In the Apache tradition, the things that protected the people from harm included physical defense, spiritual power, practical knowledge, and the specific contributions of the specific capable individuals who fulfilled roles essential to survival.

Calling someone a shield to her people was attributing all of these forms of protection to them.

The specific description of her power — the ceremony, the upturned palms, the slow turning, the information about the enemy’s position — appears in multiple accounts with variations that reflect individual memory and the specific contexts in which the accounts were given, but with a core consistency that suggests genuine preserved memory rather than legend.

The accounts describe people as having confidence in the information she provided.