Tobacco trade not illegal say Iroquois communities

The Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke and the Elected Council of Six Nations of the Grand River are setting the record straight on statements recently issued by the Sûreté du Québec, a press release states.

As First Nations, Kahnawà:ke and Six Nations have the legal right to produce, distribute and trade tobacco, reads the statement. Attempts to regulate or restrict a First Nation from manufacturing and participating in inter-Nation trade within the tobacco industry is an attack on this inherent Indigenous right, it continues.

"Tobacco is our natural product," said Kahnawà:ke Grand Chief Joseph Tokwiro Norton. "We've used it for centuries. We use it for ceremonies and, when the Europeans came, we later used it for trade. They took the product, made it 'their own' and – all of a sudden – it's illegal."

The MYGALE project lumps the legal manufacturing and trade of tobacco by Indigenous people with organized crime activities, the communities assert, which is both incorrect and misleading.

Both Kahnawà:ke and Six Nations have deemed organized crime and criminal activities to be illegal within their territories, says the release, and the communities work with law enforcement bodies on investigations relating to illegal activities, but tobacco is not an illegal activity, they stress.

"It's disheartening to read statements, like the one recently issued in the MYGALE project, attempting to criminalize our tobacco industry," said Six Nations Chief Ava Hill. "Tobacco is a historical trade that supports the growth and economic prosperity of our communities. As sovereign Nations, the federal and provincial governments have no jurisdictional right to tax and regulate tobacco on our Territories."