"The people of the Water Tribe are capable of adapting to many things. They have a deep sense of community and love that holds them together through anything." — Iroh to Zuko on the nature of the Water Tribe.[1]

水族 Water Tribe
Physical information
Location North and South Poles, Foggy Swamp
Government
Capital None
Form of government Northern Water Tribe - Confederate Chiefdom Southern Water Tribe - Chiefdom
Head of State Tribal chiefs
Currency Water Tribe money
Ruler Tribal chief
First appearance The Southern Tribe: "The Boy in the Iceberg" The Northern Tribe: "The Waterbending Master" The Foggy Swamp Tribe: "The Swamp"
Location on map

The Water Tribe is a collective term for the nation of people who practice the art of waterbending. It is one of the four nations and its citizens primarily inhabit the polar regions. There is also a small community of waterbenders that populate the Foggy Swamp in the Earth Kingdom, although they were isolated from their sister tribes for generations and others were largely unaware of their existence until they were stumbled upon by Avatar Aang, Katara, and Sokka.^[2]

The people of the Water Tribe are peaceful. They strive to live in harmony with nature and the other nations of the world. There are two primary divisions of the Water Tribe, the Northern and the Southern. However, once the Fire Nation began the war, contact between the two tribes came to an end.^[3]

Waterbenders use their abilities for defense, never for aggression. Despite their peaceful nature, their goal was to do whatever it took to stop the Fire Nation from taking over the world.

The Water Tribe is less powerful than both the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation, due to its population size, geographic location, and economy. Its economy is very small and dependent on ocean resources, which can be attributed to the relatively small population of the Water Tribe.

The Water Tribe joined a global conflict known as the Hundred Year War against the Fire Nation during the life of Avatar Aang. The Southern Tribe was driven to the brink of extinction through a series of devastating raids,^[4] and the Northern Tribe proved unable to provide any resources for the War beyond its borders. With the War's conclusion, a reconstruction effort began for the Southern Tribe, consequently restoring contact between the two tribes.^[5]

Seventy years after the end of the Hundred Year War, the Water Tribe gained significant influence in world affairs, with two representatives on the United Republic Council, one for the Southern Tribe and another for the Northern Tribe, the latter representative most recently being Councilman Tarrlok.^[6]

Contents 1 Locations 2 Appearance 3 National emblem 4 Culture 4.1 Customs 5 Season 6 Natural resources 7 Government 8 Military 8.1 Warriors 8.2 Ships 9 Trivia 10 References 11 Comments

Locations Edit

• Foggy Swamp Tribe
• Northern Water Tribe
  • Spirit Oasis
• Southern Water Tribe
  • Shipwreck
  • Southern Water Tribe compound

Appearance Edit

Ethnically homogeneous, members of both tribes typically have light or deep brown hair, sometimes black, blue or gray eyes, and a light brown skin tone. Water Tribe clothing is usually a set of blue anorak and trousers lined and trimmed with white fur, accompanied by mittens and mukluks. Men may wear their hair long and half-up or in short ponytails, also known as "warrior's wolf tails".^[7] Women plait and braid their hair in various styles, sometimes with accent beads, and many sport "hair loopies" in various styles.^[3][8] In the Southern Water Tribe, women have been shown wearing their hair back in a bun with a decorative band. In the Northern Water Tribe, males appear to wear a darker blue than those of the Southern Water Tribe, and royalty often wear purple.^[9] Their influences and sometimes appearances are drawn greatly from Inuit and Native American fashion. In the Foggy Swamp Tribe, inhabitants wear simple leaf-hats, loincloths, and wristbands, all in green, reflecting the color of the water and their surroundings, and sometimes they also use wooden armor.^[2]

National emblem Edit

The national emblem of the Water Tribe is a circle comprised of a waning crescent moon and three wavy horizontal lines representing ocean water. The emblem represents the relationship between Tui and La, the Moon and Ocean Spirits, who exist in perfect harmony with one another, like Yin and Yang.^[5] The Water Tribes' belief in peaceful cooperation between nations stems from the relationship between these two spirits, and this ideal is further exemplified on the insignia.^[10] It is displayed on the pennant of the watchtower in a small Southern Water Tribe village,^[8] and is common in the architecture of the Northern Water Tribe.^[9] However, in the Foggy Swamp Tribe, this symbol is not found due to the lack of communication with the other tribes.^[2]

Culture Edit

The appearance of the Water Tribe is based on its corresponding element, water. Each of the nations has its own elemental color, which in the case of the Water Tribes is blue. However, the people of the Foggy Swamp go toward green or brown.

