ABSTRACT
The notion of the tribe has a variety of meanings: a ‘primitive’ tribe is sometimes conceived as an island unto itself, morally and conceptually. The tribal ancestor may in such cases be seen as the first man as such, and the inclusion of non-members of the tribe in humanity itself may be ambiguous. Such a ‘closed’ tribe then may or may not be a political unit, but it certainly is a cultural one. The limits of the society are the limits of a culture, and the limits of the culture are the limits of the world, and vice versa.
