Four Clans Earrings - Eagle by Copper Canoe Woman

• 2 inch length
• Abalone gem and Mother-of-pearl beads
• Hardware: brass with either 10k rosegold plate or stainless steel with sterling silver plate 

Up and down the West Coast of what is now called Canada and the USA Coastal Indigenous people use clans to organize their familial and kinship systems. Clans also connect us deeper to the animal kingdom and through symbolic artistry and crest designs. The Haíłzaqv people (my people) have four clans. We have a ranking system that goes raven as the highest, then eagle, then orca, and then wolf. There is an epic story of competition that goes along with this ranking system. Of course raven being the trickster cheated his way to being the highest ranking clan. It is a long story told to me by Haíłzaqv elders and matriarchs, the late Evelyn Windsor, Liz Brown, and the late Phylis Mckay who were our Haíłzaqvla and culture teachers. I come from the eagle clan with relational ties to raven. This design depicts the reverence we have for our kinship systems that were created for us by the animals themselves. We proudly wear our clans through crests on our regalia and in our adornment art.