ABSTRACT
The position of the Bari rain chiefs of Shindiru approached most closely to it; they were, and are to-day, widely respected and feared not only among the Bari but by adjacent tribes as well. In many tribes the governance of the community was entirely in the hands of the elders. It is interesting to speculate on the future of the rain chief in those tribes where rain powers are regarded as essential to authority. The clan is an enlarged family, descended presumably from a common ancestor and, in this province, reckoning descent in the male line. The clan has its own individual name; its members are all 'brothers' bound together by common blood and common interests. In any one village two or three clans will be found, but even so in that village the clans retain their corporate existence to a surprising extent. In many tribes the governance of the community was entirely in the hands of the elders.
