Land, lineage and clan in early Anlo

Abstract

Opening ParagraphAccording to G. K. Nukunya, the contemporary social organization of the Aŋlɔ Eve—a people located in the southeastern corner of the Republic of Ghana—is ‘based on a [segmentary] lineage system … generalized at a higher level in clanship.’ (Nukunya 1969:20). The clan orhlɔis the largest social unit in the Aŋlɔ social system and is defined as a group of males and females who observe the same totems and taboos, worship the gods of the particular clans to which they belong, and who claim to be the descendants, through approximately eight to ten generations, of a common putative male ancestor. Fifteen clans, dispersed throughout the towns, villages and hamlets of Aŋlɔ are recognized by the traditional political authorities as part of thehlɔsystem. They include the Lafe, Amlade, Adzovia, Bate, Like, Bame, Klevi, Tovi, Tsiame, Agave, Ame, Dzevi, Vifeme, Detsofe and Blu.