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Show i9oo] INDIAN SOCIETY 211 ex- officio members of the tribal council, and that body held ultimate authority over tribal affairs. The democratic spirit was evident here as well as in the clan, since the meetings of the council were open to address by any adult male member of the tribe; and among the Iroquois any woman could express her views through an orator chosen by herself, v The tribal council determined upon military campaigns, had the power to make peace, and conducted all negotiations with other tribes. V V^ head chief of the tribe did not exist as a rule; though in certain cases one of the sachems was recognized as of higher rank and authority than the others, and upon him would devolve the duty of representing the tribe when the council was not or could not be convened. \ In such circumstances his action was always subject to ratification by the council, and his authority depended almost wholly upon his personal capacity and influence. The early designation of some of these leading chiefs as " kings" is absurd, as there was little in the position of an executive character. Among the Aztec the head war- chief, Montezuma, naturally became a figure of prominence owing to the necessities of the military situation at the time of the Spanish invasion; but among the tribes farther north the so-called king was nothing more than the elective and often temporary chief of a tribe, or possibly of a confederation. . Among the Iroquois, who, as we have seen, carried the idea of representative govern- » |
