For years I have seen folks in the Celtic and Germanic/Norse
reconstructionist communities refer to themselves as tribal and I assumed what it mean when compared to groups that functioned more as congregations. During recent discussions on organization I thought that maybe I and others didn’t really know what was meant when people said they were tribal or said they used a congregation model. So I did
an informal poll, interviewed some folks I know, and asked folks on FB to tell
me how the tribe model is different to the congregation model based on their
own understandings of both. The results
were interesting and contradicted my own perceptions of the deep divide between
the two models of organization.
reconstructionist communities refer to themselves as tribal and I assumed what it mean when compared to groups that functioned more as congregations. During recent discussions on organization I thought that maybe I and others didn’t really know what was meant when people said they were tribal or said they used a congregation model. So I did
an informal poll, interviewed some folks I know, and asked folks on FB to tell
me how the tribe model is different to the congregation model based on their
own understandings of both. The results
were interesting and contradicted my own perceptions of the deep divide between
the two models of organization.
Once I completed the poll, interviews and wound down the FB
discussions I was able to put together a list of traits that each model
held. In order to find common traits
among the various responses I had to be very general in the descriptions as I
did not want to get into the minutia of how these groups implemented the traits
else I would have too many versions of a tribe or congregation to make the
conversation even possible.
discussions I was able to put together a list of traits that each model
held. In order to find common traits
among the various responses I had to be very general in the descriptions as I
did not want to get into the minutia of how these groups implemented the traits
else I would have too many versions of a tribe or congregation to make the
conversation even possible.
Let me first list the common traits among the groups that
identify as using a congregation model.
- Holds public and/or private religious events.
- Holds public and/or private social events.
- Culturally specific.
- Shared values; ethics, religion
- May or may not seek legal and tax legitimacy.
- Membership goes through some sort of screening process that requires approval
of other members/leadership body. - Attempts to foster close ties and connections among the membership.
- Is not attempting to reconstruct ancient social structures.
- Does not identify itself as a tribe or tribal group.
Pretty generic, straight forward and all together boring as
far as lists go. Now let’s look at the
common traits held by the tribe model.
far as lists go. Now let’s look at the
common traits held by the tribe model.
- Holds public and/or private religious events.
- Holds public and/or private social events.
- Culturally specific.
- Shared values; ethics, religion
- May or may not seek legal and tax legitimacy.
- Membership goes through some sort of screening process that requires approval
of other members/leadership body. - Attempts to foster close ties and connections among the membership.
- May or may not be attempting to reconstruct ancient social structures.
- Identifies itself as a tribe or tribal group.
I hope you are as surprised as I am with the results. There are just two differences between the
two models and only one that is concrete. I do feel that as obvious as they are, the
differences should be explained as I chose the language of each trait carefully.
two models and only one that is concrete. I do feel that as obvious as they are, the
differences should be explained as I chose the language of each trait carefully.
During these discussions and interviews I found instances of tribes trying to rebuild ancient social structures such as roles in society (druid, brehon, fili, etc), and fostering, adoption or marriage into the tribe. But I also found tribes that did not have any desire to reconstruct ancient societal structures though they may use terms such as chief for the leader. On the flip side none of the folks using congregation as a model were interested in making such a reconstruction.
The last line is the concrete difference between groups are tribal in nature and those that are not. The wording is such because groups that do not identify themselves as tribal may or may not
identify themselves as a congregation though they look like one functionally.
This could be because they want to avoid using the term due to immediate Christian associations, didn’t really
understand it’s meaning in context of the discussion, or just never thought about what model they were using. In any case what did stand out is they
specifically do not consider themselves to be a tribe, so that is how I worded
the common trait.
identify themselves as a congregation though they look like one functionally.
This could be because they want to avoid using the term due to immediate Christian associations, didn’t really
understand it’s meaning in context of the discussion, or just never thought about what model they were using. In any case what did stand out is they
specifically do not consider themselves to be a tribe, so that is how I worded
the common trait.
The point of this was to identify how the two models
differed, and while it succeeded in doing so it shows more how the two models
can be so similar that the only thing different between them is whether or not
they identify themselves as a tribe. I
will admit my assumptions have been shattered and when someone says they
support a tribal model, I will have to ask more questions before deciding to
run the other direction.
differed, and while it succeeded in doing so it shows more how the two models
can be so similar that the only thing different between them is whether or not
they identify themselves as a tribe. I
will admit my assumptions have been shattered and when someone says they
support a tribal model, I will have to ask more questions before deciding to
run the other direction.
NOTE – There are some exceptions to everything. For the sake of demonstrating the exception there is a tribe in Florida that is NOT culturally specific but has sub-groups that are culturally specific. The tribe itself has created it’s own unique common language and culture to account for the varied groups and bring them together.