page_title: Cherokee clans
section_title: Anitsiskwa
hierarchical_section_title: Cherokee clans / The seven clans / Anitsiskwa
caption_attribution_description: The Wolf Clan pillar at the Chota Monument in Monroe County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. This pillar is one of eight pillars representing the seven Cherokee clans and the Cherokee Nation. The monument rests directly above Chota's ancient townhouse.
context_page_description: The Cherokee clans are traditional social organizations of Cherokee society. They are hereditary and matrilineal: children are considered to belong to the mother's clan.
context_section_description: This is the "Bird Clan". Members of the Anitsiskwa, or Bird Clan, were historically known as messengers. The belief that birds are messengers between earth and heaven, or the People and Creator, gave the members of this clan the responsibility of caring for the birds. The subdivisions were Raven, Turtledove, and Eagle, probably in origin three separate clans later consolidated into one. Earned Eagle feathers were originally presented by the members of this clan, as they were the only ones able to collect them.
caption: Wolf Clan pillar from the monument at Chota
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