Tribal Flags....help please

[BlondeyeLaurie]

Hello everyone....I wanted to try and get soem assistance/help from y'all. I recently , while online searching for information about my maternal Carmel Indian family, literally "bumped into" a link based in Canada and in discussing our group, they showed a very very small yet distinctive looking flag in the Carmel Indians section. I woudl like to know if this was a tribal flag that represents our family or if it was errantly displayed there and has no connection, tribally to my family. It is , liek I said quite small...I copied it to my desktop and can enlarge it but the image becomes quite ditroted so much so that I am unable to even discern the images on the flag. The best I can do perhaps now is to describe it to everyone in the hopes that someone can help identify it. I have searched countless tribal flag sites and coem up no less than short in seeing it pictured at any of them. I do not know if it is a flag that has it's origins in Canada (as it was ona Candian linked site) or if it is in fact originating in Ohio, which is where my Carmel Settlement ancestors lived. Here goes : It is in the shape of a circle and just liek a dream catcher, it has 7 feathers hanging from the bottom of the circle. The circle is comprised of 4 sections...equal in size...like pieces of a pie....imagine a line running N to S and another E to W...cross sectioning it into 4 pie pieces. The Uppermost right section has a Red background and within it's confines is an Eagle, brownish tan with a pale whitish head and wings outstretched. The uppermost Left hand sided piece is showing a Black background and a very hard to see tan image that kind of looks like a hand or fist holding something that is reddish in color...this image is very hard to discern. In teh lower Right section the background is a palish yellow and the image in it is very cloudy looking...white with faint pale blue shading...perhaps it is a cloud or maybe snowman or a waterfall...I just cannot discriminate what it could be. The last section is in the lower Left and the background is a pale baby blue and the image withn this section appears to be some sort of igloo or housing structure what is white...perhaps huts of some sort with 4 small black windows or doors. The Feathers that extend downward, hanging at the bottom of the circle , all 7 of them are pale baby blue with black tips...with one in the very middle bottom and 3 equally spaced on each side. Intersecting the N, S, E, & W lsegement lines are 4 small cutout trianglular sections...one at each pole...the N tiny section is White in color...the one at the E is Yellow....the one at the S is Red...and the one at the W is Black. Surrounding the entire circle is a ribbon...like a binding on a blanket...teh topmost or top half binding orthin ribbon is Navy Blue and the lower half ribboning is Black,
I greatly appreciate any help in either locating a better picture of this Tribal Flag or in Identifying it to discern if it is in fact , a flag connected to my Carmel Indian ancestors. Thank you in advance. Blessings~~~Laurie

[BlondeyeLaurie]

This is the tiny picture of the Tribal Flag I located....if anyone can enlarge it and gain clarity...please help in so doing. Thank you kindly~~~Laurie

[Tom]

I think that this is just a form of medicine wheel, what was the site that ou found, the images in the colors are represenational animals, etc, it's not specific to anyone.

[Linda]

It looks like a Lakota medicine wheel to me, being used as a Pan Indian (generic) motif.

[BlondeyeLaurie]

Thank you Tom for the reply....I did go and check out soem examples of various Medicine wheels and it is strikingly similar to some...have no idea why it was on their Carmel Indian link along with 2 photos that were also Captioned when you click as: Carmel Indians. I saved all 3 pics. The site was one I late late located and the URL escapes me at this moment...shoudl have saved it indeed...I went to Google and typed in Lake Constance and scoured thru them and located that they did have info on Melungeons and other US tribal groups including the one about the Carmel indians...they had separate links and pages for various groups with photos at the uppermost part of each page. I feel foolish in retrospect but I was researching that region in Canada because of a story that was told to me concerning the ppl from Highland county in Ohio that I wish not, at this time to share openly...the gist of it being that my kin moved to OH then to MI and some to Canada...and I have some supporting information that confirms that...one family specifically being my G G gfather's. If you wish to speak with me further on topic I can certainly do so...I feel as though I am on the verge of a new discovery for myself and my family and my cautiousness seems crutial. Getting back to the medicine wheels....I located a lovely example that is somewhat similar at URL: http://www.crm.mb.ca/crm/mural.html
If you scroll down about 3/4 of the way on the page you will see a sample of a traditional medicine wheel and it's colors and inner designs...which again, are similar to the one I posted but not so much in unison. They explain it fully as such: "The Medicine Wheel:
The Medicine Wheel is a ceremonial tool which is symbolized by a cross within a circle. Each section of the medicine wheel represents a colour, a direction and it's corresponding totem animal.

The North:

The totem of the north is the Buffalo which represents abundance for giving itself for food clothing and more.
The colour of the North is White representing that of balance and purity.
The East:

the totem of the East is is the Eagle. The eagle soars high and has the ability to see great distances.
the colour of the East is yellow. Yellow is the colour of the sun, and brings us energy.
The South:
the totem of the South is the Coyote. Coyote is the trickster- he shatters our illusions and laughs at himself. The Coyote teaches us to examine our emotions
the colour of the South is red - the colour of life force (blood), health and vitality.
The West:
the totem of the West is the bear. The Bear brings us strength and represents introspection.
the colour of the West is black. Black is the colour of mystery and of the unconscious.
Thanks again, Jennie O'Keefe (Mural Coordinator)
Jason Granger
Art City
616 Broadway Avenue, Winnipeg MB R3C 0W8
phone:775.9856 fax: 784.2882

Source: DO above URL and mural contact listed above.

If this was in fact a medicine wheel...what are the origins of this specific one...it is different in both colors and arrangement. Forgive me if I am just uneducated on such things...this is all new to me and I appreciate anything that you can teach me to clarify. Thanks so very much~~~Laurie