From what I remember, it is because they buy the hunters game.
In district 11, a lot actually happens. Peeta decides to give Thresh's family and Rue's family a month of their winnings every year until Katniss and Peeta die. Then, Katniss says a couple words about Thresh and said a lot about Rue. After she talked about Rue an old man sang her four note tune that meant the workers could go home for the day. The tune was also used by Katniss and Rue when they were in the arena that meant they were safe. Once the man did that, the whole entire crowd in district 11 gave Katniss the three fingered sign that meant peace and harmony that Katniss gave to Rue when she died. When Peeta and Katniss left, the peacekeepers brang the man up on the stage and shot him. They also shot two other citizens but we dont know who. That is what happened in district 11.
The people of District 12 hold three fingers up and touch their mouth with them.
Katniss just kills the president of district twelve and White gets trampled in the crowed of people. Then Katniss tries to kill herself. And since Gale knows Katniss will never love him, he moves to district two. Stupid ending right?
District 12 was Katniss and Peeta's home District and Katniss was the main reason for causing the rebellion. The Capitol destroyed the District, in turn destroying many people that Katniss knew and loved, in hopes to try and break her and prevent the rebellion from becoming too large. It was also a way of the Capitol showing their power. In the Dark Days Rebellion before the Games started, they managed to win the war by bombing District 13, which scared the other Districts into surrender. I assume they thought that blowing up District 12 would have the same effect, but Katniss isn't a push over!
I believe that you are talking about when, in the Hunger Games, she covers Rue in flowers to defy the Capitol, and holds two fingers to her mouth, and extends her arm out towards a camera she saw. (She knew where a camera was, and wanted to show her friends and family at DIstrict 12 that she was OK) It is a sign they used at District 12. She has this respect because everyone knows her as the girl that hunts for food for their district. Some of what Katniss catches in the Wilderness is traded to Greasy Sae and other people who live in the town for money. She also stepped up to take her sister's place at the reaping, which was honorable. In other words, everyone in District 12 respects Katniss Everdeen. I hope that helped :D
This is my own theory - I think the peacekeepers in District 12 are not as strict as peacekeepers in other districts because District 12 is not as important as the others, and has less people that need to be kept in line. The peacekeepers may be fed up forward being in such a run down district that they seek to lessen their own suffering by letting the citizens mostly do what they want and bargaining with them for rare things.
The peacekeepers are like the police men. They enforce the capitol's laws. They have the power to whip, shoot, and punish anyone who doesnt obey. Many peacekeepers come from district two while some come from the castle. Some peacekeepers like Darius are okay people but others like Thread are terrible and cruel. --m.c.
Two people from District 8, Bonnie and Twill, escaped during one of the uprisings and informed Katniss of the theory that District 13 still existed.
In district 11, a lot actually happens. Peeta decides to give Thresh's family and Rue's family a month of their winnings every year until Katniss and Peeta die. Then, Katniss says a couple words about Thresh and said a lot about Rue. After she talked about Rue an old man sang her four note tune that meant the workers could go home for the day. The tune was also used by Katniss and Rue when they were in the arena that meant they were safe. Once the man did that, the whole entire crowd in district 11 gave Katniss the three fingered sign that meant peace and harmony that Katniss gave to Rue when she died. When Peeta and Katniss left, the peacekeepers brang the man up on the stage and shot him. They also shot two other citizens but we dont know who. That is what happened in district 11.
The diffrence is that the capitol is home to presidant snow, peacekeepers, and the game makers. District 1 is another regular district that normal rebelling people live in.
The people of District 12 hold three fingers up and touch their mouth with them.
Katniss just kills the president of district twelve and White gets trampled in the crowed of people. Then Katniss tries to kill herself. And since Gale knows Katniss will never love him, he moves to district two. Stupid ending right?
Katniss is responsible for the uprising in District Eight because while it had been building and prepared long before Katniss won, the rebel citizens used her and Peeta's District Seven Victory Tour stop as an excuse to be all at the square, watching them, all at once, and then they started the uprising.
** SPOILER **District 12 was destroyed in a bombing. Katniss, Gale, Prim, Mrs.Everdeen, Buttercup, and 600 other people from District 12 were saved and stayed in the underground District 13, that had been bombed long before. The Capitol took all the good memories Peeta had of Katniss and made them bad, so he wanted to kill her. Many people died. Primrose Everdeen, Katniss' sister, died from an explosion President Coin planned. Katniss was going to kill President Snow with an arrow but instead she shot the arrow at Coin for killing Prim. After that Gale got a job in District 2, Katniss' mom stayed in another district, and Peeta and Katniss went back to District 12 and had two children. There was no more Hunger Games.
In the 74th Hunger Games (The one Katniss and Peeta competed in) The last surviving Tributes were: Cato, the Male tribute from District two Peeta Mallerk, The male Tribute from District twelve And Katniss Everdeen, the female tribute from district Twelve
katniss and gale mainly used bows, but people didn't really have weapons in district 12.
That salute is something from her own district and it basically means "farewell"