Auglaize County, Ohio

History of Western Ohio and Auglaize County

Clans and Tribes

All the families, living in a long house or an equivalent group of houses, traced their descent from a common female ancestor. Each clan had its own name,— usually that of some animal or bird, as the Wolf, Bear, Turtle, Eagle or Turkey. Such animals or birds were held sacred, and carved images of them, called totems, served as a kind of clan emblem, and were placed over the doors of their houses.

A certain number of clans,— from three or four up to twenty or more,— speaking the same language, constitute an Indian tribe. Every tribe, as a usual thing, elected a head war-chief, and was governed by a council of its clan-sachems.

From "History of Western Ohio and Auglaize County with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Pioneers and Prominent Public Men" by C. W. Williamson, W.M. Linn, Pub, Columbus, 1905.