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Native Brazilian chiefs.

A tribal chief is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom. Tribal societies with social stratification under a single (or dual) leader emerged in the Neolithic period out of earlier tribal structures with little stratification, and they remained prevalent throughout the Iron Age.

In the case of indigenous tribal societies existing within larger colonial and post-colonial states, tribal chiefs may represent their tribe or ethnicity in a form of self-government.

The most common types are the chairman of a council (usually of "elders") and/or a broader popular assembly in "parliamentary" cultures, the war chief (may be an alternative or additional post in war time), the hereditary chief and the politically dominant medicineman (in "theocratic" cultures).

The term is usually distinct from chiefs at still lower levels, such as village headman (geographically defined) or clan chief (an essentially genealogical notion), as the notion "tribal" rather requires an ethno-cultural identity (racial, linguistic, religious etc.) as well as some political (representative, legislative, executive and/or judicial) expression.

History[link]

Anthropologist Elman Service distinguishes two stages of tribal societies: simple societies organised by limited instances of social rank and prestige, and more stratified societies led by chieftains or tribal kings (chiefdoms). Historically, tribal societies represent an intermediate stage between the band society of the Paleolithic stage and the Civilization with centralized, super-regional government based in cities. Stratified tribal societies led by tribal kings thus flourished from the Neolithic stage into the Iron Age, albeit in competition with civilisations and empires beginning in the Bronze Age. An important source of information for tribal societies of the Iron Age is Greco-Roman ethnography, which describes tribal societies surrounding the urban, imperialist civilisation of the Hellenistic and Roman periods.

After the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, tribal kingdoms were again established over much of Europe in the wake of the Migration period. By the High Middle Ages, these had again coalesced into super-regional monarchies.

Tribal societies also remained prevalent in much of the New World, excepting Paleolithic or Mesolithic band societies in Oceania and in parts of Sub-Saharan Africa. Europeans forced centralized governments onto these societies during Colonialism, but in some instances they have retained or regained partial self-government.

Specific tribal chiefdoms[link]

Americas[link]

• lonco (mapudungun: longko, "head") among the Mapuche
• Morubixaba — tribal Cacique (chief) of the Tupi people
• Oubutu (among the Kalinago people of the the southern Caribbean)
• Rajiv (among the central Trinidadian people of Freeport)
• Tyee tribal chief of the Chinookan (Chinook)^[1][2]

Sub-Saharan Africa[link]

• Eze (Ibo people of Nigeria)
• Gbong Gwon Jos (of the Berom people of Nigeria)
• Kgosi (amongst the Tswana people of Botswana and South Africa, with the House of Khama being its most powerful holders)
• Mogho Naba (in the Ouagadougou region of Burkina Faso)
• Nkosi (Zulu, Ndebele and Xhosa peoples, South Africa and Zimbabwe
• Oba (also in Nigeria, with its various Yoruba and Bini holders claiming direct descent from the deified Oduduwa. Their ministers, governors and nobles, all known in the Yoruba language as Oloyes, are the chiefs who use the word "chief" as an honourific. The Obas, when referred to in English, are variously called kings, monarchs, royal fathers and, officially, traditional rulers).
• Obai (Temne people of Sierra Leone)
• Omanhene (amongst the Akan peoples of Ghana)
• Orkoiyot (Nandi people in Kenya)
• Sarki (in the Hausaland region of Niger and Nigeria)

Oceania[link]

• Ariki, 'ariki henua
• Ibedul
• Iroijlaplap
• Matai, in the Samoan fa'amatai system
• Nahnmwarki, Lepen Palikir
• Rangatira, a chief of Māori in New Zealand
• Ratu

Philippines[link]

• Apo Rodolfo Aguilar (Kudol I) (Paramount Tribal Chieftain of the Tagbanua tribes people living in Banuang Daan and Cabugao settlements in Coron Island, Palawan, Philippines)

Modern states providing an organized form of tribal chiefships[link]

India[link]

Adivasi in Sanskrit refers to indigenous people who have been living in a place from time immemorial, Adi meaning first and vasi meaning inhabitant. These tribes have "Chiefs" and they are referred to by various names. The north eastern states of India, with a large tribal population, is a valid case study. There, tribal chiefs enjoy a lot of power and status.

