Indigenous : what is the female name for Chief ? (ancient, war, England)
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Why don't we know the name and identify of the female half of Indigenous Chiefs ... the wife ... . Daughters are mentioned in Disney films as Indigenous Princesses. What is the wife of an Indigenous Chief called? Priestess? I've never heard heard of a Chieftess in Indigenous politics.
Anyone have a link ...
... beware cultural appropriation laws
Are women respected as equal in indigenous hierarchical "Chief" tribal societies?
I have always remembered that it was gender neutral who the chief was. "Chief" was the European name for a leader of a tribe, - rather a distorted way to look at it, but lacking another name for it- ...
A squaw is female- unknown "rank"....
/edit- There is a lot on this subject, and goggle is full of more information. Tribe to tribe the rankings can change based on their unique culture...
I think your question needs to be more specific what " tribe you are talking about to get anything more specific or more helpful.
A female Chief is a Chief in Canadian First Nations.
Spouse of the chief, whether male or female, I'm not aware that they have a title at all... not like First Lady or First Dude or whatever.
Calling the child of a chief a "princess" or "prince" is entirely a European cultural thing, based on European aristocracy. It has nothing to do with the indigenous cultures. Some First Nations had hereditary chiefs, some did not... but they had no titles like prince, princess, duke, duchess, earl, count, countess, lord, lady, etc....
In the New England area chiefs were called Sachems, and could be male or female. The children of chiefs did not have titles, so the notion of Indian princesses is a European social construct and is not based on anything in indigenous culture. Tribes also had more than one chief; they could have a war chief, a hunting chief, a ceremonial chief, etc. A chief's wife may get some deference because of her husband's position, because of her own wisdom and knowledge, etc., but she is not a queen and there is no such thing as royalty and hereditary titles.
These days, they're called "tribal chair". Wilma Mankiller of the Cherokees is a prime example in our time. She was also referred to as Chief. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilma_Mankiller
Last edited by Ruth4Truth; 06-17-2017 at 12:43 PM..
A female Chief is a Chief in Canadian First Nations.
Spouse of the chief, whether male or female, I'm not aware that they have a title at all... not like First Lady or First Dude or whatever.
Calling the child of a chief a "princess" or "prince" is entirely a European cultural thing, based on European aristocracy. It has nothing to do with the indigenous cultures. Some First Nations had hereditary chiefs, some did not... but they had no titles like prince, princess, duke, duchess, earl, count, countess, lord, lady, etc....
Well it has a lot to do with indigenous European cultures.
Among the ancient indigenous Norsemen (viking era Scandinavia) a chieftain was called dróttinn and his female counterpart was called a dróttning, both stemming from the word drótt, meaning a band of people, and conferring the notion of a person who leads the band.
For comparison, the English equivalent for 'chief' (which is a Latin loanword) was dryhten. I can not find a written feminine equivalent, but based on the Norse model, I would expect dryhtning to be a recognizable word to the Anglo-Saxon ear, if not in common use.
As far as women's place in the hierarchy in tribal Norse society, during the viking age it was a patriarchal system, but women did often rule in their husband's stead when he was not present or killed. Women also ran the economic concerns of her community and had the right to inheritance and other roles of authority. The suppression of women in ancient Nordic/West Germanic society was really a phenomenon that came about after Christianization.
Last edited by ABQConvict; 06-17-2017 at 02:02 PM..
Some were chieftess, but the Cherokee nation or tribe had Queens some of the time..In Scotland it was equals... Men and women have long been recognised in Scotland as equals. A good example of this is that female chiefs supply a goodly number of places in the current 135-strong listings of the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs. They hold exactly the same responsibilities as their male counterparts. Here are some shining examples of female clan chiefs:
Last edited by dizzybint; 06-18-2017 at 09:33 AM..
Some were chieftess, but the Cherokee nation or tribe had Queens some of the time..In Scotland it was equals... Men and women have long been recognised in Scotland as equals. A good example of this is that female chiefs supply a goodly number of places in the current 135-strong listings of the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs. They hold exactly the same responsibilities as their male counterparts. Here are some shining examples of female clan chiefs:
Did the Scots historically (or pre-historically) have a society with matriarchal aspects? What about the Irish?
Last edited by Ruth4Truth; 06-18-2017 at 11:13 AM..
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