Tribe

## *Survivor* Gameplay

### Description:

A group of individuals who compete together against another group for an extended period of time.

### Appearances:

Every season

The competing teams in *Survivor CAN* are known as ***tribes***. Commonly, there are two tribes in a season, but there have been instances where three or four may be active at the same time. A tribe can have anywhere from four to ten contestants at the beginning of the game.

## Dividing Into Tribes

Most commonly, the tribes are divided by the producers before the game begins. However, there have been exceptions.

### The Schoolyard Pick

*See also: Schoolyard Pick.*
Some seasons have had the tribes selected by the contestants themselves. This is known as the "Schoolyard Pick".

* In *India*, the oldest male and female contestants were told that elders were given utmost respect in the location, and it was only fitting that they were the ones who will pick their tribe members.

The Schoolyard style selection is not limited to just selecting starting tribes, but can be also used in a tribe switch (see below).

### Tribes Preset

In most early seasons, the castaways are divided into tribes semi-randomly:

* In *Kootenays*, *Jiuzhaigou Valley*, *Tanzania*, *Borneo*, *Bahamas*, the 16 contestants were divided into two tribes of eight, with four men and four women on each tribe.
* In *All-Stars - Solomon Islands* the 24 contestants are divided into three tribes of eight, with four men and four women on each tribe.
* In *Jordan* the 18 contestants are divided into three tribe of six, with three men and three women on each tribe.

### Tribes Divided by Theme

More common in recent years is to see tribes divided by a specific theme:

* In *Greece*, *Madagascar*, tribes were separated by gender, known as the **Battle of the Sexes** twist. *Greece* had two tribes of eight, whereas *Madagascar* had two tribes of nine.

## Names and Identification

Starting tribes are given unique names (usually based on local language, culture, or history) and identifying colors which are used on tribe flags, challenge props, on-screen text, and various other items. Each player is given a buff, an elastic ring of cloth generally adorned with the logo for the current season, that can be worn as an armband, headband, tube top, miniskirt, mask, or a bow tie. Players are required to wear the buff with the colour of their tribe in a visible location at all times only being allowed to take their buffs off when the host tells them to, allowing the audience to identify tribal affiliation.

### Tribe Switch

*See also: Tribe Switch.*
In a tribe switch, the contestants will either end up at their original tribe or they will be swapped into another. They must give up their old buff and must don a new one. If there is a switch, it occurs before the merge, commonly catching players off-guard. The logic of the switch is that the relationships from their first tribe will be tested in their new tribe, and will create additional possibilities when the tribes finally merge. Oftentimes, players who were not successful in their original tribe use the switch as an opportunity to create new bonds, and potentially last longer in the competition.

### Mutiny

*See also: Mutiny (twist).*
The mutiny is a variation of the tribe switch. This twist allows players to change tribes at will. Like a traditional swap, the "mutineer" must surrender his/her old buff and will be given the same colored buff as his/her new tribe. The mutiny is a rare twist, as it was unpopular among players (as this is deemed a big, bold move for many, thus doing so will be very risky). Four seasons have offered a chance to mutiny, though from those four times, the offer was accepted only once.

* In *India*, the first ever mutiny was offered at the Survivor Auction. Larry Santiago accepted the offer.

## Tribe Types

### Starting Tribes

Each *Survivor* season starts with 16 to 20 contestants (dubbed as the "castaways") stranded in a remote location and will be left there for the next 39 days. The castaways will be then equally divided into teams "tribes". These tribes then will be sent out to separate camps identified by a coloured tribe banner. Tribes will also be given meager supplies (with a machete, water canteens, and a pot as staples), depending on the season (there are seasons that that have limited food rations, but there are some seasons that they were given only the staples.)

### Merged Tribe

*See also: Merge.*
The merged tribe is composed of the remaining members of the two starting tribes. They will be given a new, blank tribe flag and buffs with some paint to decorate the new flag. Usually, a feast is held at the new tribe's camp to celebrate the event. The merged tribe camp is generally the better of the two former tribe camps, but in rare cases (*Jiuzhaigou Valley*, *Greece*, and *Survivor CAN*) they will be relocated to a new beach. Reward Challenges may still be team-based (depending on the number of remaining players), but Immunity Challenges will be conducted on a strictly individual basis.

### Auxiliary Tribe

An auxiliary tribe is a third tribe introduced early in or midway through the pre-merge phase of the game through a Tribe Switch. The castaways of these tribes are usually relocated to a new beach where they must again set camp from scratch.

### Ghost Tribe

The only ghost tribe that appeared in the show was the infamous Outcasts in *Bahamas*, where the six eliminated players returned for a second chance to play the game.

## Tribe Colors Per Season

 Regular Text