A lot of people on the rez rely on the cigarette industry as a means to get by and pay the bills. One of the jobs created is working in the actual cigarette store, waiting for people to buy the death sticks.

Cigarette stores range from huge fancy convenience stores with luxurious indoor plumbing, to people selling straight from their trunks. This is a little taste of one woman’s day at work in one of the many cigarette stores that exist on her reserve.

Dealing with customers and the art of killing time.

Creative team

Writer/director/co-producer: Kaniehtiio Horn
Co-producer: Laura Milliken, Nyla Innuksuk

About Kaniehtiio Horn

Born and raised in Kahnawake, a Mohawk reserve just outside of Montreal, Kaniehtiio (Tiio for short) is undoubtedly one of Canada’s rising stars. Her mother is Mohawk and her father is a mélange from Nova Scotia.

This film is the beginning of what she hopes will be a life-long career of telling stories through her own eyes. Tiio wrote and directed The Smoke Shack, her debut film.

In 2009 Tiio burst onto the feature film scene with supporting roles in The Trotsky opposite Jay Baruchel and Leslie, My Name is Evil starring Kristen Hager and Greg Smith. Tiio played the lead role in the critically acclaimed The Wild Hunt.

Tiio reunited with Trotsky director Jacob Tierney on Notre Dame de Grace and most recently played Michelle Monaghan’s sister in the 2012 thriller Penthouse North.

On the small screen, Tiio appeared in the CTV movie A Terrorist Next Door starring Kathleen Robertson (Beverly Hills 90210, The Business), Lifetime’s Web of Lies with Majandra Delfino (Roswell) and most notably the APTN MOW Moccasin Flats: Redemption for which she was nominated for a 2009 Gemini Award.

Currently Tiio is playing an alien from outer space on Syfy’s new show Defiance, and a supervillain on the Syfy show Alphas.