XINESI. The title Xinesi or Chensi was given to the high priest of the Hasinai Indian confederacy. He presided over the temple of the Hainais located near the Angelina River. Primarily a priest, he outranked other officials in the tribe and had civil as well as religious authority.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Frederick Webb Hodge, ed., Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico (2 vols., Washington: GPO, 1907, 1910; rpt., New York: Pageant, 1959).