SASKATOON - Tobacco is fanning the flames of a dispute between what native people say is their sacred right and what the province maintains is within its jurisdiction.

The Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations says the provincial government doesn't have the authority to apply its tobacco tax laws on reserves and should butt out. The issue has been brought to the forefront with several highly publicized tobacco seizures in Western Canada.

"The provincial government attempt to assert ... jurisdiction over First Nations is unconstitutional," federation vice-chief Morley Watson said in a news release Thursday.

"The tobacco seizures are a direct violation of Section 35 under the Constitution Act indicating that the Crown will consult with First Nations, not the provinces."

Tobacco enforcement officials with Saskatchewan's Finance Ministry said earlier this month that they seized 100 cartons of cigarettes illegally imported into the province. The ministry said the smokes came from the Kahnawake reserve in Quebec and "appear to be part of a broader attempt by a reserve-based company there to market its tobacco in western Canadian provinces."

It is illegal for anyone in Saskatchewan to import cigarettes that have not had provincial taxes paid on them.

Cigarettes from Rainbow Tobacco of Kahnawake have also been seized in Alberta and British Columbia in recent weeks.

In early January, officials seized 14 million cigarettes from a property on the Montana First Nation near Hobbema in central Alberta. The province's gaming and liquor commission said the cigarettes were not properly marked for legal sale in Alberta, which is in violation of its Tobacco Tax Act.

Rainbow Tobacco owner Robbie Dickson told the federation's winter assembly Thursday that his company has been federally licensed since 2004 and is in good standing with the Canada Revenue Agency.

Dickson told the assembly that the seized packages were properly marked and not contraband. He argued Alberta officials violated First Nations "sovereign and inherent" rights.

"This is an issue of native rights, of our right to trade with each other, of our right to develop our own economies and ... of our right to govern our own industries," Dickson told chiefs gathered in Saskatoon.

Dickson also said the cigarette industry is a major employer on his reserve and western expansion could mean "job creation on a very large magnitude" for Saskatchewan, Alberta and B.C. as well.

"Engaging in various types of trade with other First Nations is something which we have done since prior to contact with the Europeans," he said. "Engaging in contemporary trade is something which can generate jobs and stimulate our economies and help slowly decrease our dependence on federal and provincial monies for subsistence."

Dickson pointed out that Indians were the ones to bring tobacco to the attention of explorers in the first place.

"We introduced the white man to tobacco 550 years ago. They're the ones who have exploited it for the economic benefit of their own governments and corporations.

"It's time we take this sacred substance back and start asserting our right and benefiting from a product that we introduced to the world."

Watson said the federation will stand beside other First Nations in exercising jurisdiction over their lands.

"The FSIN will support ... trade within our First Nations and are tired of the economic sanctions being imposed by another government," he said.