Mountain Maidu villages had assistant chiefs besides, who were sons or brothers of the chiefs. This assistant advised the chief and substituted for him as the occasion demanded. A specific duty of his was the division of food at ceremonies.
Some chiefs had secondary female chiefs who in the case of the Maidu were daughters, among Atsugewi the chiefs’ wives. A woman in this capacity supervised preparation of food for feasts and in Atsugewi villages might give orders to men.
Atsugewi chiefs appointed clowns at ceremonies who were paid. Appointed messengers were a part of every chief’s staff. They were selected on the basis of both willingness to serve and ability. Maidu had about six messengers per village while the number varied among Atsugewi. Messengers were good speakers, reliable men, and were discharged if they failed in their duties. These included not only message running, but among Atsugewi, tending fires at ceremonies. For Maidu chiefs, messengers welcomed guests and traveled about gathering news and scouting. Special fire tenders were appointed in this tribe.
Atsugewi chiefs seem to have possessed greater prestige and authority than those of the mountain Maidu, the Yana, and the Yahi. The decisions of Atsugewi chiefs were final, but these had to be diplomatic if the chief were to remain popular. If a chief were unpopular some of his people would move to another village leaving the first chief’s community numerically weaker. Chiefs were generally well obeyed by rich and poor alike. In return, chiefs unfailingly had the interests of their people at heart. Atsugewi chiefs, specifically, set examples of industry, behavior, and judgement for their people. No doubt this was generally true of the chiefs of units in other local tribes too.
Because of the greater popularity, prestige, and consequently larger following of some individual chiefs, they were considerably more powerful than other chiefs in the same tribe. Such men were influential to some extent beyond the boundaries of their own territories.
Wars were commonly small scale encounters and might be either within tribes or between tribes. Atsugewi were not often aggressive. Most tribes at one time or another had differences with neighboring tribes, but friendly relations were usually re-established soon. Certain tribes, however, were repeatedly or traditionally enemies, as for instance, Klamath, Paiute, or Modoc against Atsugewi; Washoe against mountain Maidu; Achomawi or Wintun against the Yana tribes; and mountain Maidu or Wintun against Yahi. Tribes sometimes helped each other in wars, and either payment or reciprocal aid was usually forthcoming.