We don’t much care for the “totem pole” headline on this story in the Long Island Press, nor the accompanying illustration – but the story itself is a useful examination of the challenges facing some tribes in New York state. (For an explanation of the headline and illustration, please click on the comments section below.)

It looks at the Unkechaug tribe on the Poospatuck Reservation on Long Island, which derives a large part of its income from cigarette sales.

Harry Wallace serves as chief of the Unkechaug Nation, and also owns the Poospatuck Smoke Shop. Because the reservation is a sovereign nation, Wallace doesn’t have to charge tax on the cigarettes he sells – to other Native Americans. Traditionally, though, tribal smoke shops haven’t charged taxes to anyone, and just as traditionally, the state of New York has declined to demand those taxes.

Jed Morey’s story tells how that’s changed:

With the Great Recession as the backdrop to this unfolding drama, the stage is set for a David versus Goliath battle between Indian Country, the US government and Big Tobacco.

The price disparity between cigarettes available from reservations and traditional American-based retailers is at an all-time high. A carton of Marlboro cigarettes, the most popular brand in America, will run the consumer as much as $95 in New York City (NYC), where Mayor Michael Bloomberg has initiated an all-out war on smoking. The same carton costs somewhere in the neighborhood of $43 at a Native American-owned smoke shop on reservation land.

Morey’s story further points out that income from cigarette sales on the reservation has boosted the tribe’s overall economic standing. New York’s gain in taxes would almost certainly be the tribe’s loss.

Gwen Florio

Tags: buffalo post, cigarette taxes, Gwen Florio, Native American news, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New York state, Poospatuck Indian Reservation, Tribal smoke shops, Unkechaug