Cherokees traditionally called themselves Aniyunwiya, a word often translated as Principal People, The Most Important People, or simply The People. This was not a declaration of dominance, but of responsibility. To be The People meant to live in right relationship with the land, the stars, the community, and the unseen world. Those who were not Cherokee were referred to as the other people, a distinction rooted in relationship rather than hierarchy.

At the time of first sustained European contact in 1540, Cherokee society was matriarchal and matrilineal, organized through seven clans. Identity, belonging, and inheritance moved through the mother’s line. A child belonged to their mother’s clan, not their father’s. In fact, the father was not considered blood kin in the same way; he belonged to the clan of his own mother.

People were identified by their name followed by their mother’s name. One might say, “I am Galagina, whose mother is Oganunitsi.” Identifying children through the father is a custom associated with patriarchal cultures introduced later.

A common piece of Cherokee humor reflects this worldview: “We know who your mother is; who your father is, is only a rumor.”

This humor also connects to an old teaching that Grandfather Moon was considered the father of all children. This was not literal biology, but cosmological language, much like the idea that a stork brings babies. It reflects how deeply the sky, stars, and cycles of light were woven into daily life.

In Cherokee tradition, a name is everything. It is not a label but the essence of a being - their heart, soul, and spiritual identity. At birth, a child’s name was determined by the Sacred Venus Calendar of natal days, a 260-day ceremonial calendar aligned with the cycles of Morning Star and Evening Star.

The Daykeeper calculated the child’s natal day and passed the name to the mother through the midwife. The mother was then responsible for immediately calling the child by name. This rite was understood to anchor the child’s spirit to the cosmos. A child who died without a name was believed to be lost in the ether of the universe.

Names were sacred and often kept secret. When early U.S. census takers demanded names, many Cherokee people refused. Only under threat of punishment did a compromise occur, where English names were recorded instead. This is how many Cherokee families came to carry surnames such as Boundinot, Bushyhead, Rogers, or Smith, sometimes even the mother’s maiden name, which made perfect sense within a matrilineal culture.

Names could also be ceremonially changed. In cases of terminal illness, a new name might be given so the old name could die, allowing the person to live on. When a person died, their name died with them. Speaking the name was believed to keep the spirit earthbound. Letting the name rest allowed the spirit to walk The Way freely. When a name was later given to a newborn, the taboo was lifted.

Underlying all of this is a central Cherokee cosmological truth: Every being on Earth is an Earth-reflection of a star. People, animals, rivers, stones, trees, and flowers all mirror the sky. The cosmos is not separate from life; it is expressed through it.