The restriction among the Cherokees, the Creeks, and the Natches, does not extend beyond the clan to which the man belongs.
There are sufficient proofs, that the same division into clans, commonly called tribes, exists among almost all the other Indian nations.

But it is not so clear that they are subject to the same regulations which prevail amongst the southern Indians.
(*Footnote.

Volume 2 page 109.) ...
A similar law of consanguinity seems to be inferred in Abraham's reply to Abimelech (Genesis 20:12) And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife.
FAMILY NAMES AND SIGNS.

ORIGIN OF FAMILY NAMES.
The origin of these family names is attributed by the natives to different causes, but I think that enough is not yet known on the subject to enable us to form an accurate opinion on this point.

One origin frequently assigned by the natives is that they were derived from some vegetable or animal being very common in the district which the family inhabited, and that hence the name of this animal or vegetable became applied to the family.