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TheAnishinaabe, like mostAlgonquian-speaking groups in North America, base their system of kinship onclans ortotems. TheOjibwe word for clan (doodem) was borrowed into English astotem. The clans, based mainly on animals, were instrumental in traditional occupations, intertribal relations, and marriages. Today, the clan remains an important part of Anishinaabe identity. Each clan is forbidden from harming its representation animal by any means, as it is a bad omen to do so.
The Anishinaabe peoples are divided into a number ofdoodeman, or clans, (singular:doodem) named mainly for animaltotems (ordoodem, as anOjibwe person would say this word in English).[1] InAnishinaabemowin,ode' means heart.Doodem or clan literally translates as 'the expression of, or having to do with one's heart'; in other words,doodem refers to the extended family. According to written / oral tradition, the Anishinaabeg spanned the North Eastern Woodlands of Turtle Island (North America). The origins of the Clans were given to the Getay-Anishinaabeg after the cleansing of the Earth by water, as the memory of people had been wiped clean. Anishinaabe Doodeman are the social fabric context for politics, kinship, and identity of the Anishinaabeg peoples.
The people established "a framework of social organization to give them strength and order"[2] in which each totem represents a core branch of knowledge and responsibility essential to society. Today, seven general totems compose this framework. The crane and the loon are the leadership, responsible for over-seeing and leading the people. The fish are the scholars and mediators and are responsible for solving disputes between the crane and the loon. The bear are both police and medicine gatherers. The martens are hunters but warriors as well. The moose are mediators and exemplify peace. Clans are both a means of acquiring and retaining knowledge for the Anishinawbeg. Knowledge gained through experience and interactions with the natural world and other clan members is passed down and built upon through generations.[3]
Traditionally, each band had democratic, independent councils consisting of leaders of the communities (Families / clans orodoodeman), with the group often identified by the principaldoodem. In meeting others, the traditional greeting among the Ojibwe peoples is "What is yourdoodem?" ("Aaniin odoodemaayan?") in order to establish a social conduct between the two meeting parties as family. Marriage among members of the same clan is forbidden.[3]
The wordodoodem is adependent noun. When speaking of one's owndoodem, the Anishinaabe would saynindoodem(-ag) ('my clan(s)'),gidoodem(-ag) ('your clan(s)') for addressees andodoodeman ('his/her clan(s)') for others.[4]
The clan system is an integral part of acquiring and retaining knowledge for the Anishinaabe. Each clan contributes a key element to the society and individual members contribute to a clan’s knowledge through experience. During a clan member’s lifetime, they are able to gain knowledge known by the clan; emphasis is placed on personal experience, rather than a strict student-teacher relationship. Although members learn through relationships with other clan members, it is the experience gained as a result of these relationships that allows them to attain knowledge. Throughout a clan member’s life, knowledge they gain that was previously unknown to the clan is added to the clan’s collective knowledge.[5] This knowledge is then passed down to future generations, contributing to the "flow ofNebwakawin (wisdom) that passes from generation to generation".[6]
Despite pressure from the colonial society in Canada and the United States, much Anishinaabe knowledge has survived and continues to be shared and built upon. Alexander Wolfe'sEarth Elder 18 Stories: The Pinayzitt Path, Dr. Dan Musqua'sThe Seven Fires: Teachings of the Bear Clan, and Edward Benton-Banai'sThe Mishomis Book: The Voice of the Ojibway are a few notable works of Anishinaabe literature. These publications are important carriers of knowledge that pass from the ancestors to future generations.[5]
There were at least twenty-one Ojibwe totems in all, recorded byWilliam Whipple Warren. Other recorders, such asJohn Tanner, list many fewer but with differentdoodem types. For the Potawatomi, at least 15 different totems were recorded. The clan types today are quite extensive, but usually only a handful ofodoodeman are found in each of the Anishinaabe communities. Like any other All Anishinawbeg speaking peoples, the Anishinawbeg clan system served as a system of social weave as well as a means of dividing labour. The clan groups orphratries are listed below, listing each of thedoodem clans orgentes within their group. The known Anishinawbeg clans are listed below.
TheBimaawidaasi group was charged with scouting, hunting and gathering.
TheGiishkizhigwan group was charged with teaching and healing.
TheNooke group was responsible for defense and healing. Though today the Bear Clan has all merged into a single clan known asNooke, at one time the Bear was the largest — so large, in fact, that it was sub-divided into body parts such as the head (Makoshtigwaan or 'bear-skull'), the ribs and the feet (Nookezid or 'tender-foot'), as well as different types of bears such as theWaabishki-makwa or 'whiteblack bear' and theMishimakwa or 'grizzly bear'.[citation needed]
TheBaswenaazhi group were traditionally charged with outgoing International communications. Because of this, often members of theBaswenaazhi group are said to be the most vocal.
