Indigenous Peoples in Arizona

A family of:

 Brothers/Sisters; Cousins are also considered and referred to as brothers/sisters (cousin-brother, cousin-sister); Aunts, Uncles, and Grandparents share 4 common clans.

You inherit the First Clan of your mother, father, maternal grandfather (Cheii), paternal grandfather (Nalii).

• YOUR FIRST CLAN is your mother's first clan, which she inherited from her mother.
• YOUR SECOND CLAN is your father's first clan, which he inherited from his mother.
• YOUR THIRD CLAN is your maternal grandfather's (Cheii) clan, which he inherited from his mother.
• YOUR FOURTH CLAN is your paternal grandfather's (Nalii) clan, which he inherited from his mother.
• You are born TO your mother's clan and born FOR your father's clan.

There are over 140 clans.

"Understanding the Clan System is crucial to understanding who you are as a Navajo individual.

K’é refers to the establishment of familial and clan relationships and enables the Navajo individual to balance their own morality achieving kindness while following Navajo Tradition.

The Navajo child, traditionally, is introduced into the world by his or her mother as she declares the child’s clans. The mother greets her baby by telling the maternal clan, he/she, is born into, followed by the paternal clan he/she is born for. The baby is then given the maternal and paternal grandfather’s clans completing the greeting process. The declaring of the clans puts responsibility of the child on those who are recognized in the child’s clans.

K’é promotes peace throughout the family and community and after the child’s clans are declared he/she is responsible for respecting and aiding those surrounding him/her especially representing the K’é concept.

Originally there were four clans created by Changing Woman but overtime clans have been added by non-navajo to recognize new American Indian Groups adopted by Navajo people. The original four clans are Kinyaa’áanii (Towering House), Honágháanii (One Who Walks Around), Tó’dích’íinii (Bitter Water), and Hashł’ishnii (Mud Clan). The additional groups are Tábąąhí (Water’s Edge), Táchii’nii (Red Running into the Water), Tsé níjíkiní (Cliff Dwellers/Honey Combed Rock), Tó’aheedlíinii (Water Flows Together), and Tsinaajini (Black Streaked Wood).

Clans play a huge part in identifying yourself to others to let them know who you are and where you are from. Traditionally you are required to say Ya’at’eeh which translates to “It is good” reinforcing a positive attitude on life when greeting others followed by your name."

A family of:

Brothers/Sisters; Brothers/Sisters to father, i.e. Aunts/Uncles all belong to 1 clan. 

Today there are 34 living clans spread out among the 12 Hopi villages. Each clan is made up of individuals who trace their ancestry matrilineally back to a common ancestor who in turn forms the corpus of that clan's particular history." 

The Hopi are widely considered to be the “oldest of the native people” within north America. The village of Oraibi, on Third Mesa, is the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in the United States. (over 1,000 years).

Intensely spiritual and fiercely independent, the Hopi value their privacy while conducting religious ceremonies and while Katsina dances are open to the public photography of, sketching of, and recording of religious ceremonies is NOT permitted.

An individual is spoken of as being the clan of his mother, but is said to be the child of his father's clan.

Clans are grouped into 3 phratries  (unilineal descent group) and one unrelated clan, with interrelationship among the clans of each phratry. The clan properly belongs to the band in whose territory it traditionally originated.

All members of a clan are related by blood, traceable or not. The individual readily distinguishes between clanmates related by blood and not so related. Recognized blood comprises only true siblings, mother and those with whom blood connection can be traced through the intermediacy of females of the clan irrespective of generation.

Individuals of one's own generation are considered siblings, those of the first ascending generation are siblings of one's mother, of the second ascending generation are maternal grandparents, and those of the third great grandparents. Reciprocal kinship terms can be similarly extended to any member of the father's clan or phratry.

• Moiety (one of two equal parts) is a descent group that coexists with only one other descent group within a society. People who share the same Moiety are considered siblings, meaning they are forbidden to marry.
• Phratries comprise groups of related clans and occur in sets of three or more; moieties may, but need not, comprise groups of clans but always occur in pairs.

White Mountain Apache Clans:

• GOSHDIYE - ROADRUNNER CLAN
• DOOLE - BUTTERFLY CLAN
• SHASH - BEAR CLAN
• ITSA - EAGLE CLAN