When the Hambah arrived in Tarn, they were primarily hunters, supplemented by gathering/gardening. Herding and farming were then added, and eventually came to dominate in many regions. The social order was rooted in the skills of the hunt: strength, courage, and leadership. The skills of the warrior were seen as an extension of the skills of the hunter. Warfare was often a sort of ritualized competition between groups, but could sometimes become much more destructive. The hunt was the exclusive domain of males, and the social system was consequently male-dominated.
The people were organized into bands or clans (pépas). Each pépas was led by a commander or leader (tejoγ), who was seen as the ultimate authority. Under him were a small circle of elite warriors (késaγ) and a much larger group of hunters (tamisrun). In early times, all able-bodied males fell into one of these groups; men who were unable to hunt due to age or infirmity joined the women in gathering, gardening, and crafing. Once the people became more settled, and the demand increased for smiths, potters, weavers, tailors, bakers, etc., men moved into these professions, but were considered of lower status than the hunters, though still ranking higher than women and men with infirmities.
Aged or wounded warriors who had served the pépas solidly for a number of years were not demoted in the way that hunters typically were, but instead became lawgivers (kuhlèm), a role which predated the development of law codes. The kuhlèm would intervene in disputes, uphold property rights, and act as representatives of the tejoγ. A few would also take on a "bardic" role, learning, inventing, and teaching songs and chants that reinforced the cultural identity of the pépas.
In early times, the pépas was generally no larger than about 100 people, with 20-30 adult males, only a handful of which were warriors. The very best hunters were promoted to warrior status by the tejoγ, usually at the yule feast after the hunting season had ended. Healthy boys were initiated as hunters upon reaching puberty. After three seasons, the young hunter was deemed ready to take a wife, who could not be a member of his own pépas. The taking of a wife from a neighboring group was treated as a minor act of warfare, usually with only mock conflict, but sometimes these bride-raids became the occasion for resolving various grievances between the pépas. The bride and her children became members of the husband's pépas.
A boy who was "marked" in some way (by unusual physical or mental characteristics, for example) might not be initiated as a hunter, but instead assume the role of shaman, through apprenticeship with a shaman of a different pépas, returning after three years with his mentor. There could be at most one shaman in a pépas, and many had none at all. The shaman was considered outside the social hierarchy; he could neither command nor be commanded, even by the tejoγ. The shaman's role was to protect the pépas from demons and other evil metaphysical influences. If a pépas had no shaman, it could enlist the services of one from a neighboring pépas, by agreeing to fight along with the shaman's pépas in any disputes that might arise.
Each pépas had a priest (mrówisrun) whose duty was to say prayers and persuade the gods to lead the pépas to success in warfare, the hunt, and physical well-being. The priest as chosen by the tejoγ from among the kuhlèm. He was often in practice the tejoγ's lieutenant and counselor. He might try to read the god's wills and advise the tejo accordingly. A tejoγ who became physically unable to lead his men in warfare or on the hunt would step down, appoint a successor, and assume the position of mrówisrun instead. In such cases, the mrówisrun might have considerable (if informal) authority.
A warrior or hunter who was disobendient, disloyal, or dishonored by showing indifference, would be permanently banished from the pépas. If he survived for three years as an outcast, he might pledge fealty to the tejoγ of a different pépas and be accepted there as a craftsman, though he could never again become a hunter or warrior.
Upon reaching puberty, girls were expected to eventually be taken as brides by men of neighboring pépas. Women who were not taken after three years would take on a craft or other role, but were generally looked down upon as being undesirable. The exogamy rules prevented them from marrying within their own pépas.
A woman whose husband died or was outcast remained within the pépas and became a wife of the tejoγ or mrówisrun (if the tejoγ so chose). Thus there was a restricted form of polygyny in Hambah society. The additional wives did not contribute to the perceived status of the tejoγ, however, as they implied that his pépas had fallen into difficulty, through the death or dishonor of its men. A wife of child-bearing age taken in this way might expect to achieve some appreciation by giving the tejoγ more sons, but an older widow was likely to be treated very poorly.
These social structures and conventions were preserved even when hunting as such was no longer an important source of food. The young men would be herders, engineers and builders, explorers, or take on some other occupation perceived as an extension of the hunt, however implausibly, and were still accorded a status above that of craftsmen. The warrior class in some instances degenerated into little more than raiders, thieves, and trouble-makers. In Thontorar and some areas of Kentrath, the hunters and warriors transformed into a hereditary ruling class, supported by surplus agricultural production.