A clan on Iridonia is called Jhere. Clans in general are also called ru (see language page for more). Most of the information on this page pertains to Iridonian clans, and less traditional colony clans may differ.

A clan is a large group of Zabrak families all related by blood. Most of these families are distantly related, so each family within a clan usually has its own unique name. A clan typically consists of 100-500 families, and anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand members, depending on the number of children each family has. The largest recorded clan was many centuries ago and had close to a quarter of a million members. It is unknown exactly how many established clans there are or have been at any one time.

Clans are governed by a council of elders, led by one individual who has been chosen by the rest of the elders. This leader is responsible for the clan's well being and also for enforcing the laws. The Clan Leader is a lifelong position, which can only be terminated if the current leader's duties are shirked. In this case, the clan Elders will confront the leader, and in some cases, assassinate them for negligance or malfeasance. This is a rare occurance, but is a possibility. The elders will then decide upon a new leader from their council.

A youth becomes a full clan member by passing their rites of adulthood. Once passing, the new adult then holds all rights, privileges, and responsibilities of all adults within the clan. (See the culture page for more on this)

When there is a clan war, all members of the clan are expected to participate in battle, with the only exceptions being: children who have not completed the rites of adulthood, pregnant women, mothers or single parents with children younger than three years, and those who are too disabled to fight. As clan loyalty is extremely important, any excuse other than these is considered dishonorable.

Most emigrated Zabrak and their descendents identify with their colony or space station as their true homeworld and view themselves as having no ties to Iridonia. Some colony clans work exactly as Iridonian clans, but most are less traditional and less strict. Each colony is different in its traditions.

A Zabrak family is no different than a family of humans or any other sentient species, typically led by a husband and wife and consisting of anywhere between 1 and 10 children (usually 2-5). These children are raised as most human children, with the exception of Zabrak traditions and training. Things such as schooling, friendship, sibling rivarly, and parental supervision and house rules apply to Zabrak children just as any other.

Aside from the immediate family, Zabrak also acknowledge slightly more distant relatives such as grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. These relatives typically consider themselves of the same family and will visit each other for family get-togethers. Any relatives more distant than those mentioned are usually considered a part of another family.

Zabrak ackowledge that every member of their clan is related in some way, but it is so distant that most do not even know how they are related; only that they have the same blood. Though the clan is a very important establishment to all Zabrak, and clan loyalty is absolute, clan members think of each other more as neighbors than any sort of relatives.

Because clans are so large and most of the families are so distantly related, most Zabrak marry within their own clan. However, marriages between members of two different clans are not uncommon. These marriages are usually accepted, but each clan has their opinions and occasionally problems can arise.

If the bride and groom are of opposing or warring clans, it's likely that both clans will disown them, in which case they will go to live in a "general" city (see page on Iridonia) or a non-Zabrak city on their homeworld.

When the bride and groom are of two clans who are friendly with each other and support the marriage, the couple still must choose which clan they and their future family, if they are to have one, will live with. This can at times cause fighting between the two clans who were friendly before, but usually does not result in disowning from either clan. Again, every clan and their leaders have their own opinions, so nothing is definite. But generally, each clan will accept the new spouse as an honorary member while still recognizing their own as a member of the clan, even if the couple chose to live in the other clan's village, or in a general city.

Interspecies marriages can also occur. Zabrak clans will generally greet this marriage the same way they would inter-clan marriages, be it good or bad. Even members of other species may be accepted as honorary clan members if married to a Zabrak.

It is fairly common for Zabrak families to adopt children of other species. These children, regardless of their species, are raised and treated exactly the same as Zabrak children, with one exception: they are not allowed to participate in Res Selenoren (see culture page). However, when their time has come, they are honored along with the other new adults during the ceremony. Their parents may be allowed to give them their own personal (unofficial) rites of adulthood, and they are sometimes allowed to wear their clan's tattoo or a personal tattoo similar to that of the other clan members.

On Iridonia, humans are generally seen as a weak and dishonorable species. However, most Zabrak have no problem with humans who exceed these expectations, and even those who live up to the stereotype are not treated with personal discrimination.

On the other hand, colony Zabrak sometimes feel inferior to humans. After the rise of the Empire, Zabrak were often discriminated against and had less employment opportunities than humans.

Generally, the Zabrak and the human coexist peacefully.

Human-Zabrak marriages/relationships have occured, some being successful, and others not. If a human mother becomes pregnant with a Zabrak child, the pregnancy will be difficult for her, and most do not survive the delivery because Zabrak infants are much larger than humans at birth. If a human woman is to safely deliver a half-Zabrak child, it is neccessary for her to have an operation rather than a natural childbirth. Sometimes things can go wrong even before the delivery stage, because the woman's body cannot handle the pregnancy during the last trimester. Zabrak mothers have no problem delivering half-human babies normally.

(The Culture page may contain more information on some of the above or related subjects.)