Clan Council
Like herding a big bunch of very opinionated cats. With axes.The day-to-day life of a Hummish clan is decided upon by its Twelve Elders. But what about something more longterm, or too significant for it to be decided by a bunch of old-timers? This is where the Grand Council comes in. Every adult man and women of the clan are given a voice, and get to vote on the topic of discussion. Then again, those voices are not exactly equal in practice. Hummish society being built on respect for elders the way it is, the opinion of one's parents matters a lot. So much that a family head is able to cast the vote for their children too, so long as those children are adult and not physically present at the Clan Council themselves. And with family head often having their own still living parent... You can see how that tends to concentrate the votes once again in the hands of family patriarchs compared to younger members of the clan.
Execution
The Clan Council takes place over three very similar days. Each one starts with a huge breakfast, over which different families tend to meet together and exchange the news. After food is taken away, any adult member of the clan is free to stand in the plaza centrer and state their suggestion. Everyone else is given a chance to ask one short question, and the person suggesting it must respond with an equally brief reply.
After all questions have been asked and answered, a vote is held and counted. A simple majority wins. That is, counting all the votes of absent clan members who are represented by their family heads. The same process of proposals and questions then repeats for the rest of the Clan Council, interrupted only by regular meals. In practice however, it is very common for influential clan members to waste everyone's time by asking countless useless questions to try and stifle their rivals' proposals. Some would bring their entire families to the council for just this reason alone.
Observance
The Clan Council is held every year at the clan's seat power on the day of its founding. Since a new clan can only be created during the Clan Council of sorts, that makes total sense. Although it is also possible for an off-schedule Clan Council to be held as requested by six elders or half the adult clan members, that is an extremely rare event. For so many people to assemble together is a long and costly affair, while elders are in no hurry to summon the only body capable of overruling their authority.
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