by Dee Berry
Toteg Tribal Doyen
A 'tribe' is a social division of people sharing some social relation.
Our culture tends to automatically envision "Native Americans" whenever
they see or hear the word 'tribe'. That's understandable if you
For the purpose of defining what the Toteg Tribe is, we will extract the broader meaning of the word "tribe" and apply it as we are actually structured.
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
In his 1972 study,
The Notion of the Tribe, Morton Fried provided numerous examples of tribes
the members of which spoke different languages and practiced different
rituals, or that shared languages and rituals with
A 'tribe' is a society. A society is a group of people that form a semi-closed system, in which most interactions are with other individuals belonging to the group. A society is a network of relationships between people. A society is an interdependent community. The casual meaning of society simply refers to a group of people living together in an ordered community. Societies are the main subject of study of the social sciences.
Some social scientists use the term 'tribe' to refer to societies organized largely on the basis of kinship. The word kinship can refer more broadly to any emotional relationship. This can also refer to ideas that are related. In some cultures, the formal establishment of kinship involves various customs and obligations.
A clan is a group
of people united by kinship and descent. Some clans are so large
and so old that they merely share a "stipulated" common ancestor; that
is, the clan has no evidence of the ancestor, and he or she may be
2004 by Dee Berry