Clan leaders could summon a council of lineage heads, and council decisions affected all lineages within the clan.

A lineage head called Karanavar heads a Mittom.

Society is divided into lineages headed by lineage heads.

Normally, an Ikenga is consecrated in the presence of one's kinsmen or agemates by lineage head.

Each lineage has its own symbols, ancestral shrine, common property and a lineage head.

On top of secular activities, the lineage head is also the chief priest.

Clansmen elected a lineage head on the criteria of character (truthful, brave, a war-leader) and power (a rich man, a medicine man, or a priest).

Different lineage heads would gather and publicly discuss potential issues of wider concern.

Local leaders of brotherhoods customarily asked lineage heads in the areas where they wished to settle for permission to build their mosques and communities.

Akan religious practitioners include lineage heads, village chiefs (when the head and the chief are not the same individual), and priests who officiate at ritual observances for cults honoring specific deities.