Clam system Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Clam system - Term Paper Example A clan is an extensive type of lineage that is characterized by blood relations whereby all relatives from either the mother’s or father’s lineage, together with all the ancestors and their offspring in that lineage are considered as members. The main features of a clan include being an exogamous group, having a common ancestor and being unilateral. Being unilateral means that a clan was/is made up families from the father’s or the mother’s side (Middleton and David 38). Clans were and are not made up of a combination of lineages of both the mother and the father. Almost all communities had unilateral clan systems which was either patrilineal or matrilineal lineage. Clans were also exogamous groups because all members of a clan were believed to be descendants of a common ancestor, hence most communities discouraged intra-clan marriages. Some clans had ancestors that some scholars term as mythical, while others had real ancestors. They were also small and they were led by elders who were in charge of making all crucial decisions affecting their clans and that of the community at large, but in conjunction with other clan elders from a community. Unlike the modern type of state governance whereby government officials make decisions purported to be representing the will of the citizens, clans were based on the â€Å"we feeling,† an aspect that made decisions made to be more representative. Almost all clans across the globe had teams of elders or the so-called council of elders who were in charge of making decisions affecting the clan and the community (Hudson, Thomas and Robbie 42). Councils of elders from different clans, but who are from the same tribe or community could come together and make decisions affecting the community at large. In case two or more communities were involved in disputes, clan leaders would select the best representatives to negotiate with leaders from the other communities in order to come up