Clans and Gens - The unit of a tribe.  Members of a clan or gens were those descended from the same ancestor.  In some cases this was through the father, a son or daughter belonging always to his or her father's gens.  But in other cases it was through the mother, and a child belonged to its mother's clan.  Marriages were not allowed within the clan or gens.  Frequently each clan or gens had an animal "totem," or symbol, such as the Wolf, Deer, Turtle, or Snipe clans of the Iroquois.
 
 

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