House of chiefs

A House of chiefs is an assembly, either legislative or advisory, that is neither representative (by general elections) nor simply appointed and/or filled ex-officio, but consists of all or part of the traditional leaders, known as chiefs, of a country or polity.

Historically, especially in colonial times, chiefs were often used as instruments of indirect rule, and/or convenient alternatives to elective institutions.

Cases

In the post-colonial age, various Houses of chiefs and similar assemblies have existed in various nations:

Africa

*In Botswana, the House of Chiefs of Botswana.
*In Ghana, Africa's first independent republic, the National House of Chiefs, representing the various Regional Houses of Chiefs. [http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/republic/constitution.php?id=Gconst22.html]
*In the federal republic of Nigeria, Africa's most populous state, there were several Houses of Chiefs and plans have been drawn up for a new House of Traditional Rulers in Edo state.
** also formerly in (ex-German, British>Nigerian) Southern Cameroons (1958- ) [http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/Chilver/Paideuma/paideuma-Indirec-2.html]
*In Somaliland, there is an institution called the House of Elders, whose membership consists of the various Sultans of Somaliland.
*In South Africa, the colonial House of Chiefs fell into disuse, but was revived post-Apartheid, first within the ruling ANC party, then in the new province.
*In Zambia (1996 constitution). [http://www.thezambian.com/Constitution/1996partxiii.aspx]

Pacific

*In the Polynesian island state of Fiji - not to be confused with the Great Council of Chiefs (Fiji), or "Bose Levu Vakaturaga" in Fijian.
*In the former kingdom Hale o na Alii o Hawaii (House of Chiefs of Hawaii).
*In the Marshall Islands.
*In the Republic of Palau.
*In the Solomon Islands, the so-called Gela House of Chiefs or Gela Vaukolu.
*In Vanuatu.

Other

The term has also been used for similar assemblies of tribal leaders, as among certain American Indians, but these were tiny and neither organized states nor colonial institutions.

Alternatives

Another way to include traditional Chiefs in a nation's political life is to assign to them a number of seats in a wider assembly. This is the case in the unicameral republic of Zimbabwe (10 Chiefs alongside various presidential appointees and 120 elected members in the House of Assembly under Mugabe's constitution).