A tribe was a type of social group, at a much smaller and simpler level than a nation. Tribal social structures occurred in many cultures, to the point that the word was considered a common root word, useful in comparing related languages. Tribal structures were associated with more primitive levels of development. (TNG: "Contagion", "Too Short A Season") However, some cultures were too primitive to even form tribes; these tended to form loose associations instead. (TOS: "The Galileo Seven")
Governing structures of tribes could include tribal councils, tribal elders, and even tribal law. (TOS: "The Paradise Syndrome"; TNG: "Journey's End")
Doctor Leonard McCoy remarked that Apollo would have seemed like a god to the tribesmen of early Greece. (TOS: "Who Mourns for Adonais?")
During the 16th century, according to Q, Humans were murdering each other in quarrels over tribal god-images. (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint")
In 1680, several Native American tribes banded together to overthrow their Spanish overlords in the region later known as New Mexico. (TNG: "Journey's End")
Inhabitants of Gamma Trianguli VI lived in what was described as a tribal village. (TOS: "The Apple")
While on Omega IV, Captain James T. Kirk compared the United States of America to a tribe while trying to explain it to the Yangs, themselves a tribal culture. (TOS: "The Omega Glory")
Zora had subject tribes on Tiburon, and was known for experimenting with their body chemistry. (TOS: "The Savage Curtain")
Mordanites, while having some sophistication, were still ruled by tribal family units. (TNG: "Too Short A Season")
Fleet Admiral Charles Vance described the Vulcans and the Romulans as "two tribes from the same species that went their separate ways." (DIS: "Unification III")
Known tribes
- /Xam Abathwa
- Drakian Forest dwellers
- Karis Tribe of Delios VII (VOY: "Sacred Ground")
- Taqua Tribe of Nagor (TNG: "Birthright, Part I")
- Nobelia Prime natives
- Māori
- Ten Tribes of Capella
- Yang tribes of Omega IV
- Tribesmen of early Greece
- Native American tribes (Human)
- Comanche
- Delaware
- Hopi
- Mayan
- Mohican
- Navajo
- Rubber Tree People
- Chakotay's tribe
- The unnamed tribes involved in the Pueblo Revolt
Furthermore, the USS Lakota was named for the Lakota people, (AOL chat, 1998) and the movie Apache Serenade presumably featured Apache.