Southern Water Tribe

The Southern Water Tribe is the southern division of the Water Tribes. Its people are scattered in tiny villages and settlements located across the South Pole, making it the smallest nation in the Avatar World. Only one of these villages has been visited by Team Avatar.

The Southern Water Tribe was formerly concentrated in one large, and wide, great city, now the site of the village that is home to fourteen-year-old Katara and fifteen-year-old Sokka. Worn down by constant Fire Nation raids, the tribe is extremely weak, and for all purposes defenseless against future invasions and attacks.

Unlike its still blooming sister tribe, the Southern Water Tribe is teetering on the edge of extinction, with almost no warriors, Waterbenders, or healers left.

The inhabitants of the Southern Water Tribe tend to have light brown-colored skin, dark hair, and blue or gray eyes.

History


Originally, the Water Tribe existed as one, solely in the North Pole. However, following civil unrest, a large group of warriors, Waterbenders and healers journeyed to the South Pole to engender a brand new tribe. Due to the division, the two sects evolved differently. The Southern Water Tribe was once a massive, wide, beautiful city filled with hundreds and hundreds of capable Waterbenders of both men and women, unlike the Northern Water Tribe which allowed only men, but was destroyed following attacks from the Fire Nation. The Firebenders came and started to capture as many Waterbenders from the southern faction as they could. Despite being outnumbered, the Southern Waterbenders put up a good fight and won minor victories, such as successfully trapping a Fire Nation ship in solid ice, thus creating the Shipwreck. However, their determination was not good enough. Eventually Hama was the only Waterbender left, and she, too, was taken.

Contact between the two tribes was severed, and the Southern Tribe was split into much smaller groups and scattered across the south pole, its natives reduced to dwelling within simple sealskin tents and small igloos.



In 94 ASC, the Southern Water Tribe was attacked by the Southern Raiders, an elite Fire Nation naval force assigned to raid the South Pole when ordered to. They knew that one Waterbender remained in the Southern Water Tribe, and were assigned to kill her. This turned out to be eight-year-old Katara. The Water Tribe warriors, led by Chief Hakoda, fought off the attackers bravely, but the leader, Yon Rha, managed to infiltrate the village. He captured Katara's mother, Kya, and interrogated her, demanding to know the identity of the last Southern Waterbender. At first Kya denied the accusations, stating that there were no Waterbenders left, as the Fire Nation had taken them all away long ago. Yon Rha was not convinced, saying that a reliable source had told him that one Waterbender remained in the Southern Water Tribe. He continued to state that his men would not back down until the Waterbender was found. Kya then deliberately told Yon Rha that she was the last Waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe, lying to protect both her daughter and the village. Kya told Yon Rha that she was ready to be taken as their prisoner, but Yon Rha said that he was not ordered to take back any prisoners and ruthlessly murdered her.



In the final years of the War, The Southern Water Tribe was in dire straits, teetering on the brink of extinction. Its remaining population was dwindling due to Fire Nation raids and was defenseless, as its warriors had left for the Earth Kingdom to aid them against the Fire Nation. With the departure of the sole remaining Waterbender, Katara, and warrior, Sokka, the tribe consisted mostly of elderly, middle-aged women, mothers and very young children. After the Siege of the North, a group of Waterbenders and healers from the Northern Tribe were sent to the Southern Tribe to help rebuild.

Within seventy years of the War's end, the next Avatar in the cycle, Korra, was born into the Southern Water Tribe, making her Avatar Aang's immediate successor and the next Avatar to hail from the Southern Water Tribe. This could be an indication that the tribe's Waterbending population has expanded tremendously throughout the last seventy years.

Government
Government system: Tribal Chiefdom

Head of state and government: Chief

It is not clear who leads the Southern Water Tribe, although some evidence suggests that Hakoda serves as chief. He wears braids similar to those worn by Chief Arnook of the Northern Water Tribe. This is supported by Sokka's statement of being considered prince back in his tribe, albeit in an attempt to impress Princess Yue. More so, Aang addressed Hakoda as "Chief Hakoda", and Hakoda did not correct him.

The Southern Water Tribe is a much smaller and less stratified society than its northern sister tribe. It is unknown whether the chieftainship is passed down family lines as in the northern faction, or by another method; it is even possible that the chieftainship is not a formal position in the southern tribe, and people may simply defer to Hakoda due to his charisma and reputation for being cunning and wise.

Village (former city)


The village, positioned on a northern shoreline, is surrounded by a low, roughly circular snow wall, broken up by a snow watchtower, which was built by Sokka, to the north and a non-gated entrance to the south. Inside are eight residential tents, arranged semi circularly around a communal fire pit. A giant igloo hugs the east wall, while a handful of smaller units cluster the north wall. Outside, to the right of the entrance, is a small igloo-structure that serves as the village outhouse. The remaining population stands at less than two dozen, with ten older women, ten young children and one domesticated polar dog.

The village was much larger sixty years ago, and consisted of dozens of tents and igloos surrounded by a very large ice wall. A central igloo lay in the center of the village, which was circular in design. However, the village has since shrunk in size due to constant raids and the departure of the Water Tribe warriors.

