The Water Tribes are a peaceful group of people who wish to live in peace and harmony with the other nations of the world while maintaining balance with nature. In Avatar the Last Airbender, there are two water bending tribes. The Northern and the Southern Water Tribes live at the two opposite poles of the world, Northern Water Tribe at the North Pole and the Southern Water Tribe at the South Pole. Even though their desire is to live in peace, their ultimate goal is to stop the Fire Nation from conquering the free world.
Symbols of the Water Tribe
The water tribe symbol is a circle with a crescent moon and water waves within it. The crescent moon represents the moon spirit while the water waves represent the ocean spirit and the circle represents unity or harmony. The symbol means that the water benders coexist with each other and other nations in peace, harmony while maintaining stewardship over the power of water - the pushing and pulling of water like the moon or known as Water Bending.
Contact between Tribes
Before the invasion from the Fire Nation, both tribes lived in peace with the world. At first, all the Water Benders lived at the North Pole as one large peaceful tribe. However, following a civil discontent and strife, a large group of Water benders, healers and warriors left the North Pole and established the Southern Water Tribe at South Pole. Then for a few years following this, both Tribes grew in large proportions while evolving their own distinct culture and civilizations. Just like the Northern Water Tribe, the Southern Water Tribe build large cities of ice so beautiful that it rivaled the majesty of even the Northern Water Tribe cities.
Culture of Both Tribes
During this era of peace, both tribes developed their own code of ethics, conduct, governmental systems and water bending styles. In the Northern Tribe, women were not allowed to learn combat-style water bending but were forced to learn healing using Water Bending while in the Southern Tribe, men and women learned the art of war in combat skills needed to survive. But in both tribes, the majority of warriors and water benders were males - thus the evolution of male centered civilizations. At the age of sixteen girls of the Northern Water Tribe reach the age of marriage, where they are arranged to be married to boys by their parents. Meanwhile in the Southern Water Tribe, at fourteen the boys participate in the rite of passage to become warriors - known as Ice Dodging. In Northern Water Tribe, because of years of tradition, culture and greater sense of cultural responsibility, the Northern people do not enjoy as much freedoms as the southern water tribe (especially girls). In Southern Water Tribe, girls do not have to marry at sixteen or enter into arranged marriages. They marry whom they choose. The Southern Water Tribe also tends to be more “open minded.”
Destruction by Fire
Unlike the numerously strong Northern Water Tribe, the Southern Water tribe was at risk of invasion. A few years before, the leaders of the Fire Nation (The Fire Lord Sozin and his sons) started a war that has dragged on for over a century. With no sign of the Avatar to maintain balance of the world, there seemed no hope for peace. Waves of Fire Nation navy ships patrolled the waters while invading armies started to overrun the Earth Kingdom. One by one, the cities were falling and the people getting destroyed. Into this chaos, the peace loving people of the Southern Water Tribe was dragged into. Each day, more and more Fire nation ships began to slowly encroach on the Water Tribe's territory. Then one day, the Day of Destruction came upon them swiftly. Southern Water Benders and warriors fought bravely but were simply overrun by the massive Fire Nation armada. The enemy burned the beautiful cities of Ice to the ground and killed all the water benders they could find. Within a short time, the southern water tribe has no water benders left. Without water benders, the people could not rebuild their cities or their lives and they could not defend themselves. Thus the Southern Water Tribe broke into smaller clans and scattered across the South Pole - living in igloos, tents and making a living from fishing and hunting.
The Tribal Leaders
After the destruction of the grand cities of the Southern Water tribe, each of the villages in Southern Water Tribe now has its own village leader - and all village leaders are males. This loose organization of governing the people has led to less coordination between the various villages, thus making it easy for the Fire Nation to conquer them. The leader of the village of Sokka and Katara is their dad, a warrior named Hakoda. In the Northern Water Tribe, an elaborate system of government is in place with the entire Tribe ruled by the Grant Chief. The current Chief is called Arnook who is famous for being an excellent warrior. Such organization and mastery of their people have helped the Northern Water Tribe resist and defend themselves from Fire Nation attacks.
