matriclans

In the sense of a grouping of matriclans, this root occurs outside of West Ruvu and Kagulu in Ngulu kungugo "matriclan" and Lugulu * ikungugo.

Societies, Religion, and History: Central East Tanzanians and the World They Created, c. 200 BCE to 1800 CE 2008

On the other hand, the development of a wider kin group may simply have been a response to population growth and resultant growth in the population sizes of matriclans.

Societies, Religion, and History: Central East Tanzanians and the World They Created, c. 200 BCE to 1800 CE 2008

Across Bantu societies, I suggest, then, that it was taken for granted — it was epistemological — that in creating social institutions, from matriclans to centralized kingdoms, and in defining social and political roles, from birth attendants (midwives) to diviner-doctors, from chiefs to rainmakers, spirits mattered because they played a part in accessing and making power.

Societies, Religion, and History: Central East Tanzanians and the World They Created, c. 200 BCE to 1800 CE 2008