Smoke Traders

For centuries, Europeans have run the North American tobacco trade; today the First Nations people are taking it back. But is the tobacco trade a road to independence or criminality for Native people? Smoke Traders tells the story of the contraband tobacco trade and the effect on individual lives and communities from a Native perspective. The multi-million dollar cigarette industry that Mohawks have built has pulled their communities out of third world poverty, but the Canadian government is determined to shut the trade down. Are these traders criminals who must be stopped? Or are they a new breed of Native entrepreneur who deserve our support?