Tribal Societies

Modern nation-states use markets to distribute food to non-food producers. Aristocrat peasant societies use a command economy mechanism to collect and distribute food. The most important characteristic of tribal societies is that they do not have a strong and reliable mechanism for food distribution. This makes it difficult or impossible for tribal societies to have cities and higher levels of civilization based on literacy.

There have been many variations of tribal society. They range from the primitive hunting and gathering bands of our earliest ancestors to relatively sophisticated tribal nations like the Iroquois Confederation that confronted the American colonists. Some tribal societies retain a primarily hunting and gathering economy, but many have also developed agriculture and animal husbandry. Quite often, members of the tribe share food with each other. This is certainly a form of food distribution, but it is not reliable enough for the development of large numbers of specialized workers and non-food producers.

Most tribes have a political structure based on chiefs, elders, and councils. The religion is often shamanism. In most tribes the young men are expected to be warriors. Tribal warfare usually takes the form of raids, but sometimes large groups leave their homeland and go looking for a new place to live. This has caused a number of major upheavals in history. Some tribes are docile, some are dangerous when disturbed, and some have been downright aggressive. Many tribes are relatively sedentary, while others are highly mobile.

When colonial empires evaporated in the decades following World War II, many tribal societies found that legally and constitutionally they had suddenly become nation-states. Unfortunately, the transition to a successful, market economy nation-state is not that easy, and tribal societies seem to have a particularly difficult time. There will be a great deal more discussion about this transition in the coming pages.