A "tribal chief" is the leader or ruler of a particular group called a tribe. They make decisions for the tribe and often have authority and influence over its members. Full definition
Outside of major roles in early sound efforts like The Big Trail and Tom Sawyer (both 1930), he could be found playing menacing tribal chiefs and bandits in serials and B - pictures, and seedy, drunken «redskin» stereotypes (invariably named Injun Joe or Injun Charlie or some such) in big - budget films like John Ford's My Darling Clementine (1946). (rottentomatoes.com)
There is also a subplot involving an African tribal chief (Djimon Hounsou) who has an old score to settle with Tarzan. (miamiherald.com)
I then led them through a compare - and - contrast exercise with two documents from Imperial - era British East Africa — one from the perspective of a colonial administrator and the other from a Kikuyu tribal chief. (edutopia.org)