The Dark Secret of the Mississippian - Chiefly Competition

Reconstruction of pallisade surrounding Cahokia, - evidence of instability and competition? Cahokia Mounds Museum.

Power and rank are determined largely by kinship ties to the chief, a situtation that fuels disruptive family feuds. The chiefs' power is of a personal and charasmatic nature. That is, the chiefs link their reputation to "good times" of plentiful crops, good weather, and military success. Both political and religious ceremonies are geared towards creating the belief among commoners that that "good times" are due to the actions of the chief and his relationship to the supernatural (not unlike all politicians). Poor times are therefore detrimental to his personal prestige and disruptive to his personal power. The chiefdom lacks the institutional structure in the form of a centralized power to physically enforce decisions.

Thus, family arguments and breakdown in kinship ties fuel internal disputes, while nearby elites create external competition. In both cases, the impetus for trying to gain power is that its rewards are great and directly tangible. Within all societies, many people are willing to take great risks in their corner of the world for great gain. So, the structural nature of a chiefdom combined with the vagaries of history, personality, and place and the ability for new chiefs to arise where none existed before, all contribute mightily to creating an unstable, highly competitive sociopolitical landscape.

Arrow point in human bone, Schild site, lower Illinois River valley.

Evidence of competition in the Mississippian American Bottom is considerable: Some settlements, notably Cahokia, were fortified. Mississippian graves contain individuals who died of violent trauma. Some Mississippian artifacts were clearly intended to symbolize weapons used in interpersonal battle. Excavation of the stockade post holes, Cahokia Mound Museum.

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