Owen and the *gals *smile*

many Indian tribes of the northern areas esp were matriachal:
and this served... as a ruling force..
you had your chief of course and your war leaders, and the medicine man shamen and often also a woman also...

but the decisions were made by the women,
esp when considering WAR
the women were the bringers of life,
the women stood the most to lose in war

possibly their husband providers, their sons, etc
being open to attack themselves while the warriors were off fighting, thus making a potential for the children left behind
to be vulnerable to attackers..etc
or the elderly.

they made their decisions very carefully.
if a war was validated and justified , in their eyes after weighing
in the consquences,
then they respectfully stepped back and gave the rest over to the startegies of the warlords and chief etc..

often the decision over prisoners was a womans role also.
every woman had equal right to take a prisoner as a substitute
son or provider to replace one she had lost,
or as a servant or to replace a child she had lost etc.
..or just to raise as a part of her family or to be a slave evene or to decide to torture to death to vent her anger and grief out for a lost loved one.

often if a woman decide to divorce she just rolled up the husband sleeping bed and left it outside the door and that was that.
no big hulla baloo etc
8)
everyone got along