Tribal Mentality In Sebastian Junger's Tribe

The primal instinct of human beings is still felt unconsciously in modern day. The inner workings of modern society’s human psyche and the tribal mentality of the early colonial Native Americans, clash and create conflict. The tribal mentality that Sebastian Junger describes in his novel Tribe seems to be inescapable once experienced. Junger explores the mindset of the Native American and portrays it as irresistible. Margaret D. Jacobs’ The Eastmans and the Luhans: Interracial Marriage between White Women and Native American Men gives incite to the everyday native American life. Kelly Wisecup’s “Meteors, Ships, etc.”: Native American Histories of Colonialism and Early American Archives, gives a general history of Native Americans during

Thus 200 captives were returned from their forced assimilation into the tribe, but many were not forced at all. Junger describes the captives, “many too young to remember having lived otherwise. Some had forgotten their Christian names and were recorded in the ledgers with descriptions such as Redjacket, Bighead, Soremouth, and Sourplums… there were also wrenching scenes of grief and confusion: young women married to Indian men now standing reluctantly before their former families; children screaming as they were pulled from their indian kin and delivered to people they didn’t recognize and probably considered enemies” (Junger 7-8). This conflicting view with the colonists brings to light a new aspect of this war on the Native Americans. These tribes were not taking all prisoners unwillingly, many men and women wanted to join these tribes. Junger explains, “The frontier was full of men who joined Indian tribes, married Indian women and lived their lives completely outside civilization.” displaying the aspect of choice (Junger

The Native Americans dressed for functionality. Junger describes their clothing, “Often times wearing buckskin and open-backed leggings and muslin breechclouts strapped between their legs” illustrating the comfortableness and functionality (Junger 12). Not only the clothing but also the traditions of the Native American tribes were also picked up by the colonists. Junger highlights the main components of the Native American culture, “The men smoked tobacco and carried tomahawks in their belts and picked up Indian languages and customs. They learned to track and stalk game and move quickly and quietly in the woods” (Junger 12). This idea that Native Americans can teach the colonists was neglected by many of the english as the Indians were, “Often referred to as savages” giving this practice a bad connotation