Sovereign Amonsoquath Band of Cherokee

 THE BEAR CLAN

down through the ages

ORIGIN of the Bear Clan

"The origin of those clans is so far back it's difficult to say. There's only a couple of them that really have origin stories. The Holly clan, sometimes called the Bear clan, they claim an origin with a child that was found underneath the holly tree, a girl child, and she fostered this clan of Cherokee people. That's the only one I can really think of that has an origin story. " quote from David Cornsilk, Cherokee Nationalist, Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma

http://www.scry.com/ayer/frontier/4413593.htm

http://www.innernet.org/tsalagi/sources.html

http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/h/i/c/James-R-Hicks

http://users.rcn.com/wovoka/Pmchap2-02.htm

http://www.warhorsesim.com/papers/Cherokee.htm



Origins and Tracks of the Ancient Bear Clan

Traditional Chickamauga Cherokee Chief Debra Two Wolves Lange  teaches this:

from http://blueotter.addr.com/traditional-chickamauga-cherokee-teachings

THESE TEACHINGS WERE PASSED TO ME BY ELDERS WHOM WERE CHEROKEE . AND SO IT BEGINS , AHO !

I WOULD LIKE TO TEACH YOU SOME ON THE SUBJECT OF HISTORY , HOUSING AND
CUSTOMS . THE CHEROKEES ARE AN ANCIENT PEOPLE . IN THE BEGINNING THERE WERE
NOMADIC TRIBES OF PEOPLE WHO IDENTIFIED THEMSELVES UNDER THEIR OWN NAMES AND TRIBAL CUSTOMS . AT THAT TIME THE WORLD WAS IN IT'S ICE AGE PERIOD . AT THE
TIME OF THE LAND BRIDGE ; THE ASHINABE ( CHIPPEWA ) TRIBE , WALKED ACROSS
THAT BRIDGE , AND SETTLED INTO THE CANADA REGION OF TURTLE ISLAND . FROM
THERE , THEY BROKE INTO TWO GROUPS ; ONE REMAINED CALLED THE ASHINABE /
CHIPPEWA , THE OTHER MIGRATED ACROSS CANADA , EASTWARDLY TO SETTLE IN
VARIOUS NORTHERN STATES OF THE UNITED STATES , CALLING THEMSELVES , THE
OJIBWE .

FROM THEM , THEY BROKE INTO BANDS . SOME MIGRATED INTO OTHER GROUPS
GOING EASTWARDLY EVEN FURTHER , TO BECOME THE IROQUOIS NATION . FROM THE
IROQUOIS , CAME A BREAK OFF GROUP , MIGRATING SOUTHWARD ; NOW CALLED THE
CHEROKEES . ONE AUTHOR I'VE READ STATES WE BROKE OFF AGAIN AND MIGRATED TO
SOUTH AMERICA , THEN LATER RETURNED NORTHWARD INTO ALABAMA , MISSISSIPPI ,
GEORGIA ; TO BECOME ANCIENT MOUND BUILDERS CULTURE .

Now please follow closely the following verifiable facts, mixed with clues:

Today, the Ojibwe claim Bear as one of their 7 Clans, just as Chief Walking Bear teaches. This is because "AniGatogewi" is translated differently by different family groups. The full bloods among the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma translate AniGatogewi as "Comes from the North" and the Ojibwa also nickname their Bear Clan as "Up North" clan.

The Hopi Prophecy states that hidden warrior societies , like the Bear Clan of the Cherokees, whould be revealed before "purification day."

Another traditional "keeper" points this out: "Estatoe is from the original Chickaumauga language of the Yamassee "Iste" meaning man or men and to(e) derived from towa meaning town. Cherokee is derived from Chi meaning fire and "roki" in the Lower and "loki" in the Kituwah meaning world or people - contemporary Cherokees adapt the word Elohi to define the word world. The traditional meaning is derived from the two ancient clans when they arrived in Florida, from the Yucatan area. One was the Hataka - the priest and medicine-people of the Bear, who bought the sacred fire to Turtle Island and the other was the Chiloki or wolf clan.

The Cherokee and the Powhattan were all once, through an "Peace Marriage" alliance with the Powhatan Confederacy - one people. All of the remnants of the old Powhatan Confederacy, all Virginia Indians like us, claim to be Bear Clan.

The Amonsoquath originally spoke the middle or "Keetoowah" dialect of the Cherokee language. There are no more native Cheroke speakers among he Amonsoquath, but the study and the use of the language is encouraged. Ceremonies are conduced in the Tsalagi and English language. The tribe publishes a hard-to-get middle-dialect english to cherokee dictionary. By definition, the "Old Settlers" were "Keetoowahs."


The United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians and their Bear Clan

They still have the seven clans, but they just call them by a different name in some cases.

Clans: Keetoowah Cherokee Nation Cherokee Language

1 Wolf Wolf A-ni-wa-ya

2 Bear Blue A-ni-sa-ho-ni

3 Deer Deer A-ni-ka-wi

4 War Paint Paint A-ni-nv-wo-di

5 Birds Bird A-ni-tsi-squa

6 Long Hair Long Hair (Twister, Wind) (Stranger) A-ni-gi-lo-hi

7 Savannah Wild Potato A-ni-go-da-ga-wi

Their clan color assignments differ from group to group. Mostly between Bear and Savannah. The clan order is the order of clans around the sacred fire. Wolf clan is in the South. Bear is next going counter clockwise, the direction of the stomp dance. Colors and symbols are used to depict the various clans. This Clan order is required for the Great New Moon Ceremony, Atohuna Ceremony, and for Uku Ceremony (every 7 years).

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