ABSTRACT
It is difficult to form a general conception of size, since the relevant information is very seldom available, especially for pre-European times. One can no doubt safely assume that where the parent tribes were themselves small, those who seceded could not have been very numerous. From the available evidence, it appears that a seceding leader was often accompanied by some of his brothers and other close relatives, but that the bulk of his following was not allied to him by ties of either blood or marriage. Special ties like those just mentioned are not the only factors that induce people to follow a seceding leader who is not their kinsman. When there is a dispute about succession to the chieftainship, those who believe in the cause of the rejected claimant will often accompany him if he breaks away from the tribe.
