ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that contemporary clans – patrilineal descent-based groups of various sizes – constitute ‘heritage communities’ not because they are ‘inherited’ from the past, but because of the ways in which heritage as a discourse and practice shapes the relations between and within clan communities and, as importantly, re-defines how ordinary people experience and reflect upon their clan identities. The chapter analyses a handful of new institutions that have availed of their position as heritage custodians to actively intervene in the popular practice of genealogies, by stretching the boundaries of genealogical lore and by promoting genealogy books as its ultimate repositories. It offers a snapshot of the heritage-related activities deployed by clan activists, and foregrounds practices of sanitisation, folklorisation and festivalisation as key interventions aimed at consolidating clan communities, promoting national unity through clan heritage and fostering inter-clan cooperation and respect.
