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Ethnically homogeneous, members of both tribes typically have light or deep brown hair, blue eyes and a light brown/tan skintone. Water Tribe clothing is typically a set of blue anorak and trousers lined and trimmed with white fur, and worn with mittens and mukluks. Men may wear their hair long and half-up or in short ponytails (also known as "warrior's wolf tails"). Women plait and braid their hair in various styles, sometimes with accent beads, and many sport "hair loopies" in various styles. In the Northern Water Tribe, males appear to wear a darker blue than those of the Southern Water Tribe and royalty often wears purple. Their influences are drawn greatly from Inuit and Native American fashion. In the Foggy Swamp Tribe, they wear very little, just leaf-hats, loincloths, and wristbands, all in green, reflecting the color of the water and their
surroundings.




The national emblem of the Water Tribe is a circle comprised of a waning (if up is taken to be north and the orbit of the show's moon assumed to be the same as the Earth's Moon) crescent moon and three wavy horizontal lines representing ocean water. The emblem represents the relationship between Tui and La, the Moon and Ocean Spirits, who exist in perfect harmony with one another, like that of Yin and Yang. It is displayed on the pennant of the watchtower in the Southern Tribe Village, and is common in the architecture of the Northern Water Tribe. However in the Foggy Swamp Tribe, this symbol is not found. Perhaps this is due to the lack of communication with the other tribes.


The Water Tribe is divided into three distinct groups, primarily based on their geography and affinity for Waterbending. The Southern Tribe occupies the South Pole with Katara as its only known bending member, the art having been almost completely erased from the South Pole as a direct result of the Fire Nation raids. The Northern Tribe consists of the majority of the official remnants of their civilization, occupying the North Pole with a multitude of able benders. Though separated, the Southern and Northern Tribes continued to remain in contact prior to the war and at one time even retained a custom of coming together during a New Moon justly called the New Moon Celebration. The Foggy Swamp Tribe occupies a swamp in the Earth Kingdom, while most, if not all, of its members are competent benders with some unique talents, such as Plantbending.


In the Northern Water Tribe , women are of marrying age at the age of 16. Males who wish to marry females gift them with a traditional Betrothal Necklace. This signifies that the woman is to be married. The ceremony is completely organized by the parents, and marriage of free choice is not practiced. In the Southern Water Tribe, it seems that people are allowed to choose their own partners.

For young Southern Water Tribe members, when they turn 14 their father takes them on a rite of passage known as Ice Dodging. After completing the ritual, they are given "marks" of honor, some examples being the Mark of the Brave , the Mark of the Wise , and the Mark of the Trusted .

The names of the Southern and Northern tribes' citizens often includes one or two "K"s and have an "AW" sound (Katara, Hakoda, Sokka, Pakku, Kya, Kuruk, Kanna, Arnook, etc), such as happens in Fire Nation with the letter "Z". However, this doesn't happen in the Foggy Swamp Tribe, perhaps because of their isolation from the culture of the two major water tribe factions.