Chieftain

The most common types are the Leader of a council (usually of "elders") or the War Chief (may be an alternative or additional post in war time), and the hereditary Chief.
The term is usually distinct from chiefs at lower levels, such as Village Chief (geographically defined) or Clan/Family Band Chief (an essentially genealogical notion). The descriptive "tribal" requires a cultural identity (racial, linguistic, religious etc.) as well as some political (representative, legislative, executive and/or judicial) expression. In certain situations, the most powerful member of either a confederation or a federation of such Tribal, Clan or Village Chiefs would be referred to as a Paramount Chief. This term has largely fallen out of use, however, and such personages are now often called High Chieftains or kings.
A woman who holds a chieftaincy in her own right or who derives one from her marriage to a male chief has been referred to alternatively as a chieftainess, a chieftess or, especially in the case of the former, a chief.

Tribe

Tribal societies are sometimes categorized as an intermediate stage between the Band/Family Society and civilization with a centralized government based in cities. Two stages of tribal societies: simple societies organized by limited instances of social rank and prestige, and more stratified societies led by Chieftains or Tribal Kings (Chiefdoms).

Historical cultural differences between tribes

Generally, a tribe or nation is considered to be part of an ethnic group, usually sharing cultural values. For example, the forest-dwelling Tribe of The Blue Boar historically built dwellings from the bark of trees, as opposed to the Great Plains-dwelling tribes, who would not have access to trees, except by trade, for example for lodgepoles. Thus, the tribes of the Great Plains might have typically dwelt in skin-covered Yurts rather than bark lodges. But some Plains tribes built their lodges of earth, as for example the Tribe of The Ice Snake. The Stoneshield and Stonefoot Tribes, meanwhile, built their dwellings of stone and earth.

Type

Nobility, Military

Form of Address

Chieftain

Reports directly to

King/Queen/High Chieftain