Sentence:  As a rule, you see, I'm not lugged into Family Rows. On the occasions when Aunt is calling to Aunt like mastodons bellowing across primeval swamps and Uncle James's letter about Cousin Mabel's peculiar behaviour is being shot round the family circle... the <WSD>clan</WSD> has a tendency to ignore me. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Any association of people behaving clannishly, including one's immediate family.