Tribe is not a “label initially used only by Euro-Americans to categorize indigenous people.”
“Period.”
The word tribe derives from Latin tribus, old French tribu, mid English tribe, hundreds of years before Europeans stumbled on the Americas.
Tribe: “a unit of social organization showing common culture” etc., “originally living under a Chief or Headman.” (Universally).
The political difference between tribes and larger, subjugated groups of people is, large populations consisting of diverse cultures, mindsets, organized under a single, or multiple, governing authorities cannot be considered single tribes or a single tribe. Such authority has to be far more complex than what would work under small tribal organizations. The idea that there could be a “Euro-American tribe, “reasonably said to be a violent, prejudiced, and extremist tribe,” as opposed to an all the Americas loving tribe, is patently absurd, ridiculous.
Tribal societies, being humans after all, often work together for the common good, but often they don’t; are elitist, hierarchical, oppressive. No one in their right mind would call the empires, kingdoms of the Americas tribes, just as they wouldn’t the European ones. “Tribe” is not a put-down, just a definition.
The Sioux Tribes, including the Lakota, driven into the hard to make a living great plains by stronger tribes to the east ended up, after horses arrived, being a really fearsome great power. They were not nice to other tribes, even hundreds of mile away, or “weak” ones in their own societies.
As your basic humans, Indians are no different than whites. They, like us, aren’t peace-love/live in harmony/ tree-hugging/make love not war boys and girls.
Human nature is conflict, exploitation and war. There has never been “peace on earth” anywhere. “Before history began, murderous strife was universal and unending.” On many levels, like it or not.
Claus Dietrich
SWANSONVILLE