leader may also be the chairman of the tribal council.
The role of the chief has changed greatly over the years. The members of the De Soto expedition described rulers in the Southeast who had influence over large regions and who were described as Caciques, a word for leader the Spanish learned from the Taino. Anthropologists refer to these rulers as paramount chiefs, and ethnohistorical research indicates that they may have had influence over many smaller communities, each of which had its own leader.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, Europeans and Americans came to understand that one tribe might have more than one chief and that each individual had a different level of authority within the tribe. Among the tribes in the Southeast, both war and peace chiefs could be present and each had their own set of responsibilities.
By the time that the 20th century rolled around, the U.S. was trying to force tribes into a less traditional form of government. The Custis Act forced tribes to adopt the tribal council as a governing body, and the chair of the tribal council became the nominal ruler of the tribe. Today, many tribes continue this form of government, while maintaining some form of chief. The process whereby a chief becomes leader has changed as well, and today, men and women are elected to the role.
In Alaska, the combination of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act and the Indian Reorganization Act has resulted in Native Villages that have a tribal chair and Native corporations that handle the funds and resources for the tribes. A Native village may have multiple levels of governance.
(See Chapter 10 for more information on specific chiefs.)
American Indian tribal chiefs are the ones who are often remembered, by name, when certain tribes are spoken of — even by white people! Most Americans have heard of such tribal leaders as Geronimo, Crazy Horse, Cochise, and Sitting Bull.
The following list highlights some of the more unforgettable tribal chiefs:
American Horse (Sioux)
Black Elk (Lakota)
Big Bear (Cree)
Bigfoot (Lakota)
Joseph Brant (Mohawk)
Cochise (Apache)
Crazy Horse/Tashunkewitko (Lakota)
Dull Knife (Cheyenne)
Geronimo/Goyathlay (Apache)
Little Wolf (Lakota)
Hole-in-the-Day (Ojibway)
John Ross (Cherokee)
Joseph (Nez Perce)
Little Crow (Kaposia Sioux)
Little Turtle (Miami)
Little Wolf (Cheyenne)
Low-Dog (Lakota)
Ohiyesa/Dr. Charles Alexander Eastman (Santee Sioux)
Pontiac (Ottawa)
Red Cloud (Lakota)
Red Jacket (Seneca)
Santana (Kiowa)
Sequoya (Cherokee)
Sitting Bull (Hunkpapa Sioux)
Spotted Tail (Brule Sioux)
Standing Bear (Lakota)
Tecumseh (Shawnee)
Wilma Mankiller (Cherokee)
Wolf Robe (Cheyenne)
Wovoka (Paiute)
Today, the tribal chief is often the public face of modern tribal nations, but even though it is commonly an elected position, power is often consolidated in a Tribal Council with a leader elected or appointed and known as the Chair of the Council.
Men Ruled the Roost? Hardly
There was never, nor is there now, a “universal” model for Native American family structure. Some tribes have always been matriarchal; some have always been patriarchal; and there have always been tribes that were, in a sense, a commingling of both types of structures: the men “ruled” in certain situations; the women, in others.
We list the basic definitions of these two types of societal, tribal, and family structure in the following list:
Matriarchal: This term describes a society in which power and property are controlled and held by women and are passed down through matrilineal descent. The mother’s lineage is what determines power, control, heritage, and inheritance.
Patriarchal: This refers to a society in which men are in charge. They have the power and authority, they own the property, they make the decisions.
There are also other variants of Native American familial organization besides the mother and father-based makeups, including:
Bilateral: When both the mother and father’s ancestry is of equal importance.
Patrilocal: When the woman moves in with the man’s family.
Matrilocal: When the man moves in with the woman’s family.
The Role of Women
A patriarchy is defined as a social system in which men are regarded as the authority within the family and the larger entity of the society, and in which power and possessions are passed on from father to son. At the time of the first European incursions into the new world, Europe had been, and continued to be, for the most part, comprised of unabashedly patriarchal societies.
And this is not surprising when we consider the political, judicial, and financial structure of these societies: They were monarchies. The king ruled everything. Thus, families mimicked this paradigm by considering the father of the family to be the king of his castle, in the, y’know, “a man’s home is his castle” sense.
Thus, these patriarchal Europeans were both perplexed and surprised by the dominant role Native American women played within their families and tribes.
Where was the passivity they had long demanded from the women in their own societies?
Where was the deference to the male as the authority figure?
Why were women allowed to make decisions, tell their husbands what to do, and assert such authority?
Although it is risky to assign a completely egalitarian profile to Native American families and tribes (since it’s not really accurate in every case), there is no denying that the social makeup of Indian communities was much more democratic and classless than those in Europe.
How can this be? The Europeans asked. Didn’t God make Adam first? Eve came from Adam’s rib, their Christian dogma taught them. This meant that females were inferior and should be submissive, right?
A world of differences
All those rhetorical questions sum up the difference between the European gender mindset and that of the Native American.
European patriarchal males allowed women privileges and determined what rights and authority they had in their own families, and in society as a whole. Native Americans, on the other hand, respected the balance of nature and recognized that women and men each have equal roles to play.
