One of the problems with not knowing one’s clan includes not knowing who one can properly marry. Is that why Tahoma apparently never married (although he seemed never to be without a girlfriend)?

With the help of Mark Rosaker, and David Brugge, we kept following the clues. The Santa Fe Indian School records for Quincy Tahoma, incomplete as they were, at least had a registration form  that said “no parents” and listed a guardian, “Manuel Sagantizo.” Someone had written “brother” in pencil. School records indicated Tahoma came from Tuba City. That record also listed Tahoma’s birth date as December 25, 1918 (the 18 was written over top a typed twenty-something)

David Brugge explained that he had never heard of the name Sagantizo, but Saganitso was a rather common name, particularly around Tuba city. A pause here to complain that mis-spelling of names on records complicates research enormously.  And in the case of non-Indians trying to write down what they think they hear a Navajo say, or Navajos using a different variety of their names each time they are asked–well, confusion reigns.

Mark took the information about Manuel Saganitso and ran with it. Digging into on-line birth and death records, he came up with dozens of Saganitsos–most of them demonstrably not connected to Tahoma. To be continued…

Have you had personal experience with a Navajo who was raised by someone other than his/her parents and did not know his or her own clan? We would like to hear such stories.

Posted by Vera Marie Badertscher, May 17, 2009

©2012 Quincy Tahoma Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Who are you?

The questions come right after an exchange of names. Where did you come from? What do you do for a living? Do you have children? We tend to quickly try to categorize the people we meet. People think of the questions as friendly exchanges, not prying, and the information exchange helps oil the way to understanding between strangers.

If you come from Ohio, Charnell and I will follow up with, “Where in Ohio?”, because we both came from there. We’ll probably recognize the name of the county and know if you were close to Columbus, Cincinnati or Cleveland. We’ll likely wind up talking about the Ohio State Buckeyes. Likewise, we’ll bond if you’re from Arizona or Texas or Virginia or from Santa Fe. If you have children, we may whip out our PDAs and show you pictures of our families. Of course if you mention Navajo Art as an interest, we’ll talk your ear off.

In the Navajo culture, clan comes first. According to the Saganitso family that took Quincy in as a small child, Quincy was born to EdgeWater and born for Many Goats.

“Born to” means that his mother belonged to Edge Water clan, and “ born for” means his father was Many Goats.

Harrison Begay, who was a close friend when they attended the Santa Fe Indian School, believes that Quincy did not know his clan. Begay thinks that Tahoma’s adopted father was Edge Water Clan and that is why he was named “Tahoma,” which is similar to the Navajo words for Edge Water (Tahonnie, the name used in early school records for Quincy).

But according to the Navajo clan system, Tahoma would have been of his birth mother’s clan, and could not have actually become a member of his adoptive father’s clan any more than of his real father’s clan. Therefore the Saganitso’s version more logically explains why he was originally referred to as Tahonnie, which was gradually changed to Tahoma.

Although it may be confusing to the more patriarchal society of non-Indians, the fact that a person belongs to their mother’s clan emphasizes the matrilineal system of the Navajo. Non-Indians get even more confused by the practice of calling everyone in the same generation in a clan “brother” and “sister” and giving honorific aunt, uncle and cousin titles out by the fistful. The Navajo clan system provides a sensible way to keep track of what family relationships a person has and is a key part of each person’s identity. That makes it particularly disturbing to think that Quincy Tahoma said he did not know his real clan. You can learn more about clans at a web site run by a Navajo. Of course there are many reference books, but if you want an entertaining way to learn about Navajo society, try a few Tony Hillerman books .

Now it is your turn. If you are an American Indian, or a Native American scholar, please help us try to understand why Tahoma denied known his clan. Can you help others understand how important clan is to the Navajo? If this is new to you, what questions do you have?

©2012 Quincy Tahoma Blog. All Rights Reserved.