Brave, noble, and self-sacrificing, Chakotay is a man for whom the righteous path is the only path, no matter how hard it might be. He even resigned from Starfleet in order to join the Maquis, a resistance group fighting against the Cardassian occupation of their homes, made legal by the signing of the Federation Cardassian Treaties. Chakotay’s father, Kolopak, was killed defending his colony from the Cardassians. Until that moment, Chakotay had been dismissive of his Native American heritage, believing the ways of his people to be backward and too rooted in myth. Indeed, he and his father were estranged because of this. However, Kolopak’s death reconnected Chakotay with his culture and now he carries his ancestry proudly with him wherever he goes, even into the depths of the Delta Quadrant. There, his pragmatic nature saw him join forces with the crew of U.S.S. Voyager, forging profound friendships as they stood shoulder to shoulder in their long search for a way home. Chakotay may have begun his journey distancing himself from the ways of his people, but in the end it was Chakotay who took those ways further than anyone else in the proud history of his ancestors.