I’d like to think that the Sarentu lean more on matriarchal leadership, even when the first Sarentu was a man, because the role of Tsahìk must be a daunting task even before Ri’nela took the mantle.
While I do believe that every clan has its leader and shaman—partly because I’ve already seen Tamtey as the Sarentu olo’eykte/tan, the Sarentu would not fuss over the details of a physical leader and would focus more on the spiritual leader of the clan, even more so if the Tsahìk in focus is a woman. A Sarentu who is deeply connected to Eywa’s network and has felt every grain of Pandora from every clan under their feet.
The clan would want a Na’vi who has traversed every corner of Pandora and visited most if not all of the clans to learn of their songs and stories—their central knowledge in general. Granted the fulfillment of learning all the possible pathways of the People, that Na’vi would no longer need to travel across the land and sea in search for stories and would ultimately choose to stay within the main group of Sarentu who aren’t staying in other clans. And what better way to tie together all this knowledge than to learn the gift of giving life to another? That’s why women in the Sarentu are born leaders, they know the ways of life in more aspects than one!
THIS HAS BEEN SITTING IN MY DRAFTS FOR SO LONG BECAUSE I COULDNT REALLY PUT MY THOUGHTS INTO WORDS, PLEASE IM NOT CRAZY SOMEONE PULL SOMETHING OUTTA THEIR ASS PLEASE