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Anthropology: The Seven Clans Of The Cherokee

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Chelsea Carriere
Professor Ferruccio Trabalzi
Introduction to Anthropology
October 13, 2015
The Seven Clans of the Cherokee
With over 314,000 recorded members, the Cherokee Nation is the largest federally recognized Native American tribe in the United States. In ancient times, this tribe was just as formidable, having conquered over 135,000 square miles of territory throughout eight states; North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia. Much of the traditional culture remains the same in today’s world though some things have evolved out of necessity to fit modern society (Reese). Despite some of these changes however, the Cherokee nation is working hard to preserve their native traditions …show more content…

So where do the laws actually come from? As it turns out, the traditional law of the Cherokee emanated from religious beliefs, rather than from written secular rules mandating certain behavior. The basic tenet of religious belief that guided tribal life was the maintenance of harmony. The Cherokee people lived by a clearly defined pattern and structure to their lives, sustained by age-old customs, rituals, beliefs, ceremonies, and symbols that guided the “rightful” and “eternal” order of things. They believed that there was no aspect of life free from spiritual meaning and thus Cherokee life was “woven together into a unified pattern of religious rules and connections involving harmony with the world above, the world below, and the world around.” The manifestation of this social and religious synchronisms was the mutual submission to “customary procedures exercised by clearly defined groups, such as the clans” (Carroll). Fundamentally, Cherokee law was not based on individual responsibility or public wrongs but on clan relationships and clan wrongs. Clan procedures plainly defined who could act, when he or she could act, and what form his or her action should take. The Clans were also responsible for punishing any wrongdoings or rule breaking. In most cases the clans were the judge, jury, and in extreme circumstances, the executioners. One such extreme circumstance might be in the instance of a purposeful or accidental death of a member of one clan at the hands of a member of another clan. The clan of the member who was killed had the duty to seek restitution for the loss. Simply put, when one Cherokee killed another Cherokee, their respective clans would settle the matter internally through restitution. The one to die in return for the wrongful death of the other did not need to be the person directly responsible. If the one responsible had

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