We of the Ah-ni-wo-di clan, also called the Paint or Red Paint Clan, take our name from our traditional role of making the red paint sacred to our tribe. The color red represents triumph and success and is used for our ceremonies and in times of war. This long lasting red dye is made by grinding rocks or earth containing iron oxide. The powder is then mixed with a liquid - saliva, blood, sap or egg yolks, depending on the intended use of the pigment. Roasting the powder over a slow fire will produce deeper reds.
Despite our association with red paint, our clan color is white, which represents the south, and peace and happiness. Our sacred wood is the locust, because one of our old stories tell that the locust was the origin of our medicine. This may be because of the thorns on a locust tree, and their association with red blood, should one be so unfortunate to come into contact with them.
Because we females aren't always off hunting for meat, or stirring up trouble with our neighbors like our menfolk, we are the heads of our tribal clans. They figure that since we stay home and raise the children, who are the future of us all, that we should shoulder the responsibility for making sure there's something to leave them. Besides that, it's very obvious who the mother of a child is, and not always so clear as to the father. So clan membership and field rights are passed down through the mother.
But our female elders do share council with their male counterparts, and together they decide on any punishments to be meted out to those who break our tribal laws. A single clan's elders do not make the laws, those are enacted by the tribe as a whole, but they do enforce them. Our clan does however interpret religious laws for the tribe, and we handle any infractions of these ourselves.
We are the teachers of the sacred ceremonies, and the keepers of the rituals and tools used in these. Despite our importance in the rituals of our people, we are the smallest clan of the Tsalagi, and we are known for our detached isolation and evasiveness. We are sometimes called the Corn People, because we are believed to hold some of the secrets of life.
We members of the Paint Clan are also trained in the healing arts and herbal lore. Being a healer doesn't involve magic, despite the common misconception. We gather herbs to treat the obvious physical ailments, but we also try to keep the body, the mind, and the spirit from warring within our patients by performing healing ceremonies, which often include "painting" various medicines on our clients. In fact, the Tsalagi word for health, tohi, can also mean peace.
This is how we Tsalagi came by our healing skills:
A long time ago, when we were just populating our mountains and forests, the birds and animals held a council to figure out how to get rid of us, since we were taking over their homes and killing them for our food. Each of the attendees named sicknesses that they could give us and they felt more secure, knowing that we humans would all die soon.
But they didn't realize that the herbs and plants were listening to their plots, and planning to counteract them with their own healing powers. And that's just what happened. For every malady that besets us, there is something growing in our lands that can heal it. If we don't know which plant can help us, we walk out into the woods and listen carefully for the voice of just the right plant.
If you'd like to learn more about traditional Cherokee herbal remedies, please read
A Manual of Cherokee Herbal Remedies: History, Information, Identification, Medicinal Healing by Patricia D. Schafer
This is a very thorough treatment of the subject. It's a pdf file, long but worth the effort.
Sources:
Garrett, J.T. The Cherokee Herbal. Bear & Company, Vermont, 2003
CSIRO
The Seven Clans of the Cherokee
AAANativeArts.com
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