The term “tribe” gets thrown around quite a bit both here on Anthropik and on other online communities like it. “The Tribe of Anthropik” has itself been criticized of late because it is not really a “tribe” in the technical sense. And these people–who shall henceforth be referred to as cornmongers–these cornmongers have a point. Much like the way that the International House of Pancakes isn’t much of a “house,” online FAQs are often made up of questions that have in fact never been asked, and “American democracy” is really a lot more like a republic. But most decent citizens are polite enough to not point these things out. What’s the point of all this? Quite simply that imprecision is a common feature of modern English, especially when dealing with a word as mixed up in different uses and meanings as the word “tribe.” As is the case in most words worth bothering to take the time to define, true accuracy becomes a tricky thing. So then what is it that we mean when we talk about living as part of a “tribe?”

In the past, “tribe” has been defined simply as a group of people working together to make a living. For an example of this sort of tribe, one need only look at the Tribe of Microsoft.

What, that doesn’t count?

All right, cornmonger. I suppose most people would not consider their places of business to be “tribes,” even in the most decentralized work environment. So clearly, there’s more to this group than just “working together to make a living.”

Perhaps these people are instead linked by a certain comaraderie. After all, people in real tribes don’t just clock out at five. They have a certain interest in the well-being of their fellow tribesmen. And if comaraderie is the critical element, then that’s something that can be forged through several late nights of pizza, Mountain Dew, and Super Smash Brothers Melee. I call it the Tribe of Pokémon Stadium.

Then again, everybody has friends, and that doesn’t make them part of a tribe.

Perhaps then we should look at the tribe, as anthropologists do, in terms of family relationships. A tribe in the most technical sense is based on kinship. And after all, the family you were raised in has the emotional bond that friends have, and they also typically work together to make a living. Even when the entirety of the family’s income is brought in by one or two individuals, other family members are often tasked with the upkeep of the home, which is just as important a part of the group’s quality of life.

All of these seem to be somewhat reminiscent of that group we call a tribe, but none of them exactly fits the bill. So let’s think about it this way. What is it that we’re trying to communicate when we talk about tribes? Why are we so concerned with groups of people making a living together? We already have groups of people making a living together.

The point, though, is this. None of the groups mentioned above are tribes because a tribe, that group of people with whom you make your living, includes all of those people and more. If a tribe is about people helping each other survive, then each of us already had our own tribe, or at the very least, the beginnings of one. It consists of all of those people you now draw on for support. And if our situation were to suddenly change because of diminishing returns, or global warming, or peak oil, do you honestly think that those people would just say, “Oh well. Eat fish, cornmonger!”

For one thing, that would be a weird thing to say. But for another, the people you know you can count on for support do not generally stop supporting you just because things get rough. In fact, such are the times when people pull together and support each other all the more. And that seems to be what we’re really trying to get at when we talk about tribes–an extended social support network. Just like the kind you’ve been a part of your whole life.

Is the Tribe of Anthropik a real tribe? If you mean simply those of us directly involved in running the website, probably not. But my tribe is more than just a list of names on the side of somebody’s computer screen. And my tribe is looking pretty good.