The Water Tribe is divided into three distinct groups, primarily based on their geography and affinity for waterbending. The Southern Tribe occupies the South Pole with Katara as its only known bending member during the War,^[3] the art having been almost completely erased from the South Pole as a direct result of the Fire Nation raids.^[11]

The Northern Tribe consists of the majority of the official remnants of their civilization, occupying the North Pole with a multitude of able benders. Though separated, the Southern and Northern Tribes continued to remain in contact prior to the Hundred Year War and at one time even retained a custom of coming together during a new moon justly called the New Moon Celebration.^[12] The Foggy Swamp Tribe occupies a swamp in the Earth Kingdom, while most, if not all, of its members are competent benders with some unique talents, such as plantbending.^[2]

Customs Edit

In the Northern Water Tribe, women are of marrying age at the age of sixteen. Males who wish to marry females gift them with a traditional betrothal necklace. This signifies that the woman is to be married.^[13] The ceremony is completely organized by the parents, and marriage of free choice is not practiced. However, in the Southern Water Tribe, it seems that people are allowed to choose their own spouses.^[9]

When they turn fourteen, Southern Water Tribe children are taken on a rite of passage known as ice dodging, a sport where the children must control a ship in turbulent water riddled with large, haphazard chunks of ice. After completing the ritual, they are given marks of honor: the Mark of the Brave, the Mark of the Wise, and the Mark of the Trusted.^[14]

The names of the Southern and Northern Tribes' citizens often include one or two "K"s and have an "AH" sound (Katara, Hakoda, Sokka, Pakku, Kya, Kuruk, Kanna, Arnook, Korra, Tarrlok, Yakone, Noatak, Eska, etc.), such as happens in Fire Nation with the letter "Z". However, this does not happen in the Foggy Swamp Tribe.

Season Edit

Each of the four nations is influenced by their own distinct, dominant season. The Water Tribe's dominant season is winter. To an effect, more waterbenders are born during winter than any other season and their waterbending is at its peak during the winter due to the longer nights and freezing conditions. In actuality, both polar tribes experience winter-like weather consistently, with snow falling year-round.

Natural resources Edit

Inhabiting frozen poles near the seas, the Water Tribes are dependent on the oceans for a majority of their natural resources as well as the bounty of the frozen tundra. Sea prunes are a favorite,^[4][14] while giant sea crabs are considered a delicious delicacy to those in the Northern Sea.^[9] Sea squid is a popular food that can be made into a variety of things, including sea squid soup. Seaweed can be used to make seaweed bread, seaweed soup, or seaweed sprinkles to top seaweed cookies. When traveling, blubbered seal jerky is a common snack to take along.^[15]

Skins from seals are used to create tents in the Southern Water Tribe. Pelts from polar bears and other furry animals are used as clothing and to cover barren surfaces. Naturally, hunters and fishermen of the Water Tribes are some of the best in the world in their field.^[3][14]

The Foggy Swamp Tribe uses the plants and fauna in their swamp to meet their needs; they eat small game, such as possum chicken, fish, and giant insects.^[2]

Government Edit

Main article: Politics in the World of Avatar

System: Tribal Chiefdom.

Head of state/Head of government: Tribal chief.

Military Edit

Main article: Military of the Water Tribe

As a result of the strong customary theme expressed by the two major sects, the Water Tribes' military is considerably less sophisticated than that of the recently industrialized Earth Kingdom or the highly industrialized Fire Nation. Nevertheless, the tribes also exhibit deep pride and willpower typical of a warrior race.

