THE ORGANISATION OF LANGO CLAN
The Lango attributed their collective identity to a historical event that placed them apart from their neighbors, not to any internal consistency. In a nutshell, the Lango identified two stages of descent: The lineage (doggola), for example, Ogora; the clan (atekere), for example, Jo Arak (the Arak people) (the Elwia people). Because the descent group or clan was too small, compact, and of recent origin, the Lango did not categorize it into two levels. As a result, they would consider the clan and bloodline to be synonymous. The doggola was more essential than the atekere in everyday life.
It’s tough to examine the evidence of Lango clan names In today’s Lango, However, the majority of them are derived from a core of six clans: Oki (Okii), Bako, Atek, Arak, Ober, and Okarowok. Clan names such as Okarowok of Oki (Okarowok me Oki) are said to indicate that a new clan is formed by a migrant group (Jo Okarowok) and a host group (Jo Oki) combining. A clan leader is referred to as Awitong (spear-leader) or Awimony (battle-leader).
The clans of the Lango are numerous, and it is possible that the current list is not entirely complete, especially for the smaller subdivisions. The clans are exogamous; marriage into the paternal or maternal clan is not permitted. A wife joins her husband’s clan and follows its rules, overriding the ancient prohibitions of her family’s clan. The children follow the father’s clan. New clans or subdivisions of old clans can be created by a founder who brings together two clans