Kinship, Family, Gender

• Kinship Organized around the social unit of the clan. There are specific terminology that the Cherokee natives use, such as "gidda". This is a term used for someone's father and their father's brothers. In this system of kinship there are four important lineages; the farther's, the mother's, the mother's father's, and the father's father's matrilineal. These relationships control all the social interactions such as marriage, choice of teams in games, and inheritance of property.

• Children  Many Cherokee children hunt and fish with their fathers. In the past, Cherokee kids had more chores and less time to play, but they did have dolls, toys, and games to play when there was an opportunity. In one popular game, Cherokee kids tried to throw a dart through a moving hoop. Anejodi, a stickball game related to the Iroquois game of lacrosse, was a popular sport among Cherokee teenagers and adult men. Like many Native Americans, Cherokee mothers traditionally carried babies in cradleboards on their backs--a custom which many American parents have adopted now. 

• Men and Woman Roles Like their distant cousins the Iroquois, the Cherokee Indians had an even division of power between men and women. Cherokee men were in charge of hunting, war, and diplomacy. Cherokee women were in charge of farming, property, and family. Men made political decisions for the tribe, and women made social decisions for the clans. Chiefs were men, and landowners were women. Both genders took part in storytelling, artwork and music, and traditional medicine. 

• Today, Cherokee gender role traditions have changed. Cherokee women can be chiefs also... and Cherokee men are sometimes farmers. However, modern Cherokee people still trace clan relationships through their mothers.

Pow-wow Ceremonial Dance

• Marriage Life The Cherokee had some rules in order to get married. Due to the tribe being matrilineal (based on kinship with the mother or the female line) one had to marry someone else from another clan. The tribe was separated into seven clans. One had to ask a family member if it was a good decision. When the choice was made, in the morning the chief would put two roots on his two palms. The the chief would recite a prayer, and then if the two roots moved at the same time, it meant good luck. If only one moved, it meant bad luck.
• More information about the marriage ceremony
   -->http://napanews.tripod.com/id39.htm

References Cited:

Lewis, Orrin

2011. Facts about the Cherokee Natives.                      <http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2tiBBa/www.bigorrin.org/cherokee_kids.htm/>. Accessed November 15, 2012.

Gillman J., Pamela

1997. Kinship systems in relation to courtship and marriage. <http://www.boulder.net/~gillman/anthpaper/anthpap.html#Kinship>. Accessed November 14, 2012.