I was taught that when a chief is without offspring that it became my role as a sister to the chief to take care of the seat until I had my own son to pass it down to, and to be in charge of some things, and some how the chieftainship fell into place where my son took over that seat.
The chiefs before us, our ancestors, used to appoint individuals to be the lead singer (which did not give this person a seat), to be the lead dancer (which did not give this person a seat), to look after the forest (which did not give this person a seat), streams, ocean and rivers. All these people appointed it did not give them a seat. They were just honoured to have that special talent to dance for the chief, to be the lead singer for the chief. Some of the new generation misunderstand that the chief appointed them to these roles and that does not automatically give them a seat.