Topic summary
Doodem
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Anishinaabe clan system.
Tradition
The Anishinaabe peoples are divided into a number of doodeman, or clans, (singular: doodem) named mainly for animal totems (or doodem, as an Ojibwe person would say this word in English). In Anishinaabemowin, ode' means heart. Doodem or clan literally translates as 'the expression of, or having to do with one's heart'; in other words, doodem refers to the extended family. According to written / oral tradition, the Anishinaabeg spanned the North Eastern Woodlands of Turtle Island (North America). The origins of the Clans were given to the Getay-Anishinaabeg after the cleansing of the Earth by water, as the memory of people had been wiped clean. Anishinaabe Doodeman are the social fabric context for politics, kinship, and identity of the Anishinaabeg peoples.