Joe Harris and I have long been struggling against "tribe", and it is
just simplest to use ethnic or cultural group which is balanced and
neutral. Tribe carries too much extra baggeage and from a strict
point of view of political anthropology it has been used in so many
different ways that it just does not have any consistent meaning.
By the way, if anyone wants a reference to the journal article I
mentioned in an earlier post on this topic, it is: Richard Lobban,
Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban, Linda Zangari, Tribe: a socio- political
analysis, *UFAHAMU*, 1976, Vol VII, No. 1, pps. 143-165 (published by
African Studies, UCLA). Happy reading and I think you'll find it
relates closely to our stimulating discussion.