1. to cause to abandon or lose tribal customs, organization, or identity
Usage: anthropological; often used in historical or sociological contexts

Examples

• Colonial policies sought to detribalize indigenous populations through forced education.
• The government’s relocation program aimed to detribalize Native American communities.
• Urban migration can gradually detribalize rural populations.
• Missionaries worked to detribalize converts by discouraging traditional practices.
• The boarding school system was designed to detribalize Native children.
• Economic modernization tends to detribalize traditional societies.