The Anishinaabe Clan Kinship System - Essay Example

Anishaabe Clan System Despite suppression of indigenous knowledge system, some communities still remain rooted to the clan system maintaining the cohesion, communalism coming up as a result of the reluctance to adopt individualism and current systems of government. The anishaabe clan kinship system is one based on patrilineal clans/totems. Anishabeg also referred to as the obijwa are a woodland people of North America who practice this system ( Kim 23). This clan system was created to provide leadership and take of needs.People were divided into a several numbers of clans that served as a system of government, as well as a way of division of labor. The clan system is mainly based on animals that are instrumental in traditional occupations, inter-tribal relations, and marriages. The five original Anishinabe people were: Wawaazisii ( bullhead), Buswenaazhii( echo maker/crane), Aanaawenhe(pintail duck), Nooke(bear),Moozwaanowe(little mouse tail) (Kim 34). Each band had a self-regulating council made up of leaders of the community with the band often identified by the principle doodem another name for the clan. Traditional history indicates that the obijwan people came from the East advancing along great lakes. On the kinship part, the obijwa people not only took to account the immediate family, but also considered the extended one. Siblings generally shared the same term with the parallel cousins from the same doodem. The major clans of the Anishinabe clan system included: the white crane clan, loon clan, bear clan, eagle clan and hoof clan. White crane clan formed the traditional hereditary chiefs of the anishaabe people. Its members were Tagwagane and ikweswe. The loon clan that was related to the white crane also became chiefs to take on superior south shore during the fur trade period. Its members were chief buffalo and walter bresette. The bear clan consisted of the warriors and police as well as healers while eagle which was once the smallest has grown in number to include members like William whipple warren, nahnebahwequa and kahkewaquonaby (Russell 67) The hoof clan consisted of members who were gentle, cared for others and ensured that the clan had proper housing and recreation. They were poets and always used polite language. Traditional culture Just like any other people, the obijwan people too had their beliefs and values which made up their culture. These people had values such as generosity, honesty, strength of character and wisdom that were instilled by the old generation to the young groups through education within the tribe. They counted time by 24 hour intervals (night), months (moon) and years (winter) and adapted their lifestyle to survive in heavily forested regions (Lawson 71) The anishaabe people led a semi-nomadic life shifting a number of times in a year so as to be close to sources of food. Their means of transport were majorly by foot except for the plain obijwa who rode on horses. They lived in hunting camps and undertook gambling as a social event. Before they began trading with Europeans and Americans, they wore clothing made from skins and hides. Moreover, they made canoes toboggans and storage containers using birch bark(Lawson 89). Women were allowed to marry immediately after puberty. The couple was supervised a lot during courtship, and there was no formal wedding ceremony involved. After childbearing, an elder, appointed by the parents gave the newborn its sacred name. Children were taught domestic skills by the older relatives and parents. They observed religion communally and personally and believed they originated from a Christian God (Anderson 56). Clans met on a regular basis to discuss issues affecting them. Some clans had the responsibility for maintaining overall peace in the community. Their traditional life was altered through contact with the non-native Americans. Fur trading resulted replacing the clothing and weapons they constructed. They adopted modern clothing and started living in one-room log cabins. Political power was centered in the band leader who had the responsibility of maintaining stability in the community. Women too had the task and obligation for restoring clan and kinship relationship. At times, they could become leaders and were part of the selection process for leadership. Anishaabe justice (Anderson 90) system had the obligation of restoring and maintaining a harmonious relationship. They tend to emphasize on the offender and not an offense but majorly emphasized on teaching proper behavior to avoid punishment. The system focused on why the offence was done and how to correct it. Ideas on the justice originated from different philosophical beliefs in conjunction with the communities norms and values. The governance systems of the Anishaabe people were one of cohesion but would be difficult to implement in the current society for various justified reasons. Anishaabe people employed clan systems since people settled in communities. In the current world people no longer live in clans since there has been a lot of movement and intermarriages among communities hence it would be almost impossible for people of a given clan to be located in one geographical area. Additively, the Anishaabe(Russell 115) people met in clans to discuss issues affecting them.This would not be applicable in the current society due to the diversity in the location of a given community-making it intricate to collect people together to discuss issues affecting them. Over the past few years, an input from Anishaabe citizens has been consistent. A combination of a national model and the traditional model of government is evident. Band leaders were kept in charge of the respective bands. In the current society, most governments are democratic mostly headed by a president. On justice issues, the Anishaabe people focused on the offence rather than the offender and aimed and correcting it. The current systems of government put more weight on the offense rather than the offender. For example, most governments administer capital judgment subjecting the murder criminals to death by hanging. This does not give the offender an opportunity to change. Anishaabe people (Russell 101) had a government that emphasized on communalism while the current systems encourage individualism. As much as the Anishaabe people had an admirable system of government, it is almost impossible to implement it in the modern day. To meet all needs of a nation, the clans worked in a united way to achieve their objectives. The system built in equal justice, voice, law and order and reinforced teachings and ethics of a religious manner of life. Today, there are some individuals that follow their clan responsibilities but for most, traditional force and control of the clan system has vanished to the point of almost going extinct. The clan system was and continues to be a strong system of governance in that together the clans task holds the power to govern the whole community. Works Cited Anderson, Kim. Life Stages and Native Women: Memory, Teachings, and Story Medicine. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 2011. Print. Lawson, Russell M. Encyclopedia of American Indian Issues Today. , 2013. Print. Read More