TheBemaangik are charged with internal/domestic communications. They were often charged with the community's own council fires and facilitating dialogue on all internal/domestic issues.
On occasion, instead of referring to the totem by the actual being's name, a clan is identified instead by a metaphor describing the characteristic of the clan's totem. The metaphors that survive today include:
Some national sub-divisions were simply referred to by their major clan component. An example of this would be theMaandawe-doodem ('Fisher-clan') of theMeshkwahkihaki peoples who live along the south shore ofLake Superior. Further inland from theMaandawe-doodem were theWaagosh-doodem ('Fox clan') of theMeshkwahkihaki (Meskwaki). When theMaandawe were defeated in a major battle between the Ojibwe and the Meshkwahkihaki peoples, the survivingMaandawe were adopted as part of the Ojibwa nation, but instead as theWaabizheshi-doodem ('Marten clan'). Among some of the Ojibwe people, theWaabizheshi clan is also used to denote a form of adoption, i.e., a non-native father and Ojibwe mother. In other instances, for exampleodoodem communities such as theAmikwaa, they were treated as fully interdependent Nations of the Anishinaabeg Confederacy, or given a designation to represent their primary function in the social order, as with theManoominikeshiinyag ('Ricing-rails') or theWaawaashkeshi-ininiwag ('Deer[-clan] People').
Somedoodem indicate non-Ojibwe origins. Other thanWaabizheshi, these include theOgiishkimanisii-doodem (Kingfisher Clan) andMa'iingan-doodem (Wolf Clan) forDakota andMigizi-doodem (Eagle Clan) forAmericans. There are otherodoodem considered rare today among the Ojibwa because theodoodem have migrated into other tribes, such as theNibiinaabe-doodem (Merman Clan), which shows up as theWater-spirits Clan of theWinnebagoes.[citation needed]
The Ojibwa understanding ofkinship is complex, taking into account not only the immediate family but also the extended family. It is considered a modifiedBifurcate merging (Iroquois)kinship system. Consequently, the Ojibwa would speak not only of one's grandfather (nimishoomis) and grandmother (nookomis), father (noos) and mother (ningashi), or son (ningozis) and daughter (nindaanis), but also would speak of elder brother (nisayenh), younger sibling (nishiimenh), cross-uncle (nizhishenh), parallel-aunt (ninooshenh), male sibling of same gender (niikaanis), female sibling of same gender (niidigikoonh) and sibling of opposite gender (nindawemaa), andcross-cousin of the opposite gender (niinimoshenh), to name only a few.
Siblings generally share the same term withparallel-cousins as with any Bifurcate merging kinship system due to being members of the samedoodem, but the modified system allows for a younger sibling to share the same kinship term with younger cross-cousins (nishiimenh). In addition, the complexity wanes as one goes away from the speaker's immediate generation, with some degree of complexity retained with female relatives (for example,ninooshenh is 'my mother's sister' or 'my father's sister-in-law'—i.e., my parallel-aunt—but also 'my parent's female cross-cousin'). The Ojibwa collectively call both the great-grandparents' and older generations and the great-grandchildren's and younger generationsaanikoobijigan. This sign of kinship/clans speaks of the very nature of the Anishinaabe's entire philosophy/lifestyle, that is of interconnectedness and balance between all living generations and all generations of the past and of the future.
In addition to the Anishinaabegdoodem, clans of other tribes are considered related to the Anishinaabe clans if they have the same designation. Consequently, for example, a union between an Anishinaabe Bear Clan member with aCherokee Bear Clan member would be considered illegal — evenincestuous — by many traditional community groups.
Thewhite crane clan were the traditional hereditary chiefs of the Ojibwe atSault Ste. Marie and Madeline Island, and were some of the more powerful chiefs encountered by the first French explorers ofLake Superior. Members of the crane clan include:
Closely associated with the crane clan, members of the loon clan became important chiefs on Lake Superior's south shore during the fur trade period.Members of the loon clan include:
Always the most numerous of the Anishinaabeg, members of the bear clan were traditionally the warriors and police (Ogichidaa), as well as the healers. Many members of the clan continue in these roles today. The bear clan provided most of those who participated in theBad River Train Blockade. In fiction, the police officers in the novels ofLouise Erdrich come from the bear clan.
Now one of the most common clans, the eagle totem was once of the smaller clans. The number of eagle totem members grew when new members whose paternal ancestors were Americans were assigned to this totem. Since the first sustained contact by the Anishinaabe with the United States was through government officials, the symbol of the American eagle was taken for a clan marker. Members of the Eagle clan include:
