The Council of Chiefs that she joined was a deliberative body of the kind that Crow society used for collective decision-making — about when to move camp, where to hunt, when and whether to go to war, how to respond to diplomatic approaches from other nations.

Her presence in that council meant that her voice was heard and that decisions affecting the whole band were made with her participation.

This was the real substance of her chieftaincy.

It wasn’t a ceremonial title.

It was an operational role in the governance of a sovereign nation.

The Wives

One of the details about Woman Chief’s life that has attracted attention from historians — and that has sometimes been handled poorly in popular accounts — is the fact that she took four wives.

Denig documented this clearly.