Water Tribe
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The Water Tribe is a collective term for a nation of people in the fictional universe of the Nickelodeon animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender. One of the series' "Four Nations," the Water Tribe is divided into two nation-states: the Southern Water Tribe, which inhabits the South Pole, and the Northern Water Tribe, which inhabits the North Pole. There is also a small population of Waterbenders located in the swamps of the Earth Kingdom. The Water Tribe is home to an order of men and women who practice waterbending, the mystical art of hydrokinesis. According to Uncle Iroh, Waterbenders can adapt to different situations easily, as they manipulate water, the "element of change." As of "The Crossroads of Destiny," the Water Tribe is the only nation left resisting the Fire Nation.
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[edit] Appearance
Ethnically homogeneous, members of both tribes typically have light or deep brown hair, blue eyes and light brown/tan skintone. Water Tribe clothing is typically a set of blue anorak and trousers lined and trimmed with white fur, and worn with mittens and mukluks. Men may wear their hair long and half-up or in short ponytails (also known as "warrior's wolf tails"). Women plait and braid their hair in various styles, sometimes with accent beads, and many sport "hair loopies" in various styles. In the Northern Water Tribe, the people seem to be wearing a darker blue than Sokka and Katara, who are of the Southern Water Tribe.
[edit] National emblem
The national emblem of the Water Tribe is a circle comprised of a waning (if up is taken to be north and the orbit of the show's moon assumed to be the same as the Earth's Moon) crescent moon and three wavy horizontal lines representing water. It is displayed on the pennant of the watchtower in the Southern Tribe Village, and in the architecture of the Northern Water Tribe.
[edit] Government
The Southern Tribe operates on a patriarchal tribalist system of government. The Northern Tribe is a patriarchal monarchy but has the aspects of a tribal group because the chief is the head of state. Labor division is dependent on gender: men serve as hunters, fishermen and warriors, and women serve as homemakers. These gender roles do not appear as imposed in the Southern Water Tribe as they are in the Northern Water Tribe, though this could be accounted to the lack of adult males in the former. If a Southern Water Tribe woman wanted to Waterbend or fight, she would be allowed to do so. In the Northern Water Tribe, she would be denied her wishes.
Now scattered throughout the South Pole, each Southern Water Tribe group or village has a designated leader, all of whom are male. Prior to leaving to fight in the war, the southernmost tribal village was led by the warrior Hakoda.
[edit] Culture
The Water Tribe is divided into three distinct groups, primarily based on their geography and affinity for waterbending. The Southern Tribe occupies the Southern Pole with Katara as its only known bending member, the art almost completely erased from the South Pole as a direct result of innumerable waterbending trainers dying fighting in raids. The Northern Tribe consists of the majority of the official remnants of their civilization, occupying the North Pole with a multitude of able benders. Though separated, the southern and northern tribes continued to remain in contact prior to the war and at one time even retained a custom of coming together during a new moon. The Foggy Swamp Tribe occupies a swamp in the Earth Kingdom, while most of its members are competent benders with some unique talents.
[edit] Season
Each of the Four Nations is influenced by their own distinct, dominant season. The Water Tribe's dominant season is winter. To an effect, more Waterbenders are born during winter than any other season and their powers are at their strongest during the season due to the longer nights. In actuality, both polar Tribes experience winter-like weather consistently, with snow falling year-round.
[edit] Natural Resources and Foods
Inhabiting frozen poles near the seas, the Water Tribes inherently are dependent on the oceans for a majority of their natural resources and well as the bounty of the frozen tundra. Sea prunes are a favorite, while giant sea crabs are considered a delicious delicacy to those in the Northern Sea. Squid and seaweed can be used to make a wide variety of dishes, including soup, seasoning, and even bread and cookies.
Skins from seals are use to create tents, while pelts from polar bears and other furry animals are used as clothing and to cover barren surfaces. Naturally, hunters and fishermen of the Water Tribes are some of the best in the world in their field.
[edit] Southern Water Tribe
[edit] History
Originally, the Water Tribe existed as one solely in the North Pole, however, following civil unrest, a group of warriors, benders, and healers journeyed to the South Pole to engender a new tribe. Due to the division, the two sects evolved quite differently. The Southern Water Tribe was once a beautiful city, like the Northern Water Tribe, but was destroyed following the attack on the Four Nations. Contact between the two Tribes were severed and the Southern Tribe was split into smaller groups and scattered across the Pole, its natives reduced to dwelling within simple sealskin tents and small igloos.
The Southern Water Tribe is currently in dire straits, teetering on the brink of extinction. Its remaining population is dwindling due to Fire Nation raids and is currently defenseless, as its warriors left for the Earth Kingdom to aid in the century-long war against the Fire Nation two years ago. With the departure of the sole remaining Waterbender, Katara, and warrior, Sokka, with Aang the Avatar, the people consist mostly of elderly and middle aged women and very young children. Recently a group of Waterbenders and healers from the Northern Tribe have been sent to the Southern Tribe to help rebuild.
