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In Northrup's yard, Jim and his son Matthew, 29, boil maple sap down to syrup – an Anishinabe tradition as old as that of the warrior. "It's part of the seasonal cycle of the Anishinabe to make maple syrup in the spring," Northrup says. "It's a gift from the Creator."

Matthew is a veteran, too. He joined the Army, he says, because he grew up seeing veterans honored at tribal pow-wows. "If I would have been born four hundred years ago compared to thirty years ago," Matthew says, "I'd still be the same thing. I'd still be a warrior."