Concerning their intertribal organization, the Algon-quians commonly formed confederacies, such as the Abenaki Confederacy, the Wappinger Confederacy, and the Powhatan Confederacy. These alliances were not as structured as the Iroquois League, which had an intricate system of laws governing tribal interaction, but rather loose networks of villages and bands; they traded together and helped one another in times of war. These confederacies typically had a grand sachem with greater authority than regular sachems. Among some peoples the lesser sachems in charge of a particular village or band were known as sagamores. In some instances, the grand sachem served as little more than a mediator between the sagamores during intertribal councils. In other cases, as with the Powhatan of Virginia, the grand sachem was more like a king, having absolute power.
But not all Algonquian tribes were part of a confederacy with a grand sachem. In the Great Lakes area, it was more common to have two chiefs for each tribe, the peace chief and the war chief. The first was usually a hereditary position, passed on from father to son. The second was chosen for his military prowess in times of war. Some tribes also had a third leader, the ceremonial leader. He was the tribe’s shaman, or medicine man, and was in charge of religious and healing rituals.
For the Algonquian tribes of northern Canada, the band was the most important political unit. These peoples moved around so much in small hunting groups that they had little social organization other than the extended family—parents, brothers and sisters, cousins, and in-laws. Many of these bands met with one another once a year for a communal celebration, and then their various leaders met as equals.
The family played an important part in Algonquian society. Many tribes were organized into clans, clusters of related families traced back to a common ancestor. Tribes tracing descent through the female line are called matri-lineal; those tracing back through a male line are called patrilineal. Clans usually had favorite animals as names and symbols to distinguish them from one another; these are called totems. The animal totems were thought of as spiritual guardians or supernatural ancestors.
Tribes often organized their clans into two different groups, called moieties, meaning “halves.” These moieties would be responsible for different duties and chores. They would also oppose each other in sporting events. Clans, totems, and moieties were common to Indians all over North America, not just to Algonquians.
World History
