Teip

thumb|290x290px|Elders from the teip, 1906. A teip ( "tape"; Chechen and , ; ) is a Chechen and Ingush tribal organization or clan, self-identified through descent from a common ancestor or geographic location. It is a sub-unit of the tukkhum and shahar. There are about 150 Chechen and 120 Ingush teips. Teips played an important role in the socioeconomic life of the Chechen and Ingush peoples before and during the Middle Ages, and continue to be an important cultural part to this day.

==Traditional rules and features== Common teip rules and some features include: The right of communal land tenure. Honor killing, if the honor of one of the members is violated, often applied in cases of murder, rape, denigrating remarks against a female member of the family, or in cases of homosexuality. This also concerns women for non-marital relations, loss of virginity, adoption of deviant morals having dishonored the family. Unconditional exogamy. (But marriages between members of the same clan are prohibited) Election of a teip representative. Election of a headman. Election of a military leader in case of war. Open sessions of the Council of Elders. The right of the teip to depose its representatives. Representation of women is done by male relatives. The right of adoption of outside people. The transfer of property of departed members to members of the teip. The teip has a defined territory. The teip constructed a teip tower or another building or natural monument convenient as a shelter, e.g. a fortress. The teip had its own teip cemetery. The teip tradition of hospitality.