How a clan system fits together
One common pattern: a people divided into two halves, each half into clans, each clan into lineages and households.
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- The people. Picture a whole people. A clan system sorts everyone in it into groups of relatives, so that each person knows who is kin, who is a possible spouse and who owes what to whom.
- First moiety. Some peoples divide into two halves called moieties. The Yolngu of northern Australia call theirs Dhuwa and Yirritja. People, land, animals and songs all belong to one half or the other.
- Second moiety. The second half balances the first. Among the Tlingit of Alaska and Canada the halves are Raven and Eagle, also called Wolf. By custom a Raven marries an Eagle, never another Raven.
- Clans of first half. Each half holds several clans. A clan is a group that claims one distant founding ancestor. Many clans have an emblem, such as an animal or plant, that members treat with respect.
- Clans of second half. Clans in the opposite half are the people you marry into. They are also often the people who help at your funerals and ceremonies. Each side needs the other.
- Lineages. Inside a clan are lineages: smaller branches where people can name each ancestor in the chain. Land, houses or titles are often held by the lineage, not by one person.
- Households. At the bottom is the household. Because spouses come from different clans, almost every home links two clans. Not all peoples have moieties or clans. This is one pattern among many.