Tribe

Tribe, group of people sharing customs, language, and territory, such as the Apache people of North America. Anthropologists stress the importance of kinship in tribes. Usually a tribe has a leader, a religion teaching that all its people are descended from a common ancestor, and a common language and culture. A tribe is often small in size, is fairly limited in its contacts with other societies, and is correspondingly ethnocentric in its view of the world. Experts disagree about the relative importance of linguistic, political, and geographical boundaries for defining tribal groups. Whatever definition of tribe is chosen, however, exceptions to it abound. The most important criteria for a tribe continue to be linguistic and cultural resemblances.

The word tribe has long been used by both anthropologists and laypersons, but recently it has come under attack as a derogatory term implying an inferior way of life. Moreover, its use is inconsistent; it is not, for instance, applied to modern European groups that meet the criteria of the definition. The designations people or ethnic group are generally preferred today.

See also Clan; Family; Gens.