No, women were chiefs as well. & all decisions had to be approved by the Elders, made up of Clan mothers and fathers.

Years ago I read that in Native American cultures, women ran the tribe in times of peace and only in times of war did men make decisions. In my opinion, that sounds like a sensible way to do things.

Yes, the vast majority of humanity lived in cooperative, egalitarian partnership before patriarchy. No rigid gender roles-- BUT women made the final decisions as to anything that affected the home camp (even war). Some societies still live this way. They are rape- and violence-free.

When did “modern” (insert a few expletives & some gagging here) society change? Why did it change?

Oh, damn, I meant to answer this when you posted. It's not completely clear, but patriarchy began after the last ice age, @ 10K years ago, & became widespread across Eurasia @ 5K years ago. It didn't reach "colonized" societies until < 500 years ago. Most indigenous peoples were cooperative 1/

& egalitarian-- actually democratic. The Iroquois Confederacy is a good example: an actual participatory (not representative) democracy that lasted > 1000 years (until Euros destroyed it). My theory is that after the last ice age, physical strength WAS key to survival b/c so few humans 2/

(< 1 million) were left. It then became codified in some societies & spread, b/c patriarchy simply destroys/kills whatever it cannot control. 3/3 www.bbc.com/future/artic...

I think it depends on the specific tribes but yes, that was a regular way of life in those tribes