[edit] Customs
The Tribe has a unique rite of passage called "Ice Dodging." This a coming-of-age rite that serves as a young boy's first step in being realized as a true warrior of his tribe. When a male tribemember turns fourteen, he is taken out on a boat with his father, and challenged to guide it through iceberg-studded waters. If and when the boy succeeds, he receives a mark on his forehead symbolizing his defining trait, and is declared a full member of the tribe. The mark of the wise is awarded for leadership quality and making decisions under pressure. The mark of the brave is given for inspirational displays of courage. Finally, the mark of the trust is bestowed upon outsiders who prove themselves worthy of the trust of others.
Certain Southern Tribe members are more than willing to liberally adapt the ritual to new situations. In one instance, tribe member Bato took the fifteen-year-old Sokka, his younger sister Katara, and Aang, a twelve-year-old Airbender, on an "ice dodging" expedition in the rocky waters of the Earth Kingdom. When all cooperated in the ritual, he marked and declared them all full members of his tribe.
Children of the Tribe play a game called penguin sledding which consists of catching a penguin, and riding its back as a makeshift sled.
[edit] Locations
[edit] Village
The Village, positioned on a northern shoreline, is surrounded by a low, roughly circular snow wall, broken up by a snow watchtower (built by Sokka) to the north, and an ungated entrance to the south. Inside are eight residential tents, arranged semicircularly around a communal fire pit. A giant igloo hugs the east wall, while a handful of smaller ones cluster at the north wall. Outside, to the left of the entrance, is a small igloo-structure that serves as the village outhouse. The remaining population stands at less than two dozen, with ten married and/or elderly women, ten young children, and one domesticated polar bear.
[edit] Shipwreck
West of the village lies a Fire Navy ship, torn open on jutting ice shelves. Abandoned after becoming lodged in the ice, the ironclad ship was part of the Fire Nation’s very first attacks over a century ago. Though the shipwreck is a relic of the Fire Nation's long-ago first strike, its booby-traps are still in working order. The tribe considers the vessel to be a bad omen and the children are forbidden to enter it. In "The Boy in the Iceberg," Aang accidentally set off a flare that was meant to signal the Fire Nation.
[edit] Warriors
All adult male tribe members are fully-trained warriors. Their weaponry includes clubs, scimitars, and spears made of bone (also used in spearfishing), bladed boomerangs and machetes with whale teeth on the dull side of the blade. Water Tribe warriors typically wear black and white warpaint on their full face before going into battle. waterbending warriors are all masters of their element and wear face masks to cover their mouths and hoods. The Northen Water Tribe makes use of armories located on the warrior training grounds which serve as weapons storage and war planning rooms where ordered are distributed. Two years ago all the men of the Southern Water Tribe were sent to fight in the war, leaving the village defenseless.
[edit] Fauna
The Southern Water Tribe is home to exotic fauna. Its sea lions are brown, with the dark brown striping and large ears of tigers. Polar bears are miniaturized and domesticated, with a black stripe running from spine to muzzle. The native penguins have four flippers, and are curiously beakless, instead sporting otter-like bewhiskered faces. White Hamsters inhabit the Shipwreck.
[edit] Gender Equality
The Southern Water Tribe has been noted to be less segregated than the north, which has specific societal roles for men and women. Though the Northern Tribe forbids women from learning Waterbending in anything except a healers capacity, it is stated on Nick.com's Avatar Information that Katara's father recognized her bending ability and searched for a master to teach her. Overall, the Southern Water Tribe live a more simple, open-minded kind of life. They allow girls and women to enter waterbending training and do not force women to enter into arranged marriages. Instead, they are free to marry whomever they see fit.
However, the Southern Tribe still retains elements of gender dominated society, as Sokka possessed a minor sexist attitude throughout the beginning of the series.
[edit] Northern Water Tribe
Unlike the obliterated Air Nomads and their southerly sister tribe, the Northern Water Tribe has survived a century of war with the Fire Nation, due to the defenses their icy terrain provides. Resting on the shores of the Northern Sea, behind high walls of ice and an ice gate and canal lock system passable only by the use of Waterbending, there lies a large and bustling monarchic nation-state. Ruled by Chief Arnook, the capital city features a palace, an army, and many skilled warriors, Healers, Waterbenders, and a hidden oasis which houses Tui and La, the Moon and Ocean Spirits. Flanked by icy sidewalks, the city roadways are canals, which people travel by gondola.
The cultural landscape, however, is highly classist and stratified. Marriages are arranged when tribe members turn sixteen, with the bride in particular having no say in the matter. Engaged women wear "betrothal necklaces:" navy blue chokers bearing blue stone pendants carved by their husband-to-be. Female Waterbenders are further marginalized, forbidden by custom from learning Waterbending for fighting purposes. Instead, they are trained as Healers, able to use bending to heal wounds. While the Southern Tribe seems to have similar traditional roles, they are apparently much more strict in the North, as Katara, who was raised in the South, expresses surprise and anger when she is initially denied equal treatment in waterbending training. Bato, a Southern Tribe Male and a friend of Katara's father, showed no signs of disapproval when observing Katara's waterbending skills.