The shipwreck
West of the village lies a Fire Navy ship, torn open by jutting ice shelves. Though the Shipwreck is a relic of the Fire Nation's historic first strike, its booby-traps are still in working order. Aang accidentally set off a flare that was meant to signal the Fire Nation. It is later revealed that Hama and the Southern Waterbenders were responsible for the wrecking of the vessel, as a brief scene shows them raising the ship up with ice and grounding it. The location appears to be the same seen when Aang and Katara explored it.

Ice dodging


The tribe has a unique rite of passage called ice dodging. This is a coming-of-age ritual that serves as a young boy's first step towards being realized as a true warrior. The rite is described as a ceremonial test of wisdom, bravery and trust.

When a boy reaches the age of fourteen, his father takes him out to sea and challenges him to guide the boat through iceberg-studded waters. The father watches but does not interfere. If and when the boy succeeds, his father places a ceremonial mark on his forehead symbolizing the virtue he demonstrated most prominently during the test. The Mark of the Wise is awarded to those who show leadership and decisiveness. The Mark of the Brave is given for inspirational displays of courage. Finally, the Mark of the Trusted is bestowed upon those who prove themselves to be exceptionally steady and dependable.

The Southern Water Tribe is willing to adapt traditions such as Ice dodging when circumstances warrant it. When Bato realized that Sokka had never undergone the ritual due to Hakoda's departure, he took Sokka, Katara, and Aang on an Ice dodging expedition in rocky Earth Kingdom waters. When they succeeded, he marked all three and declared even Aang an honorary member of the Water Tribe.

Games
Children of the Tribe play a game called penguin sledding, which consists of catching a penguin and riding its back as a makeshift sled.

Gender equality


While the Northern Water Tribe is an exceptionally patriarchal culture, gender roles in the Southern Water Tribe are far less rigid. Katara is shocked to learn that the northern tribe forbids women from learning Waterbending apart for healing purposes, seeing as how her father, Hakoda, recognized her bending abilities early on and unsuccessfully sought a master to teach her. Female Waterbenders are shown taking an active part in battle; a possible reason may be the practicality as the Southern Water Tribe is shown to be more vulnerable to attack. Furthermore, girls are never forced into arranged marriages, but are instead free to marry whomever they see fit.

Nevertheless, the southern tribe does not seem to be entirely free of gender roles. During the first few episodes of the series, up until his encounter with the Kyoshi Warriors, Sokka displays a sexist attitude, claiming on numerous occasions that men are naturally better than women at tasks like hunting, fishing, and combat. In addition, during the siblings' childhood, Katara was responsible for "women's work" like midwifery and washing and mending clothes, including Sokka's; in contrast, Sokka was allowed to spend his time building fortifications and training younger boys to defend the village against the Fire Nation, despite the fact that his preparations were obviously inadequate to deal with any real attack. However, notably, even Sokka is shocked and confused to learn of the Northern Water Tribe's sexist customs. In general, the Southern Water Tribe seems to have a simpler, less hierarchical culture and a more open-minded and flexible mindset. This is most likely because with its numbers decimated and its civilization virtually destroyed, it does not have the luxury of stratifying its people and must assign roles to anyone who is capable.

Housing
In Sokka and Katara's village, most of the residents sleep in tents made of sealskin. However, in the past, the Southern Water Tribe lived in igloo-like structures which likely functioned much like housing in the Northern Water tribe.

The inside of a typical Southern Water Tribe's hut contains a number of animal pelts that are placed on bamboo floors. At one end of the hut, a sealskin tent is set up. This is used as a sleeping chamber. Ceremonial animal headdresses, spears, and animal skins are usually displayed on the walls of the hut.

In the center of the hut is a square fire pit, surrounded by a single line of bricks. The fire provides heat for the hut, and is also used to prepare food. There are mats for sitting on all four sides of the fire pit. A stew post, used for cooking, hangs suspended from the ceiling, hovering above the fire.

Warriors


Warriors of the Southern Water Tribe wield weaponry that includes clubs, scimitars, bone spears used in spear fishing, bladed boomerangs, machetes with whale teeth on the dull side of the blade, and shields. Black and white warpaint in a pattern reminiscent of a wolf is traditionally applied to the face before a battle is entered. During the Invasion of the Fire Nation, all the warriors wore wolf-headed helmets and suits of armor.

It seems as though all adult men of the tribe are expected to be fully trained warrior. Two years prior to Avatar Aang's reawakening, all the tribe's men sailed to the Earth Kingdom to join the war effort. It is unclear whether women without Waterbending abilities are ever allowed to train as warriors; however, there are very few women left behind, so the lack of women in the war party may simply reflect the tribe's overall population decline as a result of Fire Nation attacks. It is clear, however, that women who are Waterbenders are accepted as fighters in the Southern Water Tribe; the northern faction's custom of restricting female Waterbenders from combat takes Katara completely by surprise, and a flashback shows Hama and other women using their Waterbending abilities to defend the tribe against the first Fire Nation raid.

Fauna

 * Otter-penguins
 * Polar dogs
 * Polar sea lions
 * White hamsters