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

Clam system - Term subject ExampleA clan is an extensive type of lineage that is characterized by blood relations whereby entirely relatives from either the mothers or fathers lineage, together with all the ancestors and their offspring in that lineage ar 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 fathers or the mothers 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 lineal 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 concrete ancestors. They were also sm all and they were led by elders who were in charge of making all crucial decisions touch on their clans and that of the community at large, but in conjunction with other clan elders from a community.Unlike the modern font type of state governance whereby government officials make decisions purported to be representing the will of the citizens, clans were based on the we feeling, an cyclorama 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 have the best representatives to negotiate with leaders from the other communities in order to come up