The village headman or village chief is a central government post. The village headman is the person appointed to administer an area that is often a single village.
The headman has several official duties in the village. More importantly perhaps the headman is seen as a mediator in disputes and a general “fixer” of village or individuals problems.
Examples of headmanship have been observed among the Zuni[1], !Kung, and Mehinacu[2], among others. Nearby tribal leaders recognized or appointed by the Chinese were known as tusi (Chinese: 土司, p tǔsī), although they could command larger areas than a single village.