Tribe
At a glance:
- Series: American Indians Ready Reference
- Categories: Social Science
- Subcategories: Native Americans, American Indians
- Curriculum: American Indian History
- Geographical Location: West Indies, North America, South America
- Date: 1492-present
Article abstract: The terminology used to describe American Indian social organization has implications for the subjective value placed on that organization by European Americans.
The word “tribe” has deep roots in Indo-European languages and cultures. In Indo-European the word tre refers to trees and the way they branch. This later became the word tri, meaning one-third, or division into three parts. The word bus refers to “bush,” or branching plant. In Latin, tribus was used in reference to the three groups—Latin, Sabine,...
[The entire page is 1813 words long]
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