Water Tribe

The Water Tribe is a collective term for a race of people in the fictional universe of the Nickelodeon animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender. As one of the four nations featured within the series, the Water Tribe is divided mainly into two sects: the Southern Water Tribe and the Northern Water Tribe, who inhabit the South and North Poles, respectively. The tribes are home to an order of men and women who practice Waterbending, the mystical art of manipulating water.
Tribes
Southern Water Tribe
The members of Southern and Northern Tribes originally lived as one in the North Pole. However, following civil unrest, a group of Waterbenders, warriors and healers departed to begin a new tribe at the South Pole. Since this division, the two tribes evolved quite differently. Prior to the war, the Southern Water Tribe was a thriving nation and its members dwelt in beautiful, bustling cities made from ice and snow. Over the years, the tribe was ravaged by Fire Nation raids and because so many Waterbenders were captured or died fighting, the art of Waterbending was nearly erased from the South Pole. With their cities gone and contact with the Northern Water Tribe severed, the remaining Southern Water Tribe population split apart into smaller groups and scattered across the South Pole, dwelling in small igloos and simple sealskin tents.
In appearance, members of the Southern Water Tribe typically have light or deep brown hair, blue eyes and a brown skintone. Men may wear their hair long and half-up or in short ponytails, referred to as a "warrior's wolf tail." Women plait and braid their hair in various styles, sometimes with accent beads, and some sport hair loops. Clothing is typically a set of blue anorak and trousers trimmed with white fur and worn with mittens and mukluks. For the Water Tribe, the creators were inspired by the 2001 Zacharias Kunuk film Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner, which illustrated the life in a small Inuit tribe.
Northern Water Tribe
The much larger Northern Water Tribe lives in one huge city built of ice on the shores of the Northern Sea at the North Pole. The city is several miles wide, surrounded by ice cliffs and frozen tundra, and sits inside a horseshoe-shaped cove. Dominated by large temples, it is an enormous, multi-tiered structure built into the landscape. The city itself is interconnected by a system of canals that act as its roads. In terms of architecture, structural supports are constructed from giant pieces of whale bone while the city is filled with beautiful buildings, bridges, fountains, waterfalls, and sculptures formed from ice. In the city's center, a long set of white stairs with lofty waterfalls on either side leads up to the Waterbending training grounds and the temple. The highest structure within the city is the chief's temple, where the chief and his chieftains make decisions regarding the tribe. Men wear clothing with a darker shade of blue and purple while women wear long dresses trimmed with fur.
Foggy Swamp Tribe
The Foggy Swamp Tribe is a Water Tribe settlement occupying a large swamp in the southwestern Earth Kingdom. Coined as "Swampbenders," their ancestry lies in the Southern Water Tribe. A group migrated from the South Pole thousands of years ago and feeling comfortable with the large amount of water found within the swamp, decided to stay. This information, however, has been lost to both tribes' history, resulting in neither of the two knowing the other exists. The swamp itself actually consists of a single, massive tree, at least several hundred feet tall, whose roots and limbs have spread out for miles to form the foundation of the dense swamp. Unlike the tribes of the South and North, which are based upon the culture of the Inuit of North America, the inhabitants of the Foggy Swamp imitate the dialect and mannerisms of Mississippi Delta. The people of the Foggy Swamp Tribe also dress very differently than their polar counterparts. They use loincloths, armbands, hats and other clothing fashioned out of plants, leaves, and bark to cover themselves.
