I am absolutely ecstatic that we now have a weekly show about tribes and cultures around the world. I have always loved to watch shows like this and I am very grateful to Discovery has taken a chance on a show like this. I thank you whole heartedly for the opportunity to see things that I would never be able to see except via shows like this. Thank you thank you.

I know I am so excited. I buttonhole strangers on the street...have you seen the penguins? Are you watching the tribes on Tuesday nights? Some people go yeah yeah, but the real deal people will take your good advice and watch!

FYI: (and not to be a jerk about this), but the term "tribe" has been considered derogatory for a number of years, evoking social evolutionary (read racist) ideology. Its basically like calling these peoples "savages" or "barbarians." If we truly respect them and want to learn about/from them, its best to refer to them as "indigenous peoples of South America" or "African pastoral societies," whatever the case may be...

h-w, Did you catch that she was comparing the "tribes" to penguins? "Have you seen the penguins? Are you watching the tribes" that's just ... umm ... wow.

Meh, at least he/she has good taste... I feel like the term should mean what we intend it to mean, and if you intend tribe to be a neagtive term, then, and only then, should it be consdiered derogative. As far as I am concerned, most people on this show are in "tribes," and thusly they are tribal people. The show is callec "Going Tribal". And anyway, why do you consider yourself an advocate for indigenous peoples? I say don't make something negative if it wasn't inteded on being so.

[quote]FYI: (and not to be a jerk about this), but the term "tribe" has been considered derogatory for a number of years, evoking social evolutionary (read racist) ideology. Its basically like calling these peoples "savages" or "barbarians." If we truly respect them and want to learn about/from them, its best to refer to them as "indigenous peoples of South America" or "African pastoral societies," whatever the case may be...[/quote]
Okay, as a person who is actually a member of a tribal culture, i have to say this is one of the silliest things i've read in a long time. Yeah, sure, the words "tribe" and "tribal" have been used by certain people to justify and further their colonialist mentality and practices, but this is not the only usage or sense. I am Maori, from Aotearoa/New Zealand. My iwi, my tribe, is Ngapuhi. Iwi is usually translated as tribe by both Maori and pakeha (non-Maori), but is sometimes also translated as "nation", which is considered more accurate. However, "tribe" is by no means considered derogatory, defamatory, or in any way negative by the Maori people. All these folks out there who consider themselves champions of the indigenous peoples, a good place to start would be to stop misrepresenting us by assuming objections where there are none, in order to "defend" or "protect" us from words or phrases which are objectionable to you but perfectly acceptable to us. Thank you.

[quote]h-w, Did you catch that she was comparing the "tribes" to penguins? "Have you seen the penguins? Are you watching the tribes" that's just ... umm ... wow.[/quote]
The person you quote is referring to two shows she enjoys and admires, "The March of the Penguins" and "Going Tribal". She is not comparing the tribal peoples to penguins. Are you being deliberately obtuse, or are you just really that bad at interpreting people's intended meaning? (No offense intended, i know there are many brilliantly clever people who are nevertheless completely at a loss when it comes to human interaction.)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: ruahine,

ruahine-
its very amusing when people speak from a certain position, assuming they know the background of the person to whom they address a comment.
you have no idea what my background is. why do you assume that i am trying to "protect" or "defend" an "other."

I am very glad that the Maori people embrace and have "reclaimed" "tribe". But the fact remains the the word tribe is offensive to many people.

quote from Marianopolis College
http://www2.marianopolis.edu/quebechistory/encyclopedia/Tribe-Indiantribe-Tribal-CanadianHistory.htm

Traditionally, until recently, the word tribe was used to describe a group of native families or clans, linked by beliefs and characteristics, under a common leadership and, normally, with a defined territory. As such, this word is virtually indistinguishable in its characteristics from that of nation . If the meaning of the words tribe and nation is so close as to be virtually indistinguishable from one another, why was the term tribe used at the expense of the more noble and dignified term of nation to describe the aboriginal peoples of North America? In part this is because the concept of nation had not come fully to fruition when Europeans first encountered native people in the Americas between the end of the XV th and the beginning of the XVII th centuries. To a large extent, the concepts of nation and nationalism emerged in the late XVIII th century, especially at the time of the American and French revolutions. Thus, Europeans could not use a term they did not even apply customarily to themselves. However, tribe and tribal continued to be used long after nation had come into fashion to describe groups of individuals with a common identity. In part, this was likely due to ingrained habit, the custom being well established to speak and write of Indian tribes ; but it also reflected well the vision of “primitiveness” and inferiority that whites associated with the “savages” of North America . Thus it was that whites referred to their group as a nation while ascribing the less noble tag of tribe to aboriginal people.

I was trying to indicate by the "(not to be a jerk about this)" that I was not meaning to personally attack anyone for using "tribe" due to its common usage and the fact that it is usually not intended to be derrogatory. However, I think it is also important for those who use the word to be aware that there ARE people who are offended by it and the word DOES have imperial connotations. I am only trying to make things less hostile and volitile for everyone.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: haynes-wallace,

I agree. Thank you Bruce! Thank you Discovery Channel! I love this show. It's a brave attempt and it can only get better and better. I also hope that you'll be able to spend more time (30-40 days) per tribe. I know you have to get the show down to an hour, but sometimes I wish you could do a couple of mini-series per expedition; or even special 90-minute or 2-hour episodes.