Tlingit clans

The Tlingit people of Southeast Alaska have multiple moieties (otherwise known as descent groups) in their society, each of which is divided into a number of clans.

Each clan has its own history, songs, and totems, and each forms a social network of extended families which functions as a political unit in Tlingit society.

The sumilarity to moiety names are because its primary crests differ between the north and the south regions of Tlingit territory, probably due to influence from the neighboring tribes of Haida, Tsimshian and Nisga'a.

The parents are required to be from differing clans and be opposite moieties; the children are born from the father, but he has a lesser role in their rearing than does the mother's brothers.

[citation needed] In the list below the Tlingit name of the clan is given with its primary crest in parentheses, followed by the various kwáan (region or village) in which they are found.