Do you learn which tribe your from in a Patriarchal blessing? Is it common that mormons ask what tribe you're from? Why do they care? Just overheard the oddest conversation...
Someone should set up a website where these PB's are gathered and run some comparisons among all of them just to show how generic they are and thus a load of hooie.
Remember when it was taught by J.S that the 'lost' ten tribes of Israel lived on the moon, and dressed like pilgrims (with tall black hats, and wide white collars)? (If I remember correctly.)
One of my religion professors at BYU was obsessed by the tribes of Israel. He got into dramatic explanations of how they had spread to every corner of the earth. Therefore, the gathering of the 12 tribes essentially included everyone.
Like many Mormon things, it felt like an effort to use a sledge hammer to get a square peg to fit into a round hole.