miti ko-mne-ka (“one who is the village door”)
A miti ko-mne-ka, or “one who is the village door,” was a specific type of village leader in the Awatíkihu (Five Villages). The –ka suffix adds the denotation of “habitually” or “continuously” to its attached verbs, and here implies that a leader continuously inhabits the character and leadership exemplified by “the village door.”
Leadership in many Native communities was extremely complex. Numak'aki villages had both war (military) and peace (civil) chiefs; these served in the communities’ permanent villages, while short-term winter or hunting camp chiefs were chosen every season. Winter leadership was considered more difficult, and leaders could be put to death for failures under their watch.
A Numak'aki leader was generally known as a numakshí, or “man-to-be-good.” The term would have been applied to Mató-Tópe, who served as the war chief of Mít uta hako’sh (First Village) over the winter of 1833–34. A numakshí undertook the obligation of caring for their people, often through hunting and the sharing of mónute (food).
Miti ko-mne-ka like Dipäuch had to be wealthy enough to sustain an “open door” policy , with food always at the ready for visitors who were allowed to enter the lodge of a miti ko-mne-ka at any time, without invitation. Such a role may have allowed Karl Bodmer access to Dipäuch’s lodge, depicted in a detailed watercolor sketch of its interior. This understanding of leadership may have also informed Native expectations of fort hospitality, including that proffered by Maximilian zu Wied-Neuwied and Bodmer.