| An Elder Speaks about the Beginning of the Clans |
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These words are gleaned from the accounts given by Smith Nicholas. These words were also translated and explained with the help of Eldredge Brown (Wyandotte from Wyandotte, Oklahoma), and Mary Kelley (Wyandotte from Wyandotte, Oklahoma) and later revised with Allen Johnson (also Wyandotte from Wyandotte, Oklahoma) because of the importance of the words. The information was scrutinized by the above named elders. |
| Smith Nicholas was 83 and lived in Wyandotte, Oklahoma in 1911. He stated that this tradition was truly Wyandot, that he had learnt it by heart, and that he had not changed a word of it, so far as he knew. The old people from whom he learned it were: (a) his maternal grandfather, who knew this tradition because he had been a long time living among the Wyandots (he was Seneca) and (b) his maternal grandmother who died at the age of 125 and was adopted in their tribe. One of Smith Nichols' maternal great-grand-mothers had married a Wyandot; that is how, according to him her descendants lived among that tribe. "This is what happened, the Wyandot, the Potawatomi, and the Delaware, speaking three different languages, met together and had a council, wherein they settled their marriage customs. They laid down the law about how they were to get married. First, the Wyandots were divided into seven (nine, in fact) groups (or clans). Then they studied the nature and habits of the game which they used. The first animal that was the deer. Now, no fault could be found with this fellow, for he had a perfectly good nature. That is why they made him their first choice and gave him a Clan. Their next choice was the Bear, to whom they also gave a clan. The next was the Porcupine, and here was his Clan. Another was the Beaver and there was his Clan. They had thus made one side of the Council Fire. Then they began to form the other side of the fire. It consisted of the Big Turtle, the Prairie Turtle, the Small (striped) Turtle, and, coming the last, the Hawk. Another one was the Wolf. And the people (belonging to the two sides of the fire) were his cousins. Now then, (the four clans on one side of the fire formed "one house," while the four opposite clans made up another. As to the Wolf, he remained all by himself. The four clans in each house were brothers to each other. Were all mutual cousins those who belonged to opposite houses, so that whoever stood on one side of the fire called cousin anybody standing on the other side. It was then agreed that this was the law which the Wyandots were to observe. And it had to be proclaimed in such a way that, on all possible occasions, the opposite groups may be known as cousins. This is the very first thing done when they were assembled in council, framing the rules by which henceforth they were to be governed. It was so arranged that those who belonged to the same clan should not be allowed to intermarry. That is why a woman, having a clan, may not get married within it, but only in that of her cousins. This was the established marriage rule which the whole household of the Wyandots was bound to observe. The same custom was accepted by the Potawatomies, the Delawares, and all the peoples with different languages who, in time, became friends or allies of the Wyandots. And at the head of all these nations stands the Wyandot forever. That is why the customs of the Wyandot are also the law for them all. The main law was that the people could not marry within their own Clan |
| Gather around the fire my friends and listen to the story. But listen not with your ears. Listen with your heart. |
| Information gleaned from Huron and Wyandot Mythology by C.M. Barbeau Copywrite 1915 |
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