Giving Thanks and the Clan System
Two sections of the Onondaga Nation’s Culture page, written in the Nation’s own voice (“we” and “our”): the Thanksgiving Address and the clan system. It leaves out the section “Gift from the Creator.”
This page is a simplified version of the original text (leveled toward 800L). Photos, maps, and other images are not on this page — use the original link above to see them.
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Giving Thanks (Ganoñhéñ•nyoñ’)
Like most Native people, the culture of the Onondaga and the Haudenosaunee is based on their relationship with nature. This is most clear in how we begin every gathering, meeting, or ceremony. We begin with the Ganoñhéñ•nyoñ’, or the Thanksgiving Address.
A speaker is chosen to say the Ganoñhéñ•nyoñ’. The speaker first gives thanks to the people gathered. They are well, and we are still here doing our duty of giving thanks to the Creator. We give thanks for all the gifts the Creator has given us to make us happy.
Every speaker can say the Ganoñhéñ•nyoñ’ in their own way. But generally, the speaker gives thanks to our Mother Earth. Then the speaker works toward finishing by giving thanks to our Creator. The speaker can give thanks to the grasses, the medicines, the trees, the berries, and the life-giving foods. The speaker can give thanks to the animals, the birds, the waters, the winds, and the thunders. The speaker can also give thanks to the sun, the stars, our celestial guides, and the Creator. The purpose is for everyone to “Put our Minds Together as One.” Everyone kindly gives thanks and acknowledges everything in our world together as one whole.
Clans
A long time ago, the Creator placed us upon Mother Earth. Each family was asked to go out of the village and tell about the animal they had seen. When they reported what they saw, that became the “clan” of your family.
Women, who give us life, were given the important responsibility of carrying on the clans and the citizenship of the Haudenosaunee. At Onondaga, there are nine “clans”: wolf, turtle, beaver, snipe, heron, deer, eel, bear, and hawk.
Only an Onondaga woman can provide Onondaga children. Only an Onondaga woman of the turtle clan can provide Onondaga turtle clan children, and so on. So children are very proud of their clans. A clan automatically gives them a link to their female ancestors back to the beginning of our people.
The clan system lives throughout the Haudenosaunee. People of your clan but of different nations are still considered part of your family. This is important when you travel through the different nations of the Haudenosaunee. You know there are people willing to welcome you to their lands as part of their family.
Clans also play a part in marriage. When a young person looks to marry, they look to people from other clans. Even if you are not related by blood, they are part of your clan family. Clan members no longer all live in one longhouse. So mothers, grandmothers, and aunts watch to make sure it is a good match.
Our clan system is also important in our way of life. Tough times, such as sickness or death, may leave you in need of help. It is the duty of the members of the other clans to help. The Creator gave us this way of helping each other, so that we care for one another and stay strong. It has helped us survive as a people for countless centuries. We look to our relations in the other clans for help.