Middle East[link]

Arabs, in particular peninsular Arabs and nomadic Beduins, are largely organized in tribes, many of whom have official representatives in governments. Tribal chiefs are known as Sheikhs, though this term is also sometimes applied as an honorific title to spiritual leaders of Sufism.

Oceania[link]

The Solomon Islands have a Local Court Act which empowers chiefs to deal with crimes in their communities, thus assuring them of considerable effective authority.

United States[link]

Goyathlay, or Geronimo, Apache chieftain for the Chiricahua

Historical cultural differences between tribes[link]

Generally, a tribe or nation is considered to be part of an ethnic group, usually sharing cultural values. For example, the forest-dwelling Chippewa historically built dwellings from the bark of trees, as opposed to the Great Plains-dwelling tribes, who would not have access to trees, except by trade, for example for lodgepoles. Thus, the tribes of the Great Plains might typically dwell in skin-covered tipis rather than bark lodges. But some Plains tribes built their lodges of earth, as for example the Pawnee.^[1] The Pueblo people, meanwhile, built their dwellings of stone and earth.

Political power in a tribe[link]

A chief might be considered to hold political power, say by oratory or by example. But on the North American continent, it was historically possible to evade the political power of another by migration. The Mingos, for example, were Iroquois who migrated further west to the sparsely populated Ohio Country during the 18th century. Two Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois, Hiawatha and the Great Peacemaker, formulated a constitution for the Iroquois Confederation.

The tribes were pacified by units of the United States Army in the nineteenth century, and were also subject to forced schooling in the decades afterward. Thus, it is uncommon for today's tribes to have a purely Native American cultural background, and today Native Americans are in many ways simply another ethnicity of the secular American people. Because formal education is now respected, some like Peter McDonald, a Navajo, left their jobs in the mainstream U.S. economy to become chairpeople of their tribal councils or similar self-government institutions.

Not all tribal leaders need be men; Wilma Mankiller was a well-known Chief of the Cherokee Nation. Also, though the fount of power might be the chief, he or she is typically not free to wield power without the consent of a council of elders of some kind. For example: Cherokee men were not permitted to go to war without the consent of the council of women.

Tribal government is an official form of government in the United States,^[3] as it is in a number of countries around the world.

Historically, the U.S. government treated tribes as seats of political power, and made treaties with the tribes as legal entities. Be that as it may, the territory of these tribes fell under the authority of the Bureau of Indian Affairs as reservations held in trust for the tribes. Citizenship was formerly considered a tribal matter. For example, it was not until 1924 that the Pueblo people were granted U.S. citizenship, and it was not until 1948 that the Puebloans were granted the right to vote in state elections in New Mexico. In Wisconsin, the Menominee Nation has its own county Menominee County, Wisconsin with special car license plates; 87% of the county's population is therefore Native American.

Mainstream Americans often find pride and comfort in realizing that at least part of their ethnic ancestry is Native American, although the connection is usually only sentimental and not economic or cultural. Thus, there is some political power in one's ability to claim a Native American connection (as in the Black Seminole).

Economic power in a tribe[link]

Because the Nations were sovereign, with treaty rights and obligations, the Wisconsin tribes innovated Indian gaming in 1988,^[4] that is, on-reservation gambling casinos, which have since become a US$14 billion industry nationwide. This has been imitated in many of the respective states that still have Native American tribes. The money that this generates has engendered some political scandal. For example, the Tigua tribe, which fled their ancestral lands in New Mexico during the Pueblo revolt of 1680, and who then settled on land in El Paso County, Texas, has paid^[5] for a low probable return to the tribe because of the Jack Abramoff publicity.

