I think you're on to something. In the aforementioned game, I have run into a number of tribes, but now that I think about it, it IS interesting about WHERE I ran into them. I ran into a Cherokee encampment very close to the Americans; the Ligurians near my own borders; the Gauls near the English, I think, or maybe near Greece. I ran into a whole bunch of others as well--Numidians (not sure where), Angles (again, near the English), Surens (maybe that was near Aztecs?), etc. On the whole, a very profitable affair. I'll check my log file tonight to double check and edit this post. My guess would be that the names of the tribes are tied into what civ they originate closest to.