Cigarette smoking is one of the leading native cigarettes of health problems for people who identify as Native American. Although the reasons people smoke vary, smoking is especially prevalent among Indigenous communities and rates of addiction are higher than those found in the general population. Native tobacco products, such as traditional smokes and cigars made with wild crafted native-grown tobacco, offer the potential to reduce consumption and help people quit smoking altogether.

However, a growing number of indigenous entrepreneurs have taken the lead to produce their own brands of cigarettes, smuggling them into Canada to avoid taxes. These fenced factories on reserves like Akwesasne are a cause for concern for anti-smoking advocates and non-native politicians alike.

“Native Smokes: A Closer Look at Options and Varieties

They are also a source of revenue for a community used to living on the edge of poverty. At least two Mohawk reserve-based companies are raking in $2 billion a year from their secretive cigarette operations.

But, unlike the large, legal cigarette companies that once marketed themselves to tribal communities by appealing to their cultural connections to tobacco, many of these new native-owned and operated tobacco companies have no history of supporting tribal sovereignty or economic development initiatives. They do, however, rely on tribal imagery to market their products.

A recent study by researchers Epperson and Prochaska asked American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) adults to view online images of Natural American Spirit cigarette packages and comment on their perceptions of the brand’s tribal affiliation, health beliefs and purchase intentions. The results indicated that 65% of respondents who viewed the NAS packs believed them to be owned by AI/AN tribes and/or grown on tribal land. These beliefs were associated with misperceptions of NAS as being healthier and with a greater intention to buy the product.

Native Cigarettes Canada
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