A group of people marched through downtown Winnipeg Wednesday in support of a controversial First Nations smoke shop.
The province wants the Dakota Chundee Smoke Shop near Pipestone to stop selling untaxed cigarettes.
The fate of the shop was examined by a court Wednesday. The province was seeking an injunction against the shop.
Wednesday afternoon, a judge granted an interim injunction against it.
The judge said the integrity of the law must be upheld.
First Nation leaders say the conflict represents a larger problem with the relationship between their communities and the government.
The Canupawakpa Dakota First Nation said it never signed a treaty with the province, arguing that means the government does not have jurisdiction over its people or smoke shop.
"There has to be a compromise – they can't just be forcing us to follow their laws and throw us in jail because we are not following their laws," said Chief Frank Brown.
He said that until the province can produce documentation to prove its authority over his people, the Dakota Chundee Smoke Shop will not charge taxes on cigarettes.
Since it opened last November, the shop has been raided five times and more than $100,000 in contraband cigarettes seized.
Almost immediately after the raids, the shop's shelves were re-stocked and its doors re-opened.
"The attempted criminalization of the legitimate efforts of the Dakota people to implement their own economy based on their own laws is unnecessary," said Derek Nepinak, grand chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs.
Chief Frank Brown and fellow defendants did not file a statement of defence in the court case, but rather walked out of court proceedings 30 minutes after they started.
"We didn't want to demonstrate that we're consenting in any way, shape or form so we simply just showed up to object to the proceedings," said Bartley Harris a councillor from Dakota Plains First Nation.
None of the defendants returned to court to hear the judge's ruling in the case Wednesday afternoon.
The interim injunction is slated to go into effect after the province files some additional paperwork, which ensures that if the injunction is overturned, the smoke shop can come after the government for damages.
A motion would also need to be heard in the future for a permanent injunction, which could take months.
The province said the Tobacco Tax Act applies to anyone selling cigarettes in Manitoba, on or off of First Nations.
CTV News spoke to Chief Frank Brown after the court decision. He said the Dakota Chundee Smoke Shop will continue to sell untaxed cigarettes after the injunction is served.
