Manitoba Warriors

From Rap Dictionary

The Manitoba Warriors {MW},Winnipeg 1323

The Manitoba Warriors began as an exclusively Aboriginal based criminal organization and prison gang founded in 1992 by incarcerated Native and Meti inmates to rival traditional Biker/Aryan gangs and to protect Native and Meti inmates from Biker aggression. Upon release, members of the prison gang began recruiting young disenfranchised Aboriginal youths in their respective neighborhoods thus bolstering their numbers. Police estimate that membership of this gang range in the hundreds and span across at least two Provinces. Over the years, The Warriors established themselves as a well organized conglomerate, less likely than other groups to be involved in low-level and mid-level crime. Senior members of this gang were once known to wear Vests and jackets with the gang's patch on the back (similar to Biker gang tradition) but also marked status levels by tattoos and ranks. Each member of the Manitoba Warriors hold a specific ranking (similar to Biker culture): a president, vice-president and sergeant-at-arms, and strikers. Would-be members must serve an apprenticeship, called "striking," just as in Biker gang culture. Winnipeg's gang unit database had 300+ active and 143 inactive members, almost all adults in 2000. Traditionally, the M.W.s have been challenging the Hells Angels over Winnipeg's drug distribution network, that led to murders of 3 biker of the H.A's in the late 90's; the only Aboriginal street gang able to do so at the time. The Manitoba Warriors are known to associate with other criminal organizations such as the CENTRAL, Loyalty Honour Silence and Most Organized Brothers, distancing senior members of the gangs from daily criminal activity and police scrutiny. As a prison gang, the Manitoba Warriors have been reported primarily in the Edmonton Institution, Headingley Correctional Institution and the Stony Mountain Institution. Neighborhoods frequented by this gang include The Maples, West End, West Kildonan, Weston, West Broadway, Point Douglas, Elmwood and Tyndall Park, but their main territory's are located in the Central and North End neighborhoods of Winnipeg. The Warriors are also represented in other cities and Provinces by other organizations adopting The Warriors banner such as the Alberta Warriors and Saskatchewan Warriors. Their enemies include the Native Syndicate, the Hells Angels, Redd Alert, Indian Posse and the Zig Zag Crew.