0 to make members of a tribe (= a social group of people with the same language, customs, and history, and often a recognized leader) stop following their traditional customs or social structure:
During the 1920s, the federal government intensified its efforts to detribalize and assimilate American Indians.
The urbanization of Africans has been condemned on the ground that it "detribalizes" them.
Eastern reformers began a campaign to overturn reservation policy and detribalize the Indian.
The rationale behind this measure was to detribalize American Indians by making them owners of private property.
Throughout Africa, the policy has been to detribalize and to create big nation-states.
