How can I represent an ordered tree structure in FileMaker Pro 10?

So I’m a programming enthusiast (at one time, a professional programmer) and have had in mind implementing a particular application for some time now. Recently, I decided to learn how to use FileMaker Pro 10 and as an educational effort to implement the application I’ve been pondering usng FileMaker Pro 10 as the DBMS.

I think that an elegant solution would entail utilizing an ordered tree structure. But, representing an ordered tree in FileMaker Pro (or any RDBMS for that matter) is problematic at best. Anyone out there have ideas or recommendations?

To be sure, I do have some ideas of how to do so but am hoping for a clean and direct solution.