Leading a war party required other people — male warriors — to follow your direction in genuinely dangerous situations.

The people who followed her were not following her because of her birth rank or because they were required to.

They were following her because they believed she would make good decisions in situations where bad decisions got people killed.

Her raids against the Blackfoot, in particular, became the source of songs and stories that circulated through the Crow camps.

The specific incidents are not all recoverable from the historical record with precision, but the aggregate is clear: she fought repeatedly, she succeeded repeatedly, and she acquired the horses and the honors and the reputation that were the currency of warrior status.