For generations, a warrior culture has permeated Anishinaabeg legends. Defending the people has been a respectable deed from time immemorial and has since become a source of pride.

For American Indians, they have engaged in every war calling for the defense of the nation in United States history. During colonial times, American Indians fought for and against the United States, a stark example of the complex relationship between them. This duality of loyalty was again evident in the years of the Civil War, when some tribes fought for the North while others were in allegiance with the South. Native American warriors quickly began to stand out, including Ely S. Parker, a Seneca Indian. After serving as a lieutenant colonel during the Civil War, he rose to the rank of brevet brigadier general and was eventually appointed as Commissioner of Indian Affairs by President Ulysses S. Grant, the first American Indian to hold that post.

As World War I ravaged across Europe, the warrior culture was again evident, as many Indians voluntarily enlisted in the US military including Joseph “George” Fly Nice, a Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa tribal citizen. When the dust settled on the Great War, some Indians advocated for United States citizenship. In 1924, the Indian Citizenship Act was passed, extending a dual citizenship status on Indians not already legal citizens. Today, Indians enrolled with a federally recognized tribe, like the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, are dual citizens of two sovereign nations, which includes rights and responsibilities to both. Through both war and advocacy, warrior culture among the Anishinaabeg is clear, and the defense of the people has been revered.