Many of the tribes use professional management for their money. Thus, the Mescalero Apache have renovated their Inn of the Mountain Gods to include gambling as well as the previous tourism, lodging, and skiing in the older Inn, as of 2005.

The Navajo nation defeated bids to open casinos in 1994, but by 2004, the Shiprock casino was a fait accompli.

See also: Economy of the Iroquois

See also[link]

• Cacique
• House of chiefs
• Indirect rule
• Opperhoofd
• Paramount Chief
• Sachem
• Sagamore (title)

Notes[link]

• ^ The Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois has an exhibit on the Pawnee earth lodge.
• ^ The Field Museum has exhibits with artifacts, dress, tools and pottery of the Pueblo people, the Northwest tribes, the Plains tribes and the Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, especially those of the Midwest.

References[link]

• WorldStatesmen
• List of Tribal Governments in the United States
• CorPun- passim; here Solomon Islands

External links[link]

• Death of Andamanese Tribal Chief in India

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Tagged since May 2011. It may have been edited by a contributor who has a close connection with its subject. Tagged since November 2009. The notability of this article's subject is in question. If notability cannot be established, it may be listed for deletion or removed. Tagged since November 2009.

Abdul Raouf Khan
Born	(1969-05-13) 13 May 1969 (age 43) Nawabshah, Sindh, Pakistan
Education	Bachelor of Biology
Occupation	Politician, Taluka City Nazim (Mayor) Nawabshah
Parents	Abdul Ghafoor Khan

Abdul Rauof Khan is the Haqparsat Taluka City Nazim (Mayor)^[1] of Nawabshah. Raouf Khan is a member of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) of Pakistan.^{[citation needed]}

Biography[link]

Raouf Khan born in Nawabshah in 1969.^{[citation needed]} He intermediated in 1986 from Government Sachal Sarmast College Nawabshah and then went to Karachi and graduated in Biology from University of Karachi in 1991.^{[citation needed]}

Inclusion in MQM[link]

Raouf Khan joined MQM in 1986 at the age of 17. He contested in the 1996’s National Assembly election from Nawabshah NA-166.

See also[link]

• Quaid-e-Tahrik Altaf Hussain
• Sindh

References[link]

Seattle
The only known photograph of Chief Seattle, taken 1864
Tribe	Duwamish
Born	c. 1780 On or near Blake Island, Washington, U.S.
Died	June 7, 1866 Port Madison, Washington, U.S.
Native name	Si'ahl
Known for	Namesake of city of Seattle
Resting place	Port Madison, Washington, U.S.
Religious beliefs	Roman Catholic
Children	Princess Angeline

Chief Seattle (an Anglicization of Si'ahl), (Lushootseed pronunciation: [ˈsiʔaːɬ], originally [ˈsiʔaːtɬʼ];^[1] c. 1780 - June 7, 1866) was a Dkhw’Duw’Absh (Duwamish) chief,^[2] also known as Sealth, Seathle, Seathl, or See-ahth. A prominent figure among his people, he pursued a path of accommodation to white settlers, forming a personal relationship with David Swinson "Doc" Maynard. The city of Seattle, in the U.S. state of Washington, was named after him. A widely publicized speech arguing in favor of ecological responsibility and respect of native Americans' land rights has been attributed to him; however there is controversy about what, if anything, he actually said.^[1]

Biography[link]

Chief Seattle's bust in the city of Seattle

Si’ahl's mother Sholeetsa was Dkhw’Duw’Absh (Duwamish) and his father Shweabe was chief of the Dkhw’Suqw'Absh (the Suquamish tribe).^[2] Si’ahl was born around 1780 on or near Blake Island, Washington. One source cites his mother's name as Wood-sho-lit-sa.^[3] The Duwamish tradition is that Si’ahl was born at his mother's Dkh^w’Duw’Absh village of Stuk^w on the Black River, in what is now the city of Kent, and that Si'ahl grew up speaking both the Dkhw’Duw’Absh and Dkhw’Suqw'Absh dialects of Lushootseed. Because Native descent among the Salish peoples was not solely patrilineal, Si'ahl inherited his position as chief of the Dkhw’Duw’Absh or Suquamish Tribe from his maternal uncle.^[2] In later years, Si’ahl claimed to have seen the ships of the Vancouver Expedition as they explored Puget Sound.

