Proper Clan Parade Attire??

[Nathan]

Ron,

Although the "clan system" is part of history, clans still exist. They are extended families and they have chiefs legally recognized as such. Some clan members form clan associations to connect with each other, research genealogy and meet other people with a similar interest and enthusiasm in their culture and their heritage.

Why does a clan's role have to be frozen in time at 1745? My clan buys land and builds museums together. The Scottish Clans of Canada set up an education fund to send young people to learn Gaelic language and culture, pipes, fiddle etc...

Scottish communities do another thing...they hold Highland Games both in Scotland and abroad. There are a few characteristics of Highland Games. Heavy events where they participate in feats of strength using less than modern equipment. They also have Highland dance and pipe band competitions. There is also often a parade of the clans. In Scotland, there are often Clan Chiefs in those parades. In Canada, we sometimes have one chief as a guest of honour, usually not.

Highland Games like these are part of our culture now. While there is continuity with the past, we aren't pretending to live in the past. And no, as a clansmen I'm not going to run up a hill weilding a claymore at the Campbells. I'm going to work on an e-newsletter and organize a ceilidh, dinner or whisky nosing. I'm going to tell my clan members when Gaelic musicians are visiting Toronto and encourage them to go and I'm going to take an interest in people and make them feel welcome and included just because they are my distant relatives.

We help people research their family and clan history and we let them belong to something and feel a little pride in who they are and where they've come from.

You can crap on it and mock it if you like, but that only makes you look boorish and mean.

Go ahead and scoff. Meanwhile I'm going to keep having fun and helping distant cousins find out more about their history while helping to foster an interest in maintaining our traditional culture. These things you mock are what makes us distinct in the world from all of the other peoples. Maybe don't be in such a hurry to shovel the dirt over them.