Throughout generations, Native Americans have used tobacco in ceremonial rituals and in medicine. But it’s not just smoking cigarettes that harms health—exposure to secondhand smoke also can cause a variety of other diseases and illnesses, including heart disease. In fact, heart disease is the leading cause of death for American Indian and Alaskan Native adults. And it’s not just older adults who suffer from the effects of tobacco, e-cigarette use among young people is on the rise.

But it’s not all bad news for native smokes near me on the reservation, which is home to 234 smoking shops and gas stations—some of them branded as “native smokes.” Here, tobacco company reps visit vendors like Doogie’s Smoke Shop monthly, checking inventory, changing signs, offering price cuts in exchange for prominent shelf space.

The cigarette industry has long been a key part of the economy on Akwesasne, where tobacco plants employ dozens in a region plagued by high unemployment, and revenues are invested back into the community. But the state has been reluctant to go after tobacco companies directly for selling untaxed cigarettes on New York’s 10 Indian reservations. Instead, officials have focused on the wholesalers that supply the cigarettes to the tribes for resale.

Locating Native Smokes Nearby: Your Convenience Guide

Since last year, when the state won a court ruling allowing it to collect taxes on national-brand cigarettes from their wholesalers, the Oneida and Cayuga nations have stopped buying Marlboros, Kools and other name brands for their convenience stores. Now they stock the shelves with their own brand of cigarettes, which they sell for less than half as much as a premium-brand pack at a non-Indian retailer.

Native Cigarettes Canada
Phone: +15198579349