Your Guide To the Many Tribes of Wakanda

Seeing the dynamics between the different Wakandan tribes is always fun.

As we return to Wakanda for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, you might need a refresher on who we're going to meet. In the rich world of Wakanda, there are many aspects of the fictional country that we only get to see passingly in the first Black Panther movie. As we get to explore them a bit more in Wakanda Forever, let's talk about all of the tribes of Wakanda and what their purpose is in the country.

In the first movie, we got to meet the tribal elders and a bit of the tribes around Wakanda. This continues in the second film but it is nice that the Jabari Tribe is featured a bit more inclusively in Wakanda Forever than they were in Black Panther. Especially because it means that throughout Wakanda Forever, we get little moments with Winston Duke's M'Baku and that's always a treat to us all.

How Many Tribes Are in Wakanda?

But focusing on the tribes themselves, it is important to note that the major city in Wakanda where the royal family lives is called Birnin Zana and is where we spend most of our time as an audience. There are five tribes in Wakanda, so let's talk about each of them and their importance to the country and story of the Black Panther.

The Border Tribe

First, let's talk about the Border Tribe. They may look like shepherds and farmers but they are the first defense for Wakanda. In the first movie, we got to see their power through the character of W'Kabi (Daniel Kaluuya) and how they functioned in Wakandan society. They are the fighters and they are the outward face of Wakanda.

The River Tribe, Mining Tribe, and Merchant Tribe

With the River Tribe, their name is pretty much what they are known for. They're responsible for the fishing and agriculture of Wakanda. Similarly, the Mining Tribe is responsible for mining minerals, which does include Vibranium, whereas the Merchant Tribe handles trade and innovation.

The Jabari Tribe

This then brings us to the Jabari Tribe. In Black Panther, we met them when M'Baku comes to challenge T'Challa and from then on, we got small hints of them throughout the movie and quickly learned that they are the outcasts of Wakanda. Mainly because they don't want to use Vibranium and even in Wakanda Forever, we get glimpses of M'Baku's anger about T'Challa telling the world of their resources and the truth about Wakanda. The Jabari Tribe is fun because we get to see the dynamic shifts between all the tribes. When M'Baku comes to the council in Wakanda Forever, he brings with him the energy of his tribe; they know how the others view them but they don't care, they're a part of Wakanda, too.

Those are the five tribes of Wakanda and getting to spend time with them in both Black Panther and Wakanda Forever has been great and hopefully, we'll continue to learn about them in new movies.