Yakoyaner

The Yakoyaner is a Mohawk term for the Haudenosaunee clan mother. They are typically senior women responsible for overseeing the clan's political, economic, and social stability. The Yakoyaner, also known as a clan mother, holds weight over their community and family and aids in guiding the clan's chief.

Elizabeth Brant known Yakoyaner of the Six Nations of the Grand River

Matrilineal Organization and Gender Roles

The Haudenosaunee was centred on matrilineal organization, meaning kinship grew from the female line. In Haudenosaunee society, an individual's identity was closely linked to their matrilineal roots. A result of the propinquity between land and identity, territorial boundaries and property ownership were also determined through matrilineage.[1] Women played a crucial role in the political and social stability of the clan. Married couples lived in the longhouse of the female's relative, where the wife had complete control over the longhouse and maintained all its belongings.[2] Haudenosaunee society's central focus is on balance. Women oversaw the longhouses, communal agriculture, and cooking while men took charge of hunting, were the primary builders of the longhouses, and clearing the fields–demonstrating gender complementarity. A similar balance is shown in their political sphere, as while all chiefs were men, the Yakoyaner and other women within the clan elected them.[3]

Elements of the Role

Creation and Removal

While Haudenosaunee society does not have a designated group of elders, clan mothers are considered people of wisdom and experience. A nomination process rests on the oldest female relative of the deceased chief, nominations first formed from his maternal grandmother and great aunts. Although, if they are not living, the role is passed down to his mother or aunts and then on. However, to maintain stability in most families, the Yakoyaner herself chooses the successor, typically a daughter, and trains them in the required duties and knowledge. The position of Yakoyaner is tied to the role of the chief. As a result, the process of removing her resembles the removal of a clan chief. Suppose a clan mother is not fulfilling her responsibilities; her female family member will present warnings, but if she does not heed or feel remorseful, the matter of removal is voiced to the chief to be confirmed.[4]

Duties

The clan mother's general obligation is to supervise the clan's interests. They also have specific economic duties, such as monitoring the public treasury.[5] The Yakoyaner also has several duties related to her clan and the law, specifically concerning family continuity. She is responsible for maintaining the order of the clan's family names. She is consulted alongside other women in naming a new child–ensuring that no child takes on the name of a living person.[4] The clan mothers are also responsible for “adopting” or requickening new members into their families. In times of war, Yakoyaners were allowed to integrate prisoners or refugees into their family systems to replace deceased relatives–to expand the territory and population and fulfill roles within the community.[5]

In addition, the clan mother's work focuses on observing the chiefs in the council and providing guidance when they do not perform their duties or forget the importance of the work. Yakoyaners represented the interests of their clan by selecting a chief to speak on their behalf at the Confederacy council. Yakoyaners also had the authority to oust a chief if he led insufficiently.[6] Their responsibility extends to ensuring that the chiefs' mental, physical, and spiritual welfare is fulfilled by feeding the chiefs in council. Women had domain over the gardens and were the economic source of their community, and thus preparing meals for the council was a reminder of their monetary authority. Most importantly, like the chief, the Yakoyaners also serve as mentors to provide harmony by counseling families and ensuring the children are safe and healthy.[4]

Diplomacy

European and Haudenosaunee sources have indicated that while diplomacy was primarily the domain of men, yakoyaners were often partially responsible for declarations of war. Yakoyaners often accompanied rotiyaneson (chiefs) to Confederacy council meetings and diplomacy talks, in addition to attending their own local councils. During land and treaty negotiations, yakoyaners often travelled with rotiyaneson and served as mediators or appointed a male speaker to represent them. Yakoyaners were of particular importance in negotiations over land due to the role of women as cultivators and the linkage between land and matrilineage. In diplomatic settings, British officials including Sir William Johnson reported the influence of yakoyaners and strove to win their favor.[1]

References
  1. Hill, Susan M. The Clay We Are Made Of : Haudenosaunee Land Tenure on the Grand River. Canada Commons. Winnipeg, Manitoba: University of Manitoba Press, 2017. https://canadacommons-ca.proxy3.library.mcgill.ca/artifacts/1878394/the-clay-we-aremade-of/2627372/.
  2. Baskin, Cyndy (1982). "Canadian Woman Studies = Les Cahiers de La Femme.: Women in Iroquois Society". Canadian Woman Studies. 4 (02).
  3. Venables, Robert W. (2010), Baugher, Sherene; Spencer-Wood, Suzanne M. (eds.), "The Clearings and The Woods: The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Landscape – Gendered and Balanced", Archaeology and Preservation of Gendered Landscapes, New York, NY: Springer, pp. 21–55, doi:10.1007/978-1-4419-1501-6_2, ISBN 978-1-4419-1501-6, retrieved March 27, 2023
  4. Williams, Kayanesenh Paul (2018). Kayanerenkó:wa : the Great Law of Peace. Winnipeg. Manitoba, Canada. ISBN 978-0-88755-556-5. OCLC 1061095159.
  5. Hill, Susan M. (2017). The clay we are made of: Haudenosaunee land tenure on the Grand River. Winnipeg. Manitoba. ISBN 978-0-88755-457-5. OCLC 1027127440.
  6. Jacobs, Renée. “Iroquois Great Law of Peace and the United States Constitution: How the Founding Fathers Ignored the Clan Mothers.” American Indian Law Review 16, no. 2 (1991): 497–531. https://doi.org/10.2307/20068706.
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