Native American women wielded great power, and nowhere was this more evident than in the Iroquois tribes in the northeastern United States. Women of the Iroquois nation owned land, made important tribal decisions, and were recognized for their ultimate strength: the ability to give birth to new tribe members, thereby guaranteeing the continuation of the tribe. Today, important decisions for the Haudenosaunee are not made without consultation with and approval from the Clan mothers.
Workin’ for a living
Native American women had many duties.
They worked so hard, and at so many tasks, that it was repeatedly noted that Europeans thought that women were slaves! When they witnessed them working their tails off, so to speak, they couldn’t comprehend that women were honored and held in high regard by the tribes.
Some of their tasks included
Assessing the domestic supplies needs and then making, by hand, whatever carrying devices, cooking pots, and work tools the family needed.
Being responsible for the home and its construction. In some Pueblo and Plains tribes, the women were the actual homeowners and could divorce their husbands simply by putting his things outside the house.
Being the primary “chef” for the family.
Making sure that there were adequate supplies of water at all times.
Raising, disciplining, and schooling the children.
Taking care of the vegetable crops.
Tanning and working with all the hides brought back by the men
Homemakers
The Native American woman was honored and protected because of her ability to bring new life into the community.
Women were the “life bringers” and the nurturers. They cared for the children, kept the home running smoothly, and were experts at skills ranging from cooking and weaving to crafts and farming.
Columbus noted (in fact, he was one of the first) how hard Native American women worked. He specifically stated that he felt that the women of the tribes he came into contact with worked much harder then the men did.
This is something of a misinterpretation of the social and cultural mores, practices, and customs of tribes, but it does emphasize that the role of the Native American woman was critical to the functioning of a tribe.
Craftspeople
The list of things that Indian women made sounds like an inventory of an aisle at Home Depot. And it also emphasizes just how hard women worked and how long their workday was.
They made
Cooking equipment: Pots were made from pottery, bowls, too, and were used for cooking food in, storage, and as serving bowls. The Southwestern Indians used pottery. The Northwest Indians used tree bark to make containers for carrying and storage. Wood and woven baskets were also common.
Tools: Native villages needed a wide variety of tools for working the fields, mixing clay and food, digging, scraping, polishing, and for use inside the room. For the most part, it was the women who took care of these needs.
Medicines: Women were responsible for the gathering and sorting of the specific herbs and plants that could be used for healing and medicinal purposes.
Clothing: American Indian women were responsible for making all the clothing for their family.
Farmers
American Indian women tilled the fields, gathered water for the crops, and took care of harvesting the grown vegetables.
It should be acknowledged that many Indian tribes kept slaves — both African and captured Indians from other tribes — and that they also took care of some of the agricultural work and domestic duties for families and the tribes as a whole.
Children
The familial and societal dynamic vis-à-vis children in Native American culture was, in a sense, a contradiction of terms.
Children were, at the same time, indulged and expected to behave in a certain way and achieve key growth and maturity milestones.
Child’s play
Did Native American children have toys and play games and enjoy the free-spirited joy of childhood?
Every tribe, of course, had different attitudes toward children’s play, as well as different expectations of children as they grew into adulthood, but, yes, Indian children did play games, and play with toys during childhood.
Girls played with dolls made from corn stalks, cattails, and other natural materials. Boys commonly played with miniature bows and arrows, and other hunting-themed toys, exposing them early on to their future responsibilities — feeding their families and learning how to utilize the bounties of their natural world.
The voyage to adulthood for Native Americans began almost the moment an Indian child was born.
Elders and parents taught by example, emulating both the habits of animals and Indian men.
Rituals and trials
Every culture has its own “coming of age” rights of passage.
Jewish children have bar and bah mitzvah ceremonies.
Some tribal African children track and hunt an animal.
Catholic children experience the sacrament of confirmation.
Australian aboriginal children go on “walkabout,” during which they follow the tracks of their ancestors.
First menses
A young Native American woman’s first menstrual period was a momentous event in her life, and it changed both the perception of her within the tribe, and also her role. She was no longer a child. She was now a woman, capable of bearing children.
Some tribes would mount ceremonies for the puberty rites, sometimes standing around a sacred fire, sometimes painting the young girl’s face. Depending on the tribe, there were sometimes strict proscriptions against certain types of clothing, with special emphasis on which colors could and could not be worn. Some tribes also forbade the young girl from drinking water from a well, instead demanding she use a straw.
So, why all the rules? The answer to that question is completely dependent on the belief systems of the individual tribes.
Oftentimes when the rites of passage were completed, there would be feasting, accompanied by dancing and singing to honor the presence of a new adult woman — a new lifebringer — in the tribe.
Vision quest
Some tribes had the concept of a vision quest in which individuals would put themselves under stress in order to understand themselves more fully. For some of the Sioux tribes, a person might undergo a sweat lodge ceremony and then retire to a high or isolated place in hopes of receiving a vision that would help them throughout their lives.
The Sun Dance
Many Plains tribes practice the Sun Dance, which is a ritual involving dancing, chanting, praying, self-mutilation, and fasting. Its purpose is to give thanks and to pray for blessings upon one’s family and tribe.
The Sun Dance was made illegal when the U.S. government outlawed it in 1904 because of the flesh-piercing aspect of the ritual and likely as a means of breaking tribal religion to assist with assimilation. President Jimmy Carter legalized it during his time in office and it is now practiced openly.