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==Etymology==
[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._1100-1500_.09THE_MIDDLE_ENGLISH_PERIOD Middle English], from [[Latin]] tribus, a division of the [[Roman]] people, tribe
The [[English]] [[word]] tribe occurs in 13th century Middle English [[literature]] as referring to one of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Tribes_of_Israel Twelve Tribes of Israel]. The word is from Old French tribu, in turn from Latin tribus, referring to the original tripartite [[ethnic]] division of the Roman state: Ramnes (Ramnenses), Tities (Titienses), and Luceres, corresponding, according to Varro, to the Latins, Sabines, and Etruscans respectively. The Ramnes were named after [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romulus Romulus], leader of the Latins, Tities after [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatius Tatius], leader of the Sabines, and Luceres after Lucumo, leader of an [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etruscans Etruscan] army that had assisted the Latins. According to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livy Livy], the three tribes were in fact squadrons of knights, rather than ethnic divisions.
The term's ultimate etymology may be found in the [[Latin]] word for three, "tres." The dative and ablative declensions of this word are both "tribus." The word "tribus" could therefore mean "from the [[three]]" or "for the three."
Another [[theory]] holds that tribus is perhaps derived from the PIE roots *tri- "three" and *bhew- "to be."
From 242-240 BC, the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribal_Assembly Tribal Assembly] (comitia tributa) in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Republic Roman Republic] was organized in 35 Tribes (4 "Urban Tribes" and 31 "Rural Tribes"). The Latin word as used in the Bible translates as Greek [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phyle phyle] "race, tribe, clan" and ultimately the Hebrew [http://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%A9%D7%91%D7%98 שבט] (ʃe.væt) or "sceptre". In the historical sense, "tribe," "[[race]]" or "[[clan]]" can be used interchangeably.
*Date: [http://www.wikpedia.org/wiki/13th_Century 13th century]
==Definitions==
*1 a : a [[social]] [[group]] comprising numerous [[families]], [[clans]], or [[generations]] together with [[slaves]], [[Children|dependents]], or [[adopted]] strangers
:b : a [[political]] division of the [[Roman]] [[people]] [[originally]] [[representing]] one of the three original tribes of ancient Rome
*2 : a [[group]] of [[persons]] having a common [[character]], occupation, or interest
*3 : a category of taxonomic [[classification]] ranking below a subfamily; also : a [[natural]] [[group]] irrespective of taxonomic rank <the cat tribe> <the rose tribe>
==Description==
A '''tribe''', viewed historically or developmentally, consists of a [[social]] [[group]] existing before the [[development]] of, or outside of, states.
Many [[anthropologists]] use the term to refer to [[societies]] organized largely on the basis of [[kinship]], especially corporate descent groups (see clan and kinship).
Some theorists hold that tribes [[represent]] a [[stage]] in [[social]] [[evolution]] intermediate between bands and states. Other theorists argue that tribes developed after, and must be understood in terms of their [[relationship]] to, states. Some criticize its connotations as a way of attaching "backwardness" and the racist notion of [[primitive]] since the term "tribe" is largely used to describe non-White peoples.
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.
Anthropologist [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elman_Service Elman Service] presented a [[system]] of [[classification]] for [[societies]] in all [[human]] [[cultures]] based on the [[evolution]] of social inequality and the role of the state. This system of classification contains four categories:
*1. Gatherer-[[hunter]] bands, which are generally [[egalitarian]].
*2. Tribal [[societies]] in which there are some limited instances of [[social]] rank and [[prestige]]
*3. Stratified tribal societies led by chieftains.
*4. [[Civilizations]], with [[complex]] [[social]] [[hierarchies]] and organized, [[institutional]] [[governments]].
In his 1972 study, ''The Notion of the Tribe'', anthropologist [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morton_Fried Morton H. 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]].
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. 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 [[Military|army]] that could fight against states, and they would have a [[leadership]] that could [[co-ordinate]] [[economic]] production and [[military]] [[activities]].
In some countries, such as the United States of America and India, tribes are polities that have been granted legal recognition and limited [[autonomy]] by the state.
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 coordinate production and [[distribution]] of [[food]] in times of [[scarcity]], without limiting or constraining people during times of surplus.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribe]
[[Category: Anthropology]]