Warriors Edit

All adult male tribe members are fully-trained warriors. Their weaponry includes clubs, bladed boomerangs, spears made of bone (also used in spearfishing), scimitars, and machetes laced with whale teeth on the dull side of the blade. Water Tribe warriors typically wear black and white war paint on their entire face before going into battle.^[8] Waterbending warriors of the Northern Tribe are all masters of their element and wear face masks to cover their mouths and hoods. Warriors of the Northern Tribe paint their faces with three lines of red on their forehead. When the Fire Nation attacked the Northern Water Tribe, Chief Arnook called for warriors to volunteer for a dangerous mission and marked each volunteer's forehead with three red lines of paint.^[16]

The more organized Northern Water Tribe makes use of armories located on the warrior training grounds which serve as weapons storage and war planning rooms where orders are distributed. Their waterbenders engineer and utilize a countless amount of iceberg spikes scattered across the ocean just outside the city as a first line of defense against Fire Nation ships. The spikes are capable of ripping through solid metal and sinking even the largest ships.^[16] The currents in the iceberg fields are known to be extremely dangerous, but are easily traversed by Water Tribe vessels. The iceberg spikes themselves are also used as cover for warriors to hide behind, enabling to easily ambush any unwanted visitors.^[9][13]

While its sister tribe has been the victim of raids, the Northern Water Tribe has sufficiently been able to stave off the Fire Nation for over eighty-five years, thanks to a mixture of strong, man-made defenses and an imposing, icy landscape.

Two years before the Avatar returned, all the men of the Southern Water Tribe left to fight in the war, leaving their villages defenseless.^[3] The male warriors of the Southern Tribe are seen again, protecting the shores of Chameleon Bay, the single inlet leading directly to the outskirts of Ba Sing Se. The warriors had apparently achieved this so far with the use of tangle mines, which are buoyant, terrible smelling makeshift mines of Hakoda's invention, and which he affectionately nicknames, the "stink n' sink". The tangle mines are constructed with a bamboo frame and covered with dried animal skin, while the inside is filled with skunk fish and seaweed. These mines float in the water and detonate when a ship hits them. When the mines detonate, they erupt seaweed, which tangles around the propeller of the ship, incapacitating it, while the terrible smell of the skunk fish forces people to abandon ship.^[13] Though a very unusual type of mine, they had apparently been quite effective.^[17]

Ships Edit

The ships of the Southern Water Tribe are cutter sailing ships, containing wooden hulls and utilizing the wind for propulsion. The boats are operated by at least two people, one to maintain the main sail and one to control the jib, a smaller sail at the rear. The ships appear to be designed more for use as transport vessels than for combat.^[14]

The Northern Water Tribe's most common ship is a double-hulled vessel powered by waterbending. Its small, compact size enables it to be used for a variety of applications, including transporting civilians across the canals within the city, although it is primarily used for short, open ocean trips. Even though it is not necessarily designed for long voyages, it is capable of being used to travel over a thousand miles and withstanding the harshest ocean conditions. Warriors use this ship to patrol and protect the waters just outside the Northern Water Tribe.^[9]

Prior to the Day of Black Sun, Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe commissioned the mechanist, an Earth Kingdom inventor, to build a series of waterbending-powered submarines for use in the invasion of the Fire Nation Capital. Although manufactured by the Earth Kingdom, these submarines can only be operated through the use of waterbending. These subs resemble large whales in design and are plated in gold shielding. They are perfect for ferrying numerous troops to enemy locations, as well as at least one earthbending-powered tank. These subs are very strong and are capable of shooting ice torpedoes, used to demolish enemy barricades. However, these subs have a limited air supply and must frequently resurface.^[18]

The Foggy Swamp Tribe uses skiffs as a means of transportation; they are utilized for hunting as opposed to combat and are powered via waterbending.^[2]

Trivia Edit

• The Northern and Southern Water Tribes bear a distinct resemblance to the Inuit culture of the Northern Arctic regions.
  • Aspects of Chinese culture are also evident, such as the round doors, often called 'moon doors', their waterbending resembling Tai-Chi, and the wooden doll used for healing practice which is reminiscent of Chinese acupuncture statues.
• The Southern Water Tribe lands closely resemble Antarctica.
• No female was in the military of the Northern Water Tribe during the Hundred Year War due to its sexist traditions. However, the other Water Tribes did not follow these traditions as female waterbenders were seen defending the Southern Water Tribe during the Fire Nation raids^[4] and females of the Foggy Swamp Tribe were seen during the Invasion of the Fire Nation.^[18]
• Most of the known citizens of the Northern and Southern Water Tribes have names containing a "k" (e.g. Sokka, Pakku, Korra). Less common, but still widespread, are the "uh" and "ah" sounds.

