Creek Country A to Z
Creek Country now consists of Georgia and Alabama, but 160 years ago, it was ruled by the mighty Creek Confederacy. Join me as I explore ancient Creek Country from Adela to Zachariah, the Battle of Burnt Corn to the Yamassee War. And everything in between.C, for Clans
One of the most difficult aspects of Southeastern Native culture for me to understand has been how they view family. Since we're on C for CLANS, I won't delve into their--what is for us--complicated matrilineal kinship. "Matrilineal" is a fancy way of saying that they traced their blood relatives through the mother's line, not the father's, as we do. It's a fascinating system, but another post for another day.
Clans, on the other hand, are categories of people who thought themselves to be blood related but couldn't actually trace it through ancestral links. The clans were named for animals or some part of nature--Bear, Raccoon, Wolf, Wind. These groups of people were spread out in various villages over the entire Creek Confederacy, so that everywhere a person went, they could usually find "family."
They could enter any village for the first time, find someone sharing his clan name and be expected to be invited into their home to eat and sleep. The visitor would call all the women of his mother's age tcki ("mother"), everyone his father's age pawa ("father"), and so on.
Two people from the same clan could never marry, even if they lived on opposite sides of the nation and their blood could not be traced. To our way of understanding, it's odd, but for them, it was like marrying family.
Clans were the most important, the strongest, social entity. They were expected to exact blood revenge on the wrongful death of another member. On the other hand, a captured enemy could be adopted by the clan, making certain that person was forever protected, just as though they'd been born into the family. If something malicious were done to the adopted captive, the person responsible would do so at the risk of vengeance from the adopting clan.
And that's why in my novel, Wounded Spirits, Nokose adopts his captives, Galena and her two daughters, into his clan. In essence, he secured their freedom and acceptance.
There's infinitely more to be learned about Creek clans, but that's all I have time for today. Next time, we'll talk "cardinal directions" and what they meant to the Muscogee people.
To learn more about the Creek and their ancient country and to experience one of the most exciting adventures in historical fiction, I invite you to read my novels.
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2 comments:
Interesting! I didn't know that Native Americans traced their blood relatives through their mother's line. Thanks for sharing this bit of history!
I didn't either! When you really delve into it, it's enough to make your brain spin. And I'm not sure about all Native Americans practiced this, but the Southeastern tribes did.
And you're welcome! Thanks for stopping by. :-)
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