ABSTRACT
The term ‘ancestor’ is used in anthropology to designate those forebears who are remembered and to denote specific religious practices as a part of such phrases as ‘ancestor cult’ or ‘ancestor worship’. Ancestors may be prayed to as having the power to grant boons or allay misfortune, but their effectiveness is regarded as naturally limited by the bonds of kinship. Thus, a member of a certain lineage prays only to the ancestors of that lineage for it would be regarded as nonsensical to pray to ancestors of any other lineage. Accordingly, members of other lineages are excluded from the ancestral rites of kinship groups of which they are not members.
