I live between two worlds. I exist both in the society of my birth, and in a nascent tribe.
I grabbed a definition of "
tribe" from Wikipedia: "A tribe is viewed, developmentally or historically, as a social group existing before the development of, or outside, states. A tribe is a group of distinct
people, dependent on their
land for their livelihood, who are largely self-sufficient, and not integrated into the national society." And also, "A customary tribe in these terms is a face-to-face community,".
This gets to the heart of what I mean, in my own life, when I think about living tribally. I have often thought of permaculture as being all about disintermediation, or as the Wikipedia article put it, existing outside states in "face-to-face community".
When I am living tribally, I engage in person-to-person interactions. When I am living in the society of my birth, I engage in person-to-intermediary-to-person transactions.
I'll use my masseuses as an example of what I mean. I have two masseuses. One is part of my tribal life, the other is part of the system of my birth.
When I visit my tribal masseuse, I enter her home without knocking, help her set up the massage table, strip off my clothing in her presence, and lay down nude on the table. While I am on the table, we talk about our families, relationships, mental health, physical health, stressors, politics, religion, etc. The smell of the place is feminine, earthy, and floral. She is self taught. I do not pay her for massage. The duration of the massage depends on my physical and mental health. My tribal masseuse is organic, fluid, and flexible in what techniques she applies. I
feed her and her children, she eases the aches and pains that her farmer acquired while growing food for them.
When I visit my state-licensed masseuse, I ring her doorbell, wait for admittance, get taken to a private room where she has her equipment set up, and is displaying a business license, a masseuse license, a graduation degree, a supplemental training certificate, etc... I disrobe in private, and cover up with a blanket, she knocks, asking permission before entering, and she removes one little piece of the blanket at a time to work on a particular muscle. The smell of the place is harsh and chemical. It costs me two days income for a 50 minute massage, which she times to the minute. My state-licensed masseuse is "professional", and goes through her routine like clockwork. There is no chit-chat about my well being. That would require a license that she hasn't acquired.
My personal relationship with both masseuses is platonic. My relationship with my tribal masseuse is very close and intimate. She knows my fears, weaknesses, sorrows, hopes, secrets, sins, goals, and greatness. She suggests ways in which I can be a better father, man, lover, farmer, shaman, brother, etc. My relationship with my state-licensed masseuse is cold and distant. When on her table, it's like I'm a cog in a machine. Once an hour a different cog gets placed into the machine, and one cog is as good as any other.
The food circulating in my tribal food network is local food. It is face-to-face food. If a member of my tribe gives me red-wine vinegar, it is likely that I weeded or irrigated the field where the grapes were grown. If a member of my tribe gives me apricot preserves, they might be sweetened with
honey that I robbed from our bee kin. The preserves might be colored with dyes grown by the flower lady. If the egg lady gives me a dozen eggs, it's likely that some of the protein in the eggs came from corn that was grown in my garden. If I give a squash to my masseuse, it's likely that it was fertilized by her
urine, or by that of her children, or other tribal members. Hundreds of the pots in the
greenhouse have stories associated with them. Each particular shape, size, or color of pot is associated with a
gift to me from a different face-to-face encounter with someone that I feed. When the goat lady gives me a roast, it's likely that the kid was dewormed with tobacco that I grew.
These sorts of relationships and interactions swirl through my tribal community. When living tribally, we aren't using the state's money, banks, stores, regulations, etc. We are taking care of each other face-to-face, man-to-animal, woman-to-plant, predator-to-prey. etc...
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