Si’ahl earned his reputation at a young age as a leader and a warrior, ambushing and defeating groups of enemy raiders coming up the Green River from the Cascade foothills, and attacking the Chimakum and the S'Klallam, tribes living on the Olympic Peninsula. Like many of his contemporaries, he owned slaves captured during his raids. He was tall and broad for a Puget Sound native at nearly six feet; Hudson's Bay Company traders gave him the nickname Le Gros (The Big One). He was also known as an orator; and when he addressed an audience, his voice is said to have carried from his camp to the Stevens Hotel at First and Marion, a distance of 3/4 of a mile.^[3]

He took wives from the village of Tola'ltu just southeast of Duwamish Head on Elliott Bay (now part of West Seattle). His first wife La-Dalia died after bearing a daughter. He had three sons and four daughters with his second wife, Olahl.^[3] The most famous of his children was his first, Kikisoblu or Princess Angeline. Si’ahl was baptized in the Roman Catholic Church, and given the baptismal name Noah, probably in 1848 near Olympia, Washington.^[4] The meaning of this ceremony may be called into question by his references to his people's gods in his most famous Talk (below).

For all his skill, Si’ahl was gradually losing ground to the more powerful Patkanim of the Snohomish when white settlers started showing up in force. When his people were driven from their traditional clamming grounds, Si’ahl met Maynard in Olympia; they formed a friendly relationship useful to both. Persuading the settlers at Duwamps to rename the town Seattle, Maynard established their support for Si’ahl's people and negotiated relatively peaceful relations among the tribes.

Si’ahl kept his people out of the Battle of Seattle (1856). Afterwards, he was unwilling to lead his tribe to the reservation established, since mixing Duwamish and Snohomish was likely to lead to bloodshed. Maynard persuaded the government of the necessity of allowing Si’ahl to remove to his father's longhouse on Agate Passage, 'Old Man House' or Tsu-suc-cub. Si’ahl frequented the town named after him, and had his photograph taken by E. M. Sammis in 1865.^[3] He died June 7, 1866, on the Suquamish reservation at Port Madison, Washington.

Legacy[link]

Statue (erected 1908) of Chief Seattle, Tilikum Place, Seattle, Washington. The statue is on the National Register of Historic Places.

• Si’ahl's grave site is at the Suquamish Tribal Cemetery.^[5]
• In 1890, a group of Seattle pioneers led by Arthur Armstrong Denny set up a monument over his grave, with the inscription "SEATTLE Chief of the Suqampsh and Allied Tribes, Died June 7, 1866. The Firm Friend of the Whites, and for Him the City of Seattle was Named by Its Founders" On the reverse is the inscription "Baptismal name, Noah Sealth, Age probably 80 years."^[3] The site was restored and a native sculpture added in 1976 and again in 2011.
• Soundgarden, a Seattle rock band, covered the Black Sabbath song, "Into the Void" replacing the lyrics with the words from Chief Seattle's speech.
• The Suquamish Tribe honors Chief Seattle every third week in August at "Chief Seattle Days".
• The city of Seattle, and numerous related features, are named after Si’ahl.
• A B-17E Flying Fortress named Chief Seattle, a so-called "presentation aircraft", was funded by bonds purchased by the citizens of Seattle. Flying with the 435th Bombardment Squadron in the defense of Port Moresby, it was lost with its 10-man crew on August 14, 1942.^[6][7]
• The Chief Sealth Trail is named after Chief Seattle "Chief Sealth Trail". http://www.traillink.com/trail/chief-sealth-trail.aspx. Retrieved February 12, 2012. .

