To break down or dissolve tribal structures and identities, causing people to abandon their tribal ways of life and assimilate into dominant cultures.
From de- + tribalize (from tribe + -ize). Emerged in the early-to-mid 20th century in anthropological and postcolonial scholarship.
Detribalize is a word with a troubling history—it was used by colonizers and anthropologists to describe what they believed was 'progress,' when it actually meant the systematic erasure of indigenous cultures and identities.
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