A tribe, viewed historically or developmentally, consists of a social group existing before the development of, or outside of, states, though some modern theorists hold that contemporary tribes can only be understood in terms of their relationship to states. A state is an organized political community, occupying a territory, and possessing internal and external sovereignty, which successfully claims the monopoly of the use of force. ...

The term is often loosely used to refer to any non-Western or indigenous society. Many anthropologists use the term to refer to societies organized largely on the basis of kinship, especially corporate descent groups (see clan and lineage). For alternative meanings for The West in the United States, see the U.S. West and American West. ... Human relationships within an ethnically diverse society For other uses, see Society (disambiguation). ... Kinship is the most basic principle of organizing individuals into social groups, roles, and categories. ... A clan is a group of people united by kinship and descent, which is defined by perceived descent from a common ancestor. ... The term lineage can refer to several things. ...

Word origin

The actual word, tribe, is of uncertain origin before the Roman usage. The "tri" part of tribe referred to three tribes or political ethnic divisions (Tites, Ramnes, and Luceres), in the ancient Roman state.¹ Also, the scholar Gregory Nagy, discusses it in relation to Indo-european linguistic usage.²

Terminology

Considerable debate takes place over how best to characterize tribes. Some of this debate stems from perceived differences between pre-state tribes and contemporary tribes; some of this debate reflects more general controversy over cultural evolution and colonialism. In the popular imagination, tribes reflect a way of life that predates, and is more "natural", than that in modern states. Tribes also privilege primordial social ties, are clearly bounded, homogeneous, parochial, and stable. Thus, many believed that tribes organize links between families (including clans and lineages), and provide them with a social and ideological basis for solidarity that is in some way more limited than that of an "ethnic group" or of a "nation". Anthropological and ethnohistorical research has challenged all of these notions. Cultural evolution is the structural change of a society and its values over time. ... World map of colonialism at the end of the Second World War in 1945. ... The deepest visible-light image of the universe, the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. ... One of the most influential doctrines in history is that all humans are divided into groups called nations. ... Human anatomical proportions. ... Ethnohistory uses both historical and ethnographic data as its foundation. ...

In his 1972 study, The Notion of the Tribe, Morton Fried provided numerous examples of tribes the members of which spoke different languages and practised different rituals, or that shared languages and rituals with members of other tribes. Similarly, he provided examples of tribes where people followed different political leaders, or followed the same leaders as members of other tribes. He concluded that tribes in general are characterized by fluid boundaries and heterogeneity, are not parochial, and are dynamic. 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1972 calendar). ...

Indigenous peoples

In some countries, such as the United States and India, tribes are indigenous peoples that have been granted legal recognition and limited autonomy by the state. Tribal governments can consist of one supreme ruler (i.e. a tribal chief), or some form of a tribal council, which usually consists of a group of elders. See also: Hunter gatherer. The term indigenous peoples has no universal, standard or fixed definition. ... Tribal sovereignty is the ability of a tribe to govern itself. ... The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view. ... An elder refers to various Wikipedia topics. ... A hunter-gatherer society is in anthropological terms one whose predominant method of subsistence involves the direct procurement of edible plants and animals from the wild, using foraging and hunting, without significant recourse to the domestication of either. ...

Origins

Archeologists continue to explore the development of pre-state tribes. Current research suggests that tribal structures constituted one type of adaptation to situations providing plentiful yet unpredictable resources. Such structures proved flexible enough to co-ordinate production and distribution of food in times of scarcity, without limiting or constraining people during times of surplus. Archaeology, archeology, or archæology (from the Greek words αρχαίος = ancient and λόγος = word/speech/discourse) is the study of human cultures through the recovery, documentation and analysis of material remains and environmental data, including architecture, artifacts, biofacts, human remains, and landscapes. ...

Fried, however, proposed that most contemporary tribes do not have their origin in pre-state tribes, but rather in pre-state bands. Such "secondary" tribes, he suggested, actually came about as modern products of state expansion. Bands comprise small, mobile, and fluid social formations with weak leadership, that do not generate surpluses, pay no taxes and support no standing army. Fried argued that secondary tribes develop in one of two ways. First, states could set them up as means to extend administrative and economic influence in their hinterland, where direct political control costs too much. A Band Society is the simplest form of human society. ... The word leadership can refer to: the process of leading the concept of leading those entities that perform the act of leading. ... A tax is a charge or other levy imposed on an individual or a legal entity by a state or a functional equivalent of a state (e. ... Army (from French armée) can, in some countries, refer to any armed force. ...

States would encourage (or require) people on their frontiers to form more clearly bounded and centralized polities, because such polities could begin producing surpluses and taxes, and would have a leadership responsive to the needs of neighboring states (the so-called "scheduled" tribes of the United States or of British India provide good examples of this). Second, bands could form "secondary" tribes as a means to defend themselves against state expansion. Members of bands would form more clearly bounded and centralized polities, because such polities could begin producing surpluses that could support a standing army that could fight against states, and they would have a leadership that could coordinate economic production and military activities.

Notes