a mother's milk and a sister's vow, bereaved parents and children in black, joy, and songs turned into silence and wailing. It was all, all". Although made life miserable, "threat of vendetta helped to hold individuals within marriage pattern... individual tribes remained viable as political units under the vendetta system because truces usually could be made when needed". In modern censuses of Montenegro, descendants identify as Montenegrins, Serbs, ethnic Muslims and Bosniaks, and Albanians. The organisational structure varies significantly between various clans and tribes. Traditionally, the Vojvoda was regarded as the highest authority in the tribe. However, the appointment on such position also diverged among clans and evolved in the process of time. In some tribes the position was hereditary, and not necessarily from father to son, while in some was elective. Tribes of Old Montenegro rarely had Voivodas until 18th century. The authority was thus in the hand of the local knez (similar to the Anglo-Saxon Esquire). The Highland tribes appointed Voivodas since mid 15th century, while the tribes of the Old Herzegovina started the practice a century later. Voivoda had the authority to represent the tribe overall and thus his allegiances, either to the Ottomans or to the Prince-Bishops of Montenegro, even proclaiming himself independent marked the political course of the tribe. With the stronger central authority, Voivodes were gradually recognised as a sort of nobility in Montenegro, with the ruler having a power to strip them off the title. This historical process laid foundation for the creation of modern Montenegro, which evolved to the country from a loose federation of the tribes in the 18/19th turn of the century. The title of knez gradually disappeared, and thus was replaced with Sardar (similar to Count, but below Voivoda). During the period of theocracy, the highest religious authority was reserved for the Hegumen of some of the medieval monasteries which tribe claimed as its own and for whom it developed a worshiping cult. Morača is a particular example since it served as a gathering place of both Rovčani and Moračani tribe and, up to the beginning of the 19th century, Vasojevići, who later developed their own cult after Đurđevi Stupovi. History Background Each tribe has a complex historical and geographical origin. During the Middle Ages the Slavic population managed to culturally assimilate the native Romanized descendants of "Illyrian" tribes. Tribal names (including a few non-Slavic) left traces in the