chief, political leader of a social group, such as a band, tribe, or confederacy of tribes. Among many peoples, chiefs have very little coercive authority and depend on community consensus for implementing recommendations; often a number of recognized chiefs form a tribal chiefs’ council. Among more advanced preliterate societies, there may be a single paramount tribal chief with coercive authority.
Popular Western literature is replete with mistaken notions about chieftains. In loose usage in the West, the word has been applied to any famous nonwhite war leader or orator who frequently appeared in negotiations with whites. Such a man may well have been a leader in his community, but he need not have been a chief. For example, the Sauk Native American leader Black Hawk, who in 1832 led a band of Sauk and Fox in the Black Hawk War, was not a member of the Sauk chiefs’ council and, despite his prominence as a warrior and spokesman, was never recognized as a chief by the Sauk tribe.