What is the difference between a tribe and a clan?

Question

I notice that when speaking of non Europeans we tend to use the word tribe...like native American, African, or south pacific islander. But when talking about Scots or Norse or other early European societies it is usually called a clan. Is this a ethnocentric thing or are there distinct differences in the social structure of these societies that I am not seeing?

Answer 1

Clans are more like families and tribes are more like the entire society. So a clan can be part of a tribe but a tribe can't be part of a clan. The reason you hear the term clan used in European contexts is people are trying to distinguish that are the member of the Stewart clan, for example, which is part of the larger group of the Scottish. The reason we don't use the term tribe in the European context I suspect is because those tribes joined together to become nations. The Roman Empire was indeed invaded by Germanic tribes, which later grew into nations.

Answer 2

I believe it has to do with the translation of the different languages.  I also agree with the other answerer that clans tended to be based upon family groups, but I also think that the number of individuals plays a part.  The definition of a clan is :

1. a group of families or households, as among the Scottish Highlanders, the heads of which claim descent from a common ancestor: the Mackenzie clan.  

2. a group of people of common descent; family: Our whole clan got together for Thanksgiving.  

3. a group of people, as a clique, set, society, or party, esp. as united by some common trait, characteristic, or interest: a clan of actors and directors.  

4. Anthropology. a. the principal social unit of tribal organization, in which descent is reckoned exclusively in either the paternal or the maternal line.  

b. a group of people regarded as being descended from a common ancestor.



A Tribe is:

1. any aggregate of people united by ties of descent from a common ancestor, community of customs and traditions, adherence to the same leaders, etc.  

2. a local division of an aboriginal people.  

3. a division of some other people.  

4. a class or type of animals, plants, articles, or the like.  

5. Animal Husbandry. a group of animals, esp. cattle, descended through the female line from a common female ancestor.  

6. Biology. a. a category in the classification of organisms usually between a subfamily and a genus or sometimes between a suborder and a family.  

b. any group of plants or animals.  



7. a company, group, or number of persons.  

8. a class or set of persons, esp. one with strong common traits or interests.  

9. a large family.  

10. Roman History. a. any one of three divisions of the people representing the Latin, Sabine, and Etruscan settlements.  

b. any of the later political divisions of the people.  



11. Greek History. a phyle

They are very similar but geography probably plays the biggest part.

Answer 3

I think you're right, about the use of terms being ethnocentric.

The word 'clan' is a word of celtic origins, and is a term that was originally used to describe kinship groups within Northern Europe. The word "tribe", of (latin?) origin, seems to be used as a term to describe "others" different from ones own ethnic or cultural group.

'Clan' also infers shared kinship, as well as shared ethnicity, culture and language. 'Tribe' seems to be tied to geography as well as a broader ethnographic commonalities. We may read about "Tribes of the Amazon" or "Nomadic Tribes", whereas "clan" is more specific to the countries of Northern Europe, e.g. in Scotland, Clan Ranald, etc.