The civil chiefs were understood as the caretakers of the people — the people, including women, children, and the elderly who were the majority of any community, not just the warriors.

Their responsibility was to the survival and well-being of the entire community, and that responsibility required prioritizing peace when peace was possible.

The military societies — the Dog Soldiers, the Kit Foxes, the Bowstrings, the Elk Warriors — had their own leaders and their own traditions of autonomy.

The military society leaders were not subject to the civil chiefs’ authority in any direct sense.

A civil chief could not order a military leader to stop raiding.