The most distinguishable fauna in the area consist of seals, which sport shells and flippers of sea turtles, and people have domesticated buffalo-yaks for riding.
In the aftermath of the Fire Nation's siege of the North Pole, select benders and healers from the Northern Tribe left for the South Pole, in an effort to rebuild their ravaged sister tribe.
[edit] Locations
[edit] Chief Temple
The Chief's temple is a large structure seated atop the highest tier of the capitol city and is the most recognizable landmark in all of the Northern Water Tribe, able to be seen at almost any viewpoint. The temple stands like a monument, demonstrating the strength and power of the Northern Tribe. It is here the chief sits with his chieftains and makes decisions regarding the Tribe.
[edit] Healing Hut
These are small, classroom-like huts where Yugoda the Healer and other healing masters teach young, female Waterbenders how to properly utilize their healing abilities, primarily using mannequins with the artificial chi paths of a human body carved into them.
[edit] Spirit Oasis
A secluded cove at the base of a waterfall situated behind the chief’s temple. This supernatural place is a lush, warm, tropical oasis and the center of all spiritual activity in the entire North Pole. It is believed that the energy of the Moon and Ocean spirits is what keeps the oasis constantly tepid and flourishing. The oasis holds a small koi pond that contains the two koi fish perpetually swimming in circle motion, as well as a spirit gate. During each full moon, the tribe makes an offering to the spirits as thanks for their protection by placing food and objects beneath the oasis gate. The grassy island is also used for wedding ceremonies.
[edit] Foggy Swamp Tribe
The Foggy Swamp Tribe are a waterbending Tribe who live in a mystical swamp in the Earth Kingdom. The swamp itself actually consists, in large part, of a single, massive swamp tree, at least several hundred feet tall, whose roots and tree limbs have spread out for miles to form the foundation of the swamp. Though the Foggy Swamp tribe Waterbenders share the skill of waterbending, they were completely unknown to their polar cousins and vice versa, until Katara, Sokka, and Aang stumbled across the tribe. They speak with a Mississippi River Delta accent, with whom they share much of their stereotypes. Though technologically unsophisticated, they are powerful Waterbenders. They can use waterbending to propel their river crafts to very high speeds. Members of the Swamp Tribe have also discovered how to bend swamp plants by controlling the water within them. Their diet consists of small game and giant insects, and they keep alligator-catfish as pets. The Foggy Swamp Tribe is also very in tune to their natural surroundings and have a keen understanding of the workings of the natural world and a belief that all life is connected and is reliant on each other, a philosophy which they teach Aang, who quickly accepts the concept.
Though they wear green as opposed to blue, it could be pointed out that the water in their area is green and they are thus consistent with the other cultures of the Avatar world in using their element as a primary color motif.
The Foggy Swamp Tribe's Waterbenders have a different style of bending then their polar cousins. While the North and South pole Benders flow with the water, Foggy Swamp Tribe seems more rigid and straight. This can especially be seen when they are moving their boats using a much more straight backed style then when Northern benders move their gondolas.
The Foggy Swamp Tribe's ancestry lies in the Southern Water Tribe. Thousands of years ago, a group migrated from the Southern Tribe and found the Swamp. Feeling comfortable because of the large amount of water, they decided to stay. This information, however, has been lost to both tribes' history, resulting in neither of the two knowing the other exists. This is never mentioned on screen, but is stated on Nickelodeon’s official Avatar site.[1]
[edit] Influences
In many aspects, Water Tribe culture borrows heavily from that of the Inuit peoples.[citation needed] The newly discovered swamp tribe seems to share aspects of the stereotyped culture of the southern half of the United States, although their loincloths resemble those of South American Natives. The canal lock system used by the Northern Water Tribe is similar to that of the Panama Canal.
The design of the Northern Water Tribe's capital city bears some resemblance to Venice, Italy (which contrasts with the tribal theme of the Water Tribe, but relates to water nonetheless).[citation needed]
[edit] Notable figures
[edit] Southern Water Tribe
- Katara
- Sokka
- Hakoda
- Bato
- Gran Gran Kanna
- Ummi
[edit] Northern Water Tribe
- Chief Arnook
- Avatar Kuruk
- Master Pakku
- Princess Yue
- Yugoda the Healer
[edit] Foggy Swamp Tribe
[edit] See also
| Franchise |
|---|
| Episodes · Media information · Trading cards · Video game |
| Universe |
| Water Tribe · Earth Kingdom · Fire Nation · Air Nomads · Spirit World Waterbender · Earthbender · Firebender · Airbender · Chakra |
| Characters |
| Aang · Katara · Sokka · Appa · Toph · Zuko · Iroh · Azula Major secondary characters · Minor secondary characters · Creatures |
