Lewis and Harris MacLeod, and those on Lewis being referred to as from the clan MacLeod of Lewis. Lewis is also the ancestral home of Clan Morrison. The Lewis chessmen is a famous collection of 12th-century chess pieces, carved from walrus ivory and mostly in the form of human figures, which were discovered in Uig in 1831. A major industry on the island is the production of Harris tweed fabric, which is handmade on the island; by law only fabric produced in the Outer Hebrides can be called Harris tweed. The Lewis Trilogy of novels ("The Blackhouse", "The Lewis Man" and "The Chessmen")
South Lewis, Harris and North Uist National Scenic Area government designated these areas as "national park direction areas", giving powers for planning decisions taken by local authorities to be reviewed by central government. Following a further review of landscape protection in 1978, additional areas, including the area of the current South Lewis, Harris and North Uist NSA, were identified as worthy of protection due to their landscape qualities. Accordingly, in 1981 the direction areas were replaced by the national scenic area designation, which were based on the 1978 recommendations and thus included this area. The defined area remains as originally mapped in 1978, but was redesignated under new legislation