Peach Tree clan

In his Tony Hillerman 1980 Navajo detective novel PEOPLE OF DARKNESS, he mentions the Hopi Peach Tree clan, a kinship group associated with the area around Moenkopi, Arizona. Although peach trees have been cultivated by the Hopi for generations, a clan associated seems to have been invented by Hillerman to further the narrative of his novel.

A clan composes an interrelated social group whose connections derive from parentage and kinship affiliation, and is common to Indigenous social structures. Clan configurations develop and are expressed uniquely in different Native American groups, and each tribe is comprised of numerous clans. Clan names and identities often originate in the natural environment of the tribal nation's homeland, and reference place names, fauna and flora, as well as significant natural phenomenon. Clans structures entail significant mentoring and obligations to the children of one's sisters or brothers.