The Western Sahara has been the longest-running territorial dispute on the African continent. Yet, it also remains one of the most contested areas of identity. The ethnic fabric of Sahrawi identity formation is diverse and complex, evolving from possibly primordial origins but characterized by conflictual enterprises. It has been argued that over the last thirty-six years, Sahrawi ethnonationalism has either largely been instrumentalized by or fused for diverging political interests. Thus, there are questions over the essence of 'Sahrawiness.' This paper will present how laborious the task may be in identifying the formation of Sahrawi ethnic identity. It will also show how this ethnopolitical process has been used to present the views of both those who seek independence for the Western Sahara and others who are content in a union with the Kingdom of Morocco. The paper will argue that the issue over the Western Sahara may lie not upon the question over the origins of Sahrawi ethnonationalism but on a more deeply embedded culture of an aversion to foreign intrusion and a unique semblance of 'traditional' liberty and a complex decentralization of authority. The paper describes that the prime identifier that gave the Sahrawis a certain semblance of ethnic cohesion may have been an early aversion to the colonizer’s invasion of their Muslim land. Perhaps not an exact correlation, but it does reflect the arguable modern perception by Muslim clerics and leaders of western powers encroaching upon their holy lands. The section of the Spanish Sahara details the progression of Iberian colonialism and the reasons why the Sahrawi were able to live relatively independent of Spanish control until the independence of Morocco. It describes the difference encountered among Sahrawi society and the changes for the Sahrawi collective as the Spanish and French ended their first formal rebellions. It will also briefly provide insight to the gap between perceived Moroccan authority over the Western Sahara and the lack of Sahrawi tribal recognition of its monarchical rule. Subsequently, I will describe the rise of Sahrawi nationalism after the independence of Morocco. I will outline the different components that led to a national awakening and conclude that categorizing the complexity of Sahrawi nationalism is difficult and requires further investigation through constructivist and instrumental approaches.