The chiefs held their positions for ten years, after which they could be renewed or replaced by their band’s decision.

The forty-four chiefs were civil leaders — peace chiefs in the specific sense that their institutional role was the maintenance of peace, the resolution of disputes, and the management of external relations.

The Cheyenne cultural tradition explicitly separated civil and military authority.

The civil chiefs did not lead war parties, did not command military societies, and did not carry weapons in their official capacity.

This structural distinction between civil and military authority was deeply embedded in Cheyenne political philosophy.