The reality was more complicated.

Political authority could be expressed through kinship, tribute, alliances, ceremonial relationships, military power, and control over food and resources.

The term “chiefdom” is used by archaeologists and historians to describe some of these societies, but the word can conceal as much as it reveals if it is treated as a direct equivalent of a European kingdom.

These were Indigenous political systems with their own histories.

Capachequi was one of them.