First of all, thanks for writing this. It's very informative.

Chief isn't even a Native American word. It's origin is European (French:chef, Spanish: jefe ). I don't understand why Native American's would want lay claim to a word that doesn't have an etymology with their language. While I understand why native American's would prefer not to be called "chief", I'm not sure why you would care if I called a friend of mine "chief". Context does matter.