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Institutions and Social Structures

Tribal chief

Political and Legal Institutions

A tribal chief, chieftain or headman is a political leader of a social group commonly described as a tribe, clan, band or confederation of tribes. A chief authority varies widely by society and context, and in many cases depends on consensus and customary legitimacy rather than coercive power. In anthropology, terms such as tribe, chief and chiefdom have been used in comparative models of sociopolitical organization, though the analytic use of tribe has also been widely criticized as imprecise and historically burdened. In some contemporary states, forms of chiefly authority are formally recognized or regulated by constitutions and statutes. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Institution Type
Political and legal institution: the political leadership role over a tribe, clan, band or confederation of tribes. 1
Emergence Period
Not datable to a single origin; stratified tribal societies led by chiefs are thought to have existed continuously from the Neolithic into the Iron Age. 1
Sources
1. Tribal chief (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationLead section
Quote, Lead section
is a political leader of a social group commonly described as a tribe, clan, band, or confederation of tribes
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