Southern Water Tribe
About
The story starts in the Southern Water Tribe, located in the South Pole, where Sokka and Katara come from, and where they first meet Aang. The only water bender in the Southern Water Tribe is Katara, because the fire nation eradicated all of them earlier in the war, taking them as prisoners or killing them. Although the south pole spans hundreds of miles, the water tribe only has one village, which takes up a very small amount of it. The village only contains a handful of people, compared to the towns, villages, and cities of other places.
Daily Life
A wall of snow surrounds the village as the only method of defense against fire nation raids. The tribespeople live in sealskin tents, and wear clothes made of thick animal pelts to combat the cold. Normally, the men in the tribe go off to war and fight, protect the village, or hunt and fish, while the women take care of children, do chores, and be protected. For fun, the children go penguin-sledding, where they catch otter penguins and use them as sleds. The village is tightly-knit, and everyone is family. The tribe works together to keep everyone safe and make the warriors feel at home when they finally come back.
Northern Water Tribe
About
The Northern Water Tribe is located in the North Pole and is completely different from the Southern Water Tribe. The Southerners have almost no defenses in case of fire nation raids, and are completely vulnerable without their warriors. The Northerners, however, have highly developed methods of defense, including a high wall of ice, a series of chambers activated by water bending, and an elevated waterway into the city. The fire nation has no means of getting inside. The city is full of able-bodied warriors and healers, so they can fend for themselves when the fire nation attacks.
Daily Life
The roles of men and women in the tribe are highly specified, so there is much segregation. Male water-benders become warriors and must go off to fight in the war, while women are not allowed to fight, and may only learn how to heal. Women can be married at sixteen, and they are often given arranged marriages, in which they have to accept the terms. The sexism in the Nothern Water Tribe's customs is much more pronounced than that in the Southern Water Tribe.
Foggy Swamp Tribe
About
The Foggy Swamp Tribe plays a less important role in A:TLA. Team Avatar (as Sokka christened them) meets them on a trip across the Earth Kingdom. Later on, though, they help Aang fight the fire nation near the time of Sozin's Comet. The tribe lives on a forest, which is actually one giant tree that spans miles across the land, with rivers and swamps running intricately through it. The waterbenders can "hear" the heartbeat of the forest, as if it is alive and conscious.
Daily Life
As they live in the middle of a forest, they are completely isolated from the rest of the world and are technologically challenged. Still, they are masters of waterbending and can bend the water in vines, creating images of swamp monsters (similar in technique to blood-bending) and full-body armor as protection. They differ from the other tribes because their lifestyle is less sexist and they live more simply.