‘Cracking the code’ (Ballard and Clanchy, 1988) of academic literacy, be it for the purposes of a first-year essay or for a presentation at a seminar for fellow academics (such as this one), is an essential criterion of success within higher education. If I fail to crack the code and use the appropriate literacy practices, I do not have a ‘voice’, or at least not one which will be listened to by those adept in the specific literacy practices deemed appropriate in this context. Those fluent in any particular literacy can be thought of as members of a tribe (Becher and Trowler, 2001) with clear expectations of ‘wannabe’ tribe members, not least of which is some level of proficiency in the tribe’s literacy practices. This paper considers this idea in more detail before discussing what the implications might be for students entering higher education.