Board Thread:The Reference Desk/@comment-165.228.133.90-20130213061834/@comment-188432-20130214174637

Are you positive that it's not gum? It is, after all, his tribe, and the name "gum" is not otherwise explained by the narrative. If the "g" and the "m" are disallowed by other parts of the puzzle, fine. But if they're in positions where nothing else is connected, then "gum" is almost certainly the right answer.