The Manitoba Warriors (MW) are an indigenous street gang based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Predominantly based in the Central and North End neighbourhoods of the city, the gang is an exclusively indigenous organization that was established on the Lake Manitoba First Nation in 1993 to rival the Indian Posse gang. Criminal Intelligence Service Canada (CISC) has designated the Manitoba Warriors as being a member of indigenous-based organized crime (IBOC). CISC asserts that the gang, in addition to engaging in marijuana cultivation, auto theft, illegal firearms activities, gambling, and drug trafficking, also supports and facilitates criminal activities for the Hells Angels motorcycle gang and Asian-based networks. Origins The Manitoba Warriors were formed as a prison gang in 1993, originating as an exclusively Aboriginal criminal organization at the Stony Mountain Institution. They created the MW to protect Native and Metis inmates and to rival traditional prison gangs. As incarcerated members were released, they recruited disenfranchised, young Aboriginals from their neighbourhoods. Unlike other Aboriginal gangs, they chose a structure similar to that found in outlaw biker culture. Each member holds a specific ranking, similar to the ranks found in outlaw biker clubs. However, according to former president Brian Contois, the Warriors were founded on a code of ethics aimed at bringing some level of morality, pride, and dignity to a way of life that would otherwise be unobtainable to these youth. This gang lifestyle promised them employment, money and brotherhood. By creating this place to find their identity there was a boom of recruitment, which might explain the variations in the MW's actual size. There are 300 active members listed in the City of Winnipeg’s gang unit database and a further 140 inactive. The Manitoba Warriors purchased their drugs from los Bravos biker gang led by Ernie Dew. When Dew and the rest of los Bravos gang joined the Hells Angels in December 2000, the same relationship continued with the Angels as the senior partner and the Warriors as the junior partners. Expansion They first caught the attention of the police in 1993 and have since become a focal point of police investigation due to the volume and intensity of their activities. There have been three major operations against the Manitoba Warriors starting with Operation Northern Snow in 1998. The police then launched Project Octopus after finding out that the Warriors were exploiting Government funding for a homelessness initiative called Paa Pii Wak.