The headquarters of the most prominent native cigarette maker, Grand River Enterprises (GRE), are lined up with line after line of grey warehouses and manufacturing sheds on the southern edge of the Six Nations reservation of Ohsweken near Cornwall, Ontario. GRE’s booming business, supplying discount supermarket chains in the US and Europe, has earned it tens of millions and made it one of the largest corporations in the province. Its profits help fund local services in the tiny reserve town of Ohsweken, as well as nearby communities like London, Cambridge, and Woodstock.

Native Cigarettes Canada only way to make a living. Other manufacturers have set up shop on the reserves, producing cigarettes with brightly colored packaging that looks just as mainstream as the big brands sold in retail stores. These cigarettes are sold in roadside smoke shacks on reserves and elsewhere. They’re often sold in packs of 200, and you can buy them for about the same price as a Pokemon Go starter pack. And they’re completely legal — at least for non-indigenous Canadians.

Health Considerations: Exploring the Risks and Benefits of Native Cigarettes

Despite efforts to address the root causes of smoking among Indigenous peoples, rates remain high. Depression, low self-esteem, and lack of opportunities for education are just some of the reasons young people turn to tobacco. And with a high rate of suicide, the issue is particularly critical in Canada’s north where it affects youth almost twice as much as the rest of the country.

This article is based on data and bootstrapped weight files from the 2006/2007 Canadian Youth Smoking Survey, which were provided by the Population Health Data Repository at the University of Waterloo under contract with Health Canada.