Student Name

Engl-2327

Prof. Martin

14 June 2006

Family Ties
Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family.  Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.  ~Jane Howard
Through the reading of several Native American stories, it becomes apparent that the role of family is very important.  It is also clear that Native Americans believe that everyone is related.  The Native American family is matriarchal in nature, and while women play a large role in the legends of the beginning of human life, men tend to be the main characters in these ancient myths.
“The Iroquois Creation Story” explains that life started when a woman in the ‘upper world’ became supernaturally pregnant with twin boys, and that the good twin created men and women on the earth, while the evil twin, even though he tries to create humans, only succeeds in creating apes.  This is the first instance of sibling rivalry.  It is very interesting that at the beginning of the world, there is not a husband and a wife, like Adam and Eve, but twin brothers, siblings.  This implies that blood relatives are of higher significance than ‘legal’ relatives.  
Throughout the Native American myths, this brotherhood is expressed.  In “The Story of the Creation,” there is a disagreement about which of the creators was the elder indicating that birth order is significant.  The text reads, “Now Seeurhun means older brother, and when this personage came to Juhwertamahkai, Nooee and Toehahvs he called them his younger brothers.  But they claimed to have been here first, and to be older than he, and there was a dispute between them.  But finally, because he insisted so strongly, and just to please him, they let him be called the older brother” (26-27).  This concept is continued in the Sioux story “Ikto Conquers Iya, the Eater,” in which Ikto and Iya continually discuss their relationship to one another asking, “my younger brother, or is he my elder brother? Which of us is the elder anyway? … Well, when were you born?” (133).   Even though it is obvious that these two characters are not blood related, there is still a sense that all mankind is a brotherhood, and that it is important to know an individual’s relationship in age to another.  Lastly, the idea of elder and younger brothers is even discussed in the humorous tale “The Winnebago Trickster Cycle” where, in this case, the characters are not human at all.  The main character Trickster is referred to as the older brother and his cohorts are labeled the younger brothers.  It is apparent that in Native American relationships, the elder is looked up to and respected as an authority over the younger, and that is why it is important to know the relationship of those involved.
Lastly, it is indicated that family relationships are important to the Native Americans because they have different names for people based on the relationship to one another.  For example, in my family, the paternal grandparents are Grandma and Grandpa, and the maternal grandparents are Nanny and Poppy.  This is the way it has been for generations, and the way it will continue to be.  This way, there is no confusion about which grandparent we are referring to.  In a similar way, the Native Americans have names for almost every conceivable relationship, indicating the importance of family ties.  A sample of this is given in “The Story of the Flood” where it is indicated that “mossay means an old woman’s grandchild from a daughter”, “cah-um-maht is an old woman’s grandchild from a son”, “bah-ahm-ah-dah is an old man’s grandchild from a daughter”, and “ voss-ahm-maht is an old man’s grandchild from a son” (28-29).  There is a huge commotion about what to call the new child, which indicates the importance of the lineage.  
These stories are all fascinating, and a testimony to the strength of family ties in the Native American culture.  Family, however, has a different meaning, blood relations do not only define it, it is a universal relationship and respect for all mankind.