Spiritual Significance of the Clans
In ancient times, the clan names represented to the Ah-ni-ku-ta-ni the balance between the spiritual forces that shaped and guided the human spirit on its journey and development through life in preparation for entry into the spirit world. The Ah-ni-ku-ta-ni teach that life is made up of four distinct sections and paths, 1) development in the womb 2) childhood 3) marriage and parenting 4) elders (grandmothers and grandfathers) and the perpetuation of the culture through the ancient ceremonies. Each section or quadrant of life was represented as part of the ancient sun symbol or crossed circle commonly seen in ancient Mississippian culture. It was taught by the Ah-ni-ku-ta-ni that following entry into the spirit world, all of the people still continued their dances, ceremonies, and family relationships in the afterlife in a place set apart for the people. Cherokee traditionally buried their dead in the earth as they believed that the plants fed the animals, the animals and plants fed the people, and the people, at their death, should return to the earth and feed the plants.


Membership in a particular clan did not mean that the members of the clan were in some way blocked or held at a particular level of spiritual development or attainment. Clan membership and the existence of the clans were simply meant to represent a balance of the spiritual forces that made up the world of the Ah-ni-yv-wi-ya. All members of the society could participate in the ceremonies and were all viewed as equals. Since the Wolf Clan represented the final level of attainment and was also the clan of the warrior class, it membership over time continued to grow in ancient times until is became the largest of the Cherokee Clans. It was believed that if an Ah-ni-yv-wi-ya did not fully complete these levels of development, they would not be able to find their way to the place set apart for them with their people in the spirit world and would wander in darkness on the Earth after death as a spirit.



Ancient Spiritual Symbolism of the Cherokee Clans


Ah-ni-ga-to-ge-wi or Wild Potato Clan represented the material plane of earth or physical matter (earth).
Ah-ni-gi-lo(la)-hi or Long Hair Clan represented the human people (breath).
Ah-ni-(k)a-wi or Deer Clan represented the spirit of life, and procreation (life).
Ah-ni-tsi-sk-wa or Red Tailed Hawk Clan represented the development of the human intellect (air).
Ah-ni-sa-ho-ni or Blue Holly Clan represented purification in preparation for the ceremonies (purification).
Ah-ni-wo-di or Paint Clan represented the four directions, the ceremonies and structure of society and the evolution of social organization. (four directions(colors), ceremonies)
Ah-ni-wa-ya or Wolf Clan represented the doorway to the world of spirits and the development of higher social consciousness (spirit world, sacred fire).


There existed unique ceremonies among the Ah-ni-ku-ta-ni for each of these levels of attainment. The paint clan was named because they gathered the four sacred colors used in the ceremonies for the people. Many of the Ah-ni-ku-ta-ni scholars were members of the Paint Clan, but many of the Ah-ni-ku-ta-ni in ancient times came from the Wolf Clan and Blue Holly Clan. By tradition, a member of each clan was selected to represent all of the people during special ceremonies which were only performed by the leader of the Ah-ni-ku-ta-ni and the seven priests who represented each of the seven clans. The seven stemmed ceremonial pipe ceremony was one such ceremony which was only performed by the Ah-ni-ku-ta-ni and the seven priests prior to the seven year renewal ceremony.


The four sacred colors gathered by the Paint Clan were:

Red - for the East and symbolized power and healing

Blue - for the North and symbolized Adversity and Struggle and those things that harmed the human people.

Black - for the West and symbolized the doorway to the spirit world, death, and the place of the thunder beings.

White - for the South and symbolized blessings, virtue, the rains that fell from the skys, purity and all that was good.


Ceremonial objects that incorporated the colors blue or black were required to contain the other sacred colors in order to balance the object. The color blue was typically obtained from the bark and stems of the Sourwood tree which grew in the Cherokee homeland. The stems of this tree were also used to make Sacred Eagle Wands which also incorporated white or near white eagle feathers from either the golden or bald eagle. These wands were used in the Ancient Eagle Dance which is still practiced by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and the Ah-ni-yv-wi-ya.


The Ah-ni-yv-wi-ya did not have pipe carriers or pipe holders as did the Lakota or other Plains Indians, but did use a variety of ceremonial pipes for both recreational and ceremonial use. These pipes used ceremonial tobacco, varieties of Nicotiana Rustica for recreational and personal ceremonial use, and a sacred blend of four secret plants for ceremonies of the Ah-ni-ku-ta-ni which did not contain or employ Nicotiana species. Cherokee personal pipes were typically made of river clay which had been fired, and a small river cane pipestem. Formal Ceremonial pipes used by the clans used Red or Grey pipestone (also called bluestone) and pipe stems made from hollow stems of American Sassafrass or some cases, Sourwood. The seven stemmed pipe was made only for a single ceremony of the Ah-ni-ku-ta-ni from red pipestone, then destroyed and returned to the spirit world following the ceremony in preparation for the seven year rewnewal ceremony.


The Cherokee Moons Ceremonies which were performed were based on each of the thirteen phases of the moon which occurred each year. For each moon of the calendar year, the Ah-ni-yv-wi-ya performed a unique ceremony. A special ceremony was performed both yearly (mid-October) and every seven years called the renewal ceremony which used the Cherokee black drink prepared by the Blue Holly Clan for purification rituals. These collective ceremonies were intended to progress the Cherokee people through the various phases of spiritual and cultural development in Cherokee society.
Artist Denton Lund
Graphics by Moon and Back Graphics.com