Culture and customs
National insignia and season
The national insignia of the Water Tribe is a circle containing a waning crescent moon and three wavy horizontal lines representing ocean waves. This emblem symbolizes the Moon Spirit and the Ocean Spirit, Tui and La, beings who give the tribes theirs power and life and guide their beliefs. The two spirits coexist in perfect harmony, with the Moon's force exerting a gravitational pulling and pushing motion on the ocean's tides. The relationship between the spirits is the foundation of Waterbending as well as the Water Tribe's philosophy in maintaining peaceful cooperation among all four nations. Because the Water Tribes live mostly near the poles, their terrain is mostly ice and snow and they experience cold, winter-like weather constantly, with snow falling year-round. The goal of the ritual is for the boy navigate a boat through a narrow field of water filled with icebergs. He may choose two friends to assist him, one to secure the mainsail the other to operate the jib. Although his father is onboard, as soon as the ritual begins, the boy cannot any receive help from him and is the only person who commands the crew and makes maneuvering decisions. Though the members of the Southern Water Tribe live a simpler kind life, they tend to be more open-mined than their strict sister-tribe. They do not force girls into arranged marriages and instead allow them to marry whomever they choose.
Military
Groups of fully trained warriors protect the tribes from harm, wielding weapons made from the bones of arctic animals such as whales, polar bears, and wolves. These weapons include clubs, spears, boomerangs, knives, and machetes. When designing these weapons, Avatar co-creator Bryan Konietzko drew reference from traditional Native American weaponry. Water Tribe warriors typically apply black and white warpaint on their full face before going into battle and adorn protective armor in more severe combat. This "lunar wolf" armor came from unused toy-idea submissions Konietzko did for the consumer products department. The dark blue body armor includes black and blue-gray plated arm and leg guards, a silver helmet shaped into wolf's head, and a fierce Moon symbol unique to each warrior. It is designed to intimidate the enemy; when warriors charge, they resemble a pack of wild wolves.
The ships of the Southern Tribe are cutter sailing ships, containing wooden hulls and utilizing the wind for propulsion. The boats are shown to be operated by at least two people, one to maintain the mainsail and one to control the jib, a smaller sail at the rear. Bones from arctic animals are crafted into and used as weapons by Water Tribe warriors. The otter-penguin—a cross between an otter and a penguin—is native to the South Pole. Much like a real penguin it is clumsy on land but quite agile in the water. They are often ridden like sleds by children of the Southern Water Tribe. The art of Waterbending is based upon the Chinese martial art of Tai chi. Like Waterbending, Tai chi utilizes smooth, fluid movements and elegant forms. Emphasis is placed on controlling an opponent and redirecting strikes rathing than attacking; focusing on turning an opponent's own strength against themselves, rather than directly harming them. Both Waterbending and Tai chi are less about brute force and more about breath, body alignment, and visualization.
Waterbending's strongest asset lies within its defensive capabilities. Waterbenders can suspend a body of water around themselves, and then batter enemies with lashing whips and concussive waves. They can halt an attacker's movement by encasing them in a blanket of ice. A Waterbender can also use water to escape from an opponent by creating a veil of mist for cover. In the event that there isn't a source of water in the vicinity of a battle, an expert Waterbender has the ability to collect all available moisture in the air and ground surrounding them, concentrate it, and use it for bending. As with the other bending disciplines, weapons can be used in conjunction with Waterbending. Though never fully explored within the series, according to Avatar martial-arts consultant Sifu Kisu, a katana or a cane sword would be the best weapon suited for a Waterbender given their almost "Samurai-like" cutting techniques.
Not only can Waterbenders manipulate water, but also things containing an ample amount of water within them. Members of the Foggy Swamp Tribe, such as Huu, are shown to be able to bend the vines and roots of plants utilizing the water found inside. Since the series' bible, the creators had the idea that the highest level of Waterbending is the ability to bend the water within living creatures, giving the Waterbender complete control over it like a puppet. This dark technique was discovered by Hama, a southern Waterbender, when she was a captive during the war. This is exhibited in the series premiere, when the novice Katara inadvertently causes a giant iceberg behind her to shatter to pieces while angrily berating her brother Sokka. In the Northern Water Tribe, due to the traditionally patriarchal culture of the tribe, healing is the only aspect of Waterbending taught to females, with classes assigned for young girls held in huts towards the development of the ability. Furthermore, Waterbenders' powers are strongest when they are situated in colder climates, during the winter, or when they are near their native polar homelands. In the event of a lunar eclipse, Waterbenders lose their bending abilities entirely.

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