French colonial destruction of indigenous chieftaincy triggered rebellion by surviving occult chiefs

Evidence

We condemned too quickly the use of the commandement indigene … a premature generalization hid from us the advantages we could derive from an undoubtedly imperfect social organization, but one which was nevertheless long adapted to local mores and satisfactory generally since it was in sum the spontaneous reflection of natural needs and aspirations of our subjects … Through lack of careful scrutiny, we did not see the patriarchal and familial side of this organization that we destroyed, instead of ameliorating or adapting it to the new function that we wished it to play. … Our error was to believe that in acting this way we were fulfilling the deepest wishes of our natives … But deprived of their traditional guides they did not understand the excellence of our intentions, and it was a great surprise for us to discover in the course of rebellion the permanence of an entire hierarchy of occult chiefs, whom we believed to have long ago died out. We thus began to realize the dangers of our policy of liberation. — Alice L. Conklin, A Mission to Civilize_ The Republican…, 683

Categorization

• XREF: Builds on the reader’s goal: shows how French imposition of republican governance actually provoked native resistance via subterranean chiefly hierarchies. Connects to broader literature on indirect rule costs.
• QUESTION: Which rebellions, exactly, exposed these ‘occult chiefs’ Merlin alludes to, and how did chiefs coordinate under French suppression?