'Structure of the Tribe'

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'A study of peoples far and wide'

by Ulminster Oxbridge

THE STRUCTURE OF THE TRIBE

The Tribes politics are unlike those of the learned and settled peoples of our lands. To those of us who have studied the machinations and workings of a more organised political structure, their workings seem almost simplistic and naive. The Tribe do not have any written law and as such it is impossible to do anything illegal. At first one would think that this leads to a state of anarchy and abandon; however further study has revealed a subtle and underlying structure of mutual respect and a form of almost unspoken law. It is almost as if those who truly come to join the Tribe have an inner knowing, an unwritten honesty that guides when one is committing an act against the spirit of the Boar, the rainbow or the many colours.

The very natures of the Tribe, its fluidity and lack of boundaries, make the study of it very difficult. It is rather like trying to study a single section of water, that passes before ones eyes, as one gazes at a flowing river! To this one must add the fact that the Tribes lores and customs vary with each gathering of the tribe (this is rather like a new set of rules being written each time the tribe comes together)! The actions of the tribe befit the persons who are assembled. A simpler example of this is that I found some groups of the tribe who would not eat meat, another group seemed to consume any thing they could. Each group still kept to the spirit of the Boar, but in their separate groups they acted very differently. When the groups combined, both parties toned down their activities, finding common ground and simply sharing the joy of food and drink. As I have heard many times; 'forever to seek the sacred space that lies between the Sun and the Rain, here we will find the rainbow and the freedom of the many colours'. This expression for me, embodies what is being achieved when the meeting of different parts of the tribe creates an atmosphere of mutual respect.