Avatar: The Last Airbender: The History of the Water Tribe – GameRant

Highlights

The world of Avatar: The Last Airbender is incredibly rich and detailed, with entire histories of nations being written, even if they never factor directly into the plot. It's one of the most interesting things about the series, as the world feels so real and lived-in, while still maintaining a certain fantastical element to it. A lot of the cultures of this fictional world draw inspiration from real-life Asian and Indigenous cultures, which only adds to that feeling of realness. While a lot of the lore is set up in ATLA, it's expanded upon even further in The Legend of Korra, which even delves into parts of the history such as the story of the first Avatar.

The four nations are also really important to the overall plot of the show, as the way the world is divided plays into the story a lot. One of the areas that is important to the characters in both ATLA and Korra - mainly because some of the most important characters from each series hail from this place - is the Water Tribe. There are technically two Water Tribes - the Northern and the Southern, who come from the same culture, though they developed certain differences over the years. The traditions of the Water Tribe were inspired by various Indigenous and Inuit cultures. While this nation is important to characters like Katara, Sokka, and Korra, its history is only briefly touched on in the actual show itself. How did the Water Tribe come to be, and what differentiates the Northern sect of the tribe from the Southern?

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During the time period prior to the existence of the first Avatar, the early peoples that would later make up the Water Tribe were gifted the element of water by the lion turtles, who granted them this power through energybending. These people came together as the Water Tribe after the lion turtles stepped back from being the protectors of humans, and these early Water Tribe members left the lion turtle cities and settled at the North Pole of the world. Many of the ways of life and traditions that these early settlers started became important parts of the Water Tribe culture, such as a dependence on water for sustenance, or how dome-like structures were a mainstay of their architecture. Of course, there were also some differences. There were a lot of things about early Water Tribe culture that were actually reminiscent of Fire Nation culture.

There were several independent tribes in the North at first, until they were united by a group of waterbenders who built the capital Agna Qel'a. However, this unity didn't last long, as there was a period of civil unrest within the tribe. There was a group that separated from the original tribe and moved to the South Pole to start a new sect of the tribe as they didn't agree with some of the views and cultural practices that had become normal in the North. Because of these disagreements, the two Water Tribes became distant (not just physically) and were culturally and politically divided for years.

The Northern Water Tribe thrived specifically because of its isolation, as it was not subject to the invasions that the Southern Tribe experienced, and it actually grew into a huge economic and political power after the Hundred Year War. The Northern Tribe tended to be more spiritual and conservative in their traditions than the South. For example, the Northern Water Tribe did not allow women to learn waterbending for fighting purposes and only trained them as healers. Parents also often arranged marriages for their children. There were a number of women who left the Northern Tribe to go to the Southern in order to escape these strict rules, but a lot of the rules were questioned and became more lax after the Hundred Year War. The Northern Water Tribe is led by a chief who can be male or female, and at the end of The Legend of Korra was ruled over by twins Desna and Eska, who took over for their father Unalaq after his fall from grace.

The Southern Water Tribe is actually a federation of a bunch of smaller tribes, ruled over by a Council of Elders who are also responsible for electing a chief for the tribe. The South experienced an unfortunate string of intense Fire Nation raids that decimated the tribe and resulted in most of their waterbenders being taken prisoner. The tribe was on the edge of extinction when Sokka and Katara came across Aang at the very beginning of The Last Airbender, and this discovery is what saved their nation in the end. After the Southern Tribe assisted in the Siege of the North, Master Pakku sent aid down to them to both help their redevelopment and also foster a more positive relationship between the tribes.

The Southern Tribe, though it was not entirely free of sexism, did not have the same gender equality issues that the North had, as women were allowed to be benders apart from just healing, and no one was forced into arranged marriages. The Southern Tribe was more progressive than the North, but they were still technically a confederation under the Northern Tribe's jurisdiction, at least until the Water Tribe Civil War that occurred during The Legend of Korra which led to the South's independence. After this Civil War, the Southern Tribe grew bigger and more powerful than ever, and has been in a state of prosperity since then under Chief Tonraq.

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Avatar: The Last Airbender: The History of the Water Tribe - GameRant