THE WATER TRIBE

[SAMMY]

THE WATER TRIBE

General/Government/Customs

The Water Tribe is split into two main tribes: The Northern Water Tribe, and the Southern Water Tribe, each one inhabits the North and South Poles respectively. It is the smallest of the three remaining nations, though the Northern Tribe is much larger than the Southern Tribe which has been driven nearly to extinction due to several Fire Nation raids in the area.

Both tribes are run by Chiefs, the North is ruled by Arnook while the South is ruled by Hakoda (who is also Katara and Sokka's father.) There are certain people within both tribes who can use the art of Waterbending. There are some gender biases within the Northern Water Tribe (the men are the warriors and Waterbenders while the women are wives, mothers, and healers if they are able to Waterbend) though there seems to be very little in the Southern Tribe. In the North, girls tend to marry at sixteen and are given necklaces by their intended.

Appearance
(taken from the Avatar Wiki)

"Members of both tribes typically have light or deep brown hair, blue eyes and light brown/tan skintone. Water Tribe clothing is typically a set of blue anorak and trousers lined and trimmed with white fur, and worn with mittens and mukluks. Men may wear their hair long and half-up or in short ponytails (also known as "warrior's wolf tails"). Women plait and braid their hair in various styles, sometimes with accent beads, and many sport "hair loopies" in various styles. In the Northern Water Tribe, males appear to wear a darker blue than those of the Southern Water Tribe."

Waterbending
(taken from the Avatar Wiki)

"Water is the element of change. The moon is the source of power in waterbending, and the first waterbenders learnt from the moon by observing how the moon pushed and pulled the tides.The Water Tribes are the only people to not learn Bending from an animal. The fighting style of Waterbending is mostly flowing and graceful; acting in concert with their environment. Waterbenders deal with the flow of energy, they let their defense become their offense, turning their opponents own forces against them.

Waterbending is based on the style of Tai Chi, which is a Chinese martial art that features slow movements and elegant forms that evoke the feel of flowing water. Waterbending's strength is its defensive capabilities which, rather than supporting a separate set of offensive methods, are transformed into attacks and counters - defense into offense. Rather than simply stopping to deflect an attack, Waterbending's defensive maneuvers focus on control, achieved through turning an opponent's own strength against him, instead of directly harming the opponent. According to Iroh, water is the element of change. Waterbending provides a versatility of experience."