A village head, village headman or village chief is the leader of a village, hamlet, or other type of settlement too small to have their own mayor.
Unlike the position of mayor, denoting a leader of a city, town or other large settlements with its own incorporated government, the title of village head may be purely ceremonial or even entirely unofficial, simply denoting an individual which commands sizeable political and social influence in a given area. This is especially the case in the modern era, as increased urbanization and advances in communication mean that most villages are subject to some form of local government already, and thus the need for local chiefs has decreased. However, in some countries, village heads continue to exist as an official government position analogous to that of a mayor, or at the very least as a consultative or representative role that mediates between small communities and higher levels of government.
Usage
Brunei
In
Brunei, village head is called ketua kampung or ketua kampong in the
Malay language. It is an administrative post which leads the community of a village administrative division, the third and lowest subdivision of the country.
China
In China, village head () is a local government or tribal post. The village headman is the person appointed to administer an area that is often a single
village.
Duties and functions
The headman has several official duties in the village, and is sometimes seen as a
mediation in disputes and a general "fixer" of village or individuals problems.
Examples of headmanship have been observed among the Zuni people,[Ruth Benedict. Patterns of Culture, New American Library, 1934] !Kung, and Mehinacu,[Marvin Harris. Our Kind, Harper Perennial, 1989] among others. Nearby tribal leaders recognized or appointed by the China were known as tusi ( tu-szu; ), although they could command larger areas than a single village.
Indonesia
The village head in
Indonesia is called Kepala Desa.
Malaysia
Generally in
Malaysia, the village head is called Ketua Kampung, except for the
Orang asli village where the position is called Batin. Ketua Kampung was appointed and assisted by Majlis Pengurusan Komuniti Kampung (Village Community Management Board). In
Sarawak, the head of a traditional
long house is called Tuai Rumah.
Philippines
Each
barangay (village) in the Philippines is led by a
barangay captain.
Historical usage
China
In the
Qing dynasty and early Republican era,
dibao were officially appointed village officials, usually selected from the local landowning class and responsible for land use and boundaries in their jurisdiction.
Japan
In
Edo period Japan, the village head was called
nanushi (名主) and was in charge of tax collection, general village administration, management of public natural resources (such as mountain, field, river and ocean) of the village, as well as negotiating with the territorial lord as the representative of the villagers.
See also