The Speech controversy[link]

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Chief Seattle's Speech

There is a controversy about a speech by Si’ahl concerning the concession of native lands to the settlers.

Even the date and location of the speech has been disputed,^[8] but the most common version is that on March 11, 1854, Si’ahl gave a speech at a large outdoor gathering in Seattle. The meeting had been called by Governor Isaac Ingalls Stevens to discuss the surrender or sale of native land to white settlers. Doc Maynard introduced Stevens, who then briefly explained his mission, which was already well understood by all present.^[3]

Si’ahl then rose to speak. He rested his hand upon the head of the much smaller Stevens, and declaimed with great dignity for an extended period. No one alive today knows what he said; he spoke in the Lushootseed language, and someone translated his words into Chinook jargon, and a third person translated that into English.

Some years later, Dr. Henry A. Smith wrote down an English version of the speech, based on Smith's notes. It was a flowery text in which Si’ahl purportedly thanked the white people for their generosity, demanded that any treaty guarantee access to Native burial grounds, and made a contrast between the God of the white people and that of his own. Smith noted that he had recorded "...but a fragment of his [Sealth's] speech". Recent scholarship questions the authenticity of Smith's supposed translation.^{[9][verification needed]}

In 1891, Frederick James Grant's History of Seattle, Washington reprinted Smith's version. In 1929, Clarence B. Bagley's History of King County, Washington reprinted Grant's version with some additions. In 1931, John M. Rich reprinted the Bagley version in Chief Seattle's Unanswered Challenge. In the 1960s, articles by William Arrowsmith and the growth of environmentalism revived interest in Si’ahl's speech. Ted Perry introduced anachronistic material, such as shooting buffalo from trains, into a new version for a movie called Home,^[1] produced for the Southern Baptist Radio and Television Commission.^[10] The movie sank without a trace, but this newest and most fictional version is the most widely known. Albert Furtwangler analyzes the evolution of Si’ahl's speech in Answering Chief Seattle (1997).^[11]

The speech attributed to Si’ahl, as re-written by others, has been widely cited as "powerful, bittersweet plea for respect of Native American rights and environmental values".^[1] A similar controversy surrounds a purported 1855 letter from Si’ahl to President Franklin Pierce, which has never been located and, based on internal evidence, is considered by some historians as "an unhistorical artifact of someone's fertile literary imagination".^[8]

See also[link]

Chief Seattle’s gravesite on the Port Madison Indian Reservation in Suquamish, Washington

Closeup of Chief Seattle’s tombstone in Suquamish, Washington

• Battle of Seattle (1856)
• History of Seattle before 1900
• Chief Sealth International High School
• Suquamish Museum and Cultural Center

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Lakw’alas (Thomas R. Speer), The Life of Si’ahl, ‘Chief Seattle’, Duwamish Tribal Services Board of Directors, for the Duwamish Tribe, July 22, 2004.
• Murray Morgan, Skid Road, 1951, 1960, and other reprints, ISBN 0-295-95846-4.
• William C. ("Bill") Speidel, Doc Maynard, The Man Who Invented Seattle, Nettle Creek Publishing Company, Seattle, 1978.
• Chief Seattle bio, Chief Seattle Arts, accessed online 2009-02-23.
• Brief analysis of the different versions of the speech by Nancy Zussy, Librarian, Washington State Library, accessed online 2010-01-01.
• The Suquamish Museum (1985). The Eyes of Chief Seattle. Suquamish, WA: Suquamish Museum. 
• Jefferson, Warren (2001). The World of Chief Seattle, How Can One Sell the Air?. Summertown, TN: Native Voices. pp. 127. ISBN 1-57067-095-1. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Chief Seattle

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Chief Seattle

• Suquamish Museum & Cultural Center
•  "Seattle". Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. 1900.