Stephen E. Ambrose Quote
Third, the Sioux did not delegate real power to an individual, be he a head of an akicita society, tribal chief, or simply a brave individual. As Lowie puts it, in normal times the chief was not a supreme executive, but a peacemaker and an orator. Chiefs—all chiefs—were titular, and any power exercised within the tribe was exercised by the total body of responsible men who had qualified for social eminence by their war record and their generosity.33 Whites could never understand this point, incidentally; because they could not conceive of a society without a solid hierarchy, the whites insisted that the Indians had to have chiefs who would be a final authority and able to speak for the entire tribe. Later, much difficulty grew out of this basic white misunderstanding of Indian government.
Third, the Sioux did not delegate real power to an individual, be he a head of an akicita society, tribal chief, or simply a brave individual. As Lowie puts it, in normal times the chief was not a supreme executive, but a peacemaker and an orator. Chiefs—all chiefs—were titular, and any power exercised within the tribe was exercised by the total body of responsible men who had qualified for social eminence by their war record and their generosity.33 Whites could never understand this point, incidentally; because they could not conceive of a society without a solid hierarchy, the whites insisted that the Indians had to have chiefs who would be a final authority and able to speak for the entire tribe. Later, much difficulty grew out of this basic white misunderstanding of Indian government.
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