References Edit

↑ "Bitter Work". Aaron Ehasz (writer) & Ethan Spaulding (director). Avatar: The Last Airbender. Nickelodeon. June 2, 2006. No. 9, Book Two: Earth ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 "The Swamp". Tim Hedrick (writer) & Giancarlo Volpe (director). Avatar: The Last Airbender. Nickelodeon. April 14, 2006. No. 4, Book Two: Earth ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 "The Boy in the Iceberg". Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko (writers) & Dave Filoni (director). Avatar: The Last Airbender. Nickelodeon. February 21, 2005. No. 1, Book One: Water ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "The Puppetmaster". Tim Hedrick (writer) & Joaquim Dos Santos (director). Avatar: The Last Airbender. Nickelodeon. November 9, 2007. No. 8, Book Three: Fire ↑ 5.0 5.1 "The Siege of the North, Part 2". Aaron Ehasz (writer) & Dave Filoni (director). Avatar: The Last Airbender. Nickelodeon. December 2, 2005. No. 20, Book One: Water ↑ Welcome to Republic City. Nickelodeon (April 6, 2012). Retrieved on April 7, 2012. ↑ "The Chase". Joshua Hamilton (writer) & Giancarlo Volpe (director). Avatar: The Last Airbender. Nickelodeon. May 26, 2006. No. 8, Book Two: Earth ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 "The Avatar Returns". Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko (writers) & Dave Filoni (director). Avatar: The Last Airbender. Nickelodeon. February 21, 2005. No. 2, Book One: Water ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 "The Waterbending Master". Michael Dante DiMartino (writer) & Giancarlo Volpe (director). Avatar: The Last Airbender. Nickelodeon. November 18, 2005. No. 18, Book One: Water ↑ The Lost Scrolls: Water, page twenty-six of The Lost Scrolls Collection. ↑ "The Southern Raiders". Elizabeth Welch Ehasz (writer) & Joaquim Dos Santos (director). Avatar: The Last Airbender. Nickelodeon. July 17, 2008. No. 16, Book Three: Fire ↑ Escape from the Spirit World, Avatar Kuruk Online Comic Book ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 From older Avatar: The Last Airbender official site, originally on Nick.com (link). No longer updated. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 "Bato of the Water Tribe". Ian Wilcox (writer) & Giancarlo Volpe (director). Avatar: The Last Airbender. Nickelodeon. October 7, 2005. No. 15, Book One: Water ↑ "The Southern Air Temple". Michael Dante DiMartino (writer) & Lauren MacMullan (director). Avatar: The Last Airbender. Nickelodeon. February 25, 2005. No. 3, Book One: Water ↑ 16.0 16.1 "The Siege of the North, Part 1". Aaron Ehasz (writer) & Lauren MacMullan (director). Avatar: The Last Airbender. Nickelodeon. December 2, 2005. No. 19, Book One: Water ↑ "The Guru". Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko (writers) & Giancarlo Volpe (director). Avatar: The Last Airbender. Nickelodeon. December 1, 2006. No. 19, Book Two: Earth ↑ 18.0 18.1 "The Day of Black Sun, Part 1: The Invasion". Michael Dante DiMartino (writer) & Giancarlo Volpe (director). Avatar: The Last Airbender. Nickelodeon. November 30, 2007. No. 10, Book Three: Fire

Start a Discussion Discussions about Water Tribe

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  Alternate Versions of the Four Nations

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    The Air Nomad Critic
    I would imagine they probably ruled the Fire Nation from their city near one of the Air Nomad archipelegos. One day the locals get upset and w... 2013-05-21T03:00:20Z
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    Emperor Qin
    Or maybe some internal turmoil made a part of the sun warriors to leave their homeland and settle on the fire nation, their culture mixing w... 2013-05-21T03:10:38Z
• 

  Why doesn't the Foggy Swamp Tribe get a seat at the Republic City Council table?

  452 messages
  • 
    RaidenRadio
    Probably poison gas, or flintlocks firearms. 2013-05-11T20:28:41Z
  • 
    Swampbender55
    As long as the Council doesn't get anyone else with Tarrlok's mindset I don't think they'll have to worry either way. 2013-05-12T00:50:04Z

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