confederacy

noun3

1. •
   An alliance.
2. •
   A state where the sovereign constituent units delegate their authority to the centre.
3. •
   Specifically, an instance of a decentralized governing structure among the indigenous peoples of North America.

   • The Blackfoot, Iroquois, and Sioux peoples all were governed as confederacies. There were also multi-ethnic confederacies, such as the Iron Confederacy made up of the Plains Cree, Assiniboine, Stoney, and Saulteaux.