Q: Black Draupadi?

[Hrid at aol.com]

In a message dated 8/19/97 9:00:41 PM, vidya at cco.caltech.edu (Vidyasankar
Sundaresan) wrote:

>Well, the Pandavas and Kauravas are cousins, sharing a common grandfather,
>vyAsa, who is also dark-skinned. They belong to the same family, not to
>mention tribe. However, all this has not stopped those who interpret the
>epic as a war between different tribes. 

I wonder if "tribe" in this context connotes something more primitive than,
say, a "community". Do we speak of contemporary ethnic/racial/cultural groups
as "tribes"?