Dakota Plains First Nation says last week's fines, related to a raid in 2014, against two residents involved with the community's smoke shop are unfair.

Dakota Plains council member Craig Blacksmith was issued fines totalling $8,500 and was assessed tax penalties totalling $1,159,845.60.  Community worker Tammy Walters was fined $6,500 and was assessed tax penalties totalling $868,009.20.  The issue regarded non-Manitoba unmarked cigarettes, chewing tobacco (or snuff), six firearms, cash and one vehicle.

The two accused questioned the government's jurisdiction over the matter, given the fact the Dakota people had never signed treaties with any level of governments. In court, the pair argued Dakota Plains was a sovereign nation, so the laws surrounding the sale of tobacco shouldn't have applied to the shop. However, that argument was shot down by the Crown earlier this month. Despite their questions over the jurisdiction, Blacksmith never contested the fact they were selling the tobacco, or any of the other facts surrounding the case.

Blacksmith says he wants to clear something up.

Craig Blacksmith"I'd like to clear up a misconception that this was my store. And it isn't. I work for the people, and I work for Chief Smoke. The Province is singling me out, which is fine, but that's just something I want to clear up is it's not my store. It belongs to the people. The charges that were laid were directed at myself and through one of our workers, our community members, Tammy Walters."

Blacksmith claims it's his reputation that gave rise to singling him out.

"Because I'm very vocal as far as our rights and our issues go, they took it upon themselves to paint me as some kind of criminal mastermind, and chief Smoke the head of some organized crime unit. It was really brutal what they were saying in the media. And then when we went to court last week, the federal crown attorney, her name is Reagan Rankin, she said right in court that there was no criminal intent, there was no ties to organized crime. It was done for the people and their rights. She stated that right in court. I'm in the process of getting the transcripts, but I don't have them yet."

Chief Orville Smoke says this unfortunate circumstance may have a bright side to it in bringing to light what he says is a long unresolved problem.

"And we've always known that Dakota Plains is without any kind of treaty with any government. And that we have certain rights that are intact. And one of them is we've always traded and did commerce with other first nations, and we always maintained a level of life in regards to the trade with other tribes of first nations in the area. And because of the relocation from Portage la Prairie to where we are now, we lost tremendous opportunities for our own development, and so on. So, having been put in a state of desperate need, I guess, we tried to exercise some of those rights that we have intact, that go back 400 years, "

Despite the lack of treaties, the provincial government's release states all tobacco sold within Manitoba must be marked to indicate that provincial and federal taxes have been paid. The news release also states that millions of dollars that could go toward education, social programs, health care, and employment programs are lost, when taxes, such as those paid on tobacco, are unpaid.

Smoke says he's hopeful some good may come out of this.

"We're not criminals. None of this is based on criminal activity or personal gain. It's all based on the needs of a community, and bringing attention to the fact that we were terribly neglected where we're at. We're not criminal. We're going to proceed and hopefully we'll find the key to our own source of revenue without anybody interfering. I think interference is a basic part of our daily lives now because we're considered who we are. We are human and we are capable and we're going to find the means of getting out from underfoot for the federal government and the province of Manitoba. And I think it's going to take us sitting at the table to do that. If they're not willing, then by all means we will keep going.""

He adds, "Overall, I guess, we're not radical. We are not criminal. And I'm hoping that eventually through the exposure through this method, which is not the nicest way to do that, but it obviously caught everybody's attention. I'm hoping that I would be able to sit down at a table with the City Council of Portage la Prairie, and maybe with the province of Manitoba and eventually the federal government. I think somebody somewhere must have or will be able to recognize the fact that my people were very unjustly dealt with."

Smoke explains, "I think if somebody was genuinely concerned, especially the federal government, and the province, if they would sit down I would love very much to sit down with them and negotiate some kind of agreement. Not necessarily a treaty, but some kind of a working relationship. My people were abused terribly by the relocation, and I think some of my people died at a very young age because of the environment. I recently was asked by couple of departments for environmental reports of where I lived. In return I asked a company out of Winnipeg to see if they had the environmental reports pertaining to the location before they relocated us, and I haven't had a response since."

Smoke leaves us with these words. "I'm grasping at seeing if I can get some responses and that. And I'm sure that everybody's listening. And maybe they're concerned and maybe they're not. But the bottom line is the health and welfare of my people are at stake. And we're not here of our choosing. And I was never under the Indian Act, per se, because there's no treaty, period. As long as we're under the Indian Act, we'll never have our own autonomy; we'll never be able to go out and do things equally because the Indian Act kind of degrades me to a near animal person."

When asked about how he'll proceed with the fines, Blacksmith replied, "The Chief told me that we're going to do it together. Like I said, they're singling me out because of my being so vocal. If you just look at the circumstances. They're penalizing us for tobacco that was confiscated on taxes that would have been collected times three."