BANDS AND

TRIBES
Sacedor, Revannie C.
Bands and Tribes
▪ Are considered as the simplest
political systems. They are often
perceived to be “ acephalous” or
without a well-defined system of
leadership.
BANDS
Bands
▪ Typically formed by several families, living together, based on a marriage
ties, common on descendants, friendship, affiliations, and members
usually have a common interest, or enemy.
▪ Thus, the main source of integration is kinship either by blood or affinity.
▪ The structure within a band is less hierarchical as member families are
seem to be equal and there is no class differentiation based on wealth.
▪ Status, if present, is a function of age (elders are accorded respect) or
gender.
▪ There there is evidence that women have higher influence in bands that
are considered pedestrian foragers (gatherers) , while men tend to end up
having more leadership roles in bands, whose livelihood depend on
hunting, or in pastoralist – agricultural bands, where food is produced by
cultivating the land.
Bands
▪ Increase in size, the tendency for conflict increases,
which lead to the band splitting along family lines. This
process is known as” Band Fissioning”. Eventually, this
could lead to some living the band to form their own,
which is referred to as “ social velocity”.
▪ A band that survives, fissioning and social velocity, even
as it experiences in increasing population and a shift
from a foraging and hunting community, the one where
there is now a presence of multiple communities,
engage in pastoral or horticultural form of livelihood,
eventually becomes a tribe.
TRIBES
Tribes
• Still considered as an acephalous political system, even if it is
more complex then band. This complexity results from the
fact that the source of integration is no longer simply by
informal forms of leadership presiding to govern kinship ties,
and friendship, but by a more elaborate way of organizing to
settle conflict to prevent the society from breaking apart.
• The manner by which tribes are organized is through the
presence of Pantribal Association, or what anthropologist
refer to as “ sodalities”
• This come in a form of councils or tribal elders.
• This is partly due to the shift from foraging to agricultural
forms of livelihood which even in bands earlier we seen to
naturally give men more leadership roles.
Tribes
• Tribes are often headed by a village Headman, even
though such role does not have absolute political power.
• A village Headman drives his authority from having a
senior position, coupled with an ability to force others to
obey him.
• Most tribes remain egalitarian, with families and groups
considered politically and economically equal, even those
of the headman.
• Tribes are also seen as economically self sufficient and are
larger and more integrated than bands. However, contact
with modern societies led the eventual collapse of tribal
system as tribes where unable to maintain their traditional
political system.
THANK YOU 