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Kabila

From band to nation

The circles of belonging that many peoples use, from the household to the whole people. It is a rough map that scholars debate, not a ladder of progress.

may unite asjoinscounts kin bylives asbranches intois made ofPeople or nationConfederacyTribeClanBand or villageLineageHousehold

  1. Household. Start small. A household is the family that eats from one hearth. Among the Hadza of Tanzania it may be a couple, their children and a grandparent sharing one shelter.
  2. Band or village. Several households live together as a band or a village. A foraging band may hold 20 to 50 people. A farming village may hold several hundred. This is where daily life happens.
  3. Lineage. Kinship cuts across where people live. A lineage is a set of relatives who can name each link back to a shared ancestor, usually four to six generations ago.
  4. Clan. Several lineages form a clan. Members believe they share one founding ancestor, even when nobody can name every link. Clan members often may not marry each other.
  5. Tribe. Clans and villages together form a tribe: a named group with its own territory, customs and leaders. Many groups prefer the words people, nation or community instead.
  6. Confederacy. Some tribes join a lasting alliance. The Haudenosaunee Confederacy in North America united five nations, later six, under one council while each nation kept its own affairs.
  7. People or nation. The widest circle is the people or nation. Not every people has every level, and none of these levels is more advanced than another. They are different ways to organise.

Read the lesson

  1. What is a tribe?The word tribe is used every day, yet it has no single agreed meaning. By the end you will know what people usually mean by it, why some reject it, and what to say instead.
  2. Bands, clans, tribes and confederaciesSocieties are built from smaller groups nested inside larger ones. You will learn the main building blocks, what each one does, and why the old ladder of social types should be handled with care.

Seven peoples, once a week

Every Monday: seven peoples you may never have heard of, who they are and where they live.