Clans, Estates, and Houses

Abstract Keo conceive of relations among clans (suku) and villages (nua) largely as relations among male ancestors. As noted, recipients of territory granted by original Land Mothers were frequently male affines, husbands of female relatives, who then founded villages and erected sacrificial instruments of their own. In this way, their children and descendants formally established themselves as separate clans. Hence clans have their origin in, or as, villages. In the course of time, however, settlements have split, moved, and merged with others, so that at present a single village can comprise two or more clans.