I am curious when the trend to use "Chief" began (such as "Cheif Executive Officer" or "Chief of police"). I know that Native American tribal leaders were often referred to as "chiefs", but I am not sure if that word was borrowed/adapted from their culture or if it existed previously and was merely applied to them when North America was colonized.
'Chief' comes from French 'chef' (also the origin of the English word 'chef' who is the chief of the kitchen). The French word, in turn, comes from the Latin for 'head'.
So 'chief' is used as the head/leader of anything and this was extended to Native Americans when Europeans arrived.
As for when we started using it, it seems like English has used 'chief' in this sense since the 1300s.