This is an interesting discussion.

I feel it is a wonderful thing to know your family history and have a sense of where you came from. What did your grandfather, great grandfather, great great great great grandmother do and where did they come from.

At Highland games you almost automatically have a sense of family with others that are in your clan.

if you where walking around wearing your Clan's tartan and saw somebody else wearing the same tartan... I would guess you would walk out of way to talk to them. And if they were wearing it because they also belong to that clan (Instead of just wearing it because they liked the colors) you would have some "Family" connection and there would be a good chance that at some time in the past your families most likely lived, fought, and died together.

Are clans and Clan Chiefs "important" depends on what you mean when you ask that question. Just ask the folks in Clan Crawford, their Clan Chief sold his property and died childless in Canada and the Lord Lyon is now involved trying to figure our who if anybody can be chief of the clan