POLITICAL ORGANIZATION OF TRIBES
Tribes, as we think of them, were non-existent as political units, and
hence there were no tribal chiefs, but there were village chiefs, in the
California province.
The self governing unit was always a village or a group of small closely
adjacent villages. This is the political unit which was governed by the
chief. Villages might consist of from four to about twenty-five earth
lodges and bark huts with populations of from twenty-five to a hundred
or more persons. Influential leaders, usually of much wealth—but not
necessarily so—were recognized as head-men, exercising considerable
authority over the smaller villages or separated groups of houses near
villages. However the head-man’s authority was subservient to that of
the chief.
Chieftainship was inherited through the father’s lineage, the oldest son
being the first in succession. However, if the son were too young to
take over, the deceased chief’s brother was temporarily in charge. The
qualities of good character and knowledge were also important
qualifications for chieftainship, and a chief could be deposed if he
were not a good one. Tenure was normally for life, dependent upon
satisfactory behavior and performance of his responsibilities.
The chief’s relatives hunted and fished for him, but he fed visitors and
provided most of the food for feasts. The chief always directed
community economic activities such as group fishing, deer hunting, and
root digging expeditions. For this reason chiefs had to know much about
game, fish runs, ripening seasons, et cetera, and had to possess good
judgement to insure success of group undertakings. Chiefs also spoke to
their people mornings and evenings, and at ceremonies and the like.
Chiefs furthermore declared days of rest when chores were done about
home. Another function was to arbitrate quarrels among the people.
Mountain Maidu villages had assistant chiefs besides, who were sons or
brothers of the chiefs. This assistant advised the chief and substituted
for him as the occasion demanded. A specific duty of his was the
division of food at ceremonies.
Some chiefs had secondary female chiefs who in the case of the Maidu
were daughters, among Atsugewi the chiefs’ wives. A woman in this
capacity supervised preparation of food for feasts and in Atsugewi
villages might give orders to men.
Atsugewi chiefs appointed clowns at ceremonies who were paid. Appointed
messengers were a part of every chief’s staff. They were selected on the
basis of both willingness to serve and ability. Maidu had about six
messengers per village while the number varied among Atsugewi.
Messengers were good speakers, reliable men, and were discharged if they
failed in their duties. These included not only message running, but
among Atsugewi, tending fires at ceremonies. For Maidu chiefs,
messengers welcomed guests and traveled about gathering news and
scouting. Special fire tenders were appointed in this tribe.
Atsugewi chiefs seem to have possessed greater prestige and authority
than those of the mountain Maidu, the Yana, and the Yahi. The decisions
of Atsugewi chiefs were final, but these had to be diplomatic if the
chief were to remain popular. If a chief were unpopular some of his
people would move to another village leaving the first chief’s community
numerically weaker. Chiefs were generally well obeyed by rich and poor
alike. In return, chiefs unfailingly had the interests of their people
at heart. Atsugewi chiefs, specifically, set examples of industry,
behavior, and judgement for their people. No doubt this was generally
true of the chiefs of units in other local tribes too.
Because of the greater popularity, prestige, and consequently larger
following of some individual chiefs, they were considerably more
powerful than other chiefs in the same tribe. Such men were influential
to some extent beyond the boundaries of their own territories.