Her standing — third-highest in the band — meant that her perspective carried significant weight.

When she spoke, the other chiefs heard someone with a war record that had earned their respect, with a following that gave her independent political standing, and with the accumulated experience of a lifetime of navigating exactly the kinds of situations the council discussed.

This is what chieftaincy meant in Crow society.

Not a title conferred by tradition or birth.

An authority earned through demonstrated capability and maintained through continued leadership.