Mohawk people, from one of the six American Indian nations in the Iroquois Confederacy, have hunted, fished and lived by the St. Lawrence River for hundreds of years.

But after the War of 1812, their sovereign territory known as Akwesasne was bisected in two when the United States and Great Britain drew a line on a map, creating today's northern border between New York state and Canada. Now the Akwesasne Mohawk reservation sits in both countries, with borders of its own.

The international border has defined the Mohawks to many outsiders ever since. To some non-natives, Akwesasne is synonymous with contraband and smuggling.

The reputation outrages Mohawks themselves. As Reen Cook, local celebrity and morning show host on the reservation's radio station CKON says, "we didn't put that border here. They did."

A jurisdictional jumble

To understand the impact of the international border on Akwesasne and its tribal members, you have to look closely at the geography.

The border is an invisible line in the St. Lawrence River, separating the most northern portion of upstate New York from Canada. But the demarcation winds through islands, around peninsulas and suddenly juts inland at the reservation. It is also the point where New York State and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec all meet.

"This is our land, and all of a sudden, borders are put up," says Matthew Rourke, St. Regis Mohawk tribal police chief, "and we're tasked with protecting those borders."

Perhaps ironically, the border runs right through Rourke's parents' backyard where they have a bed and breakfast and host weddings. A waist-high concrete pillar behind a gazebo is the only indication of the international boundary.

In other parts of the reservation, roads cross the border with no sign whatsoever. The border runs through backyards and through people's homes. It all makes for very difficult policing, attracting smugglers.

"There's always money to be made somewhere," Rourke says, "and some people exploit it."

"I hate that stereotype that we're all smugglers"

For decades, the area around Akwesasne has been a hot-spot along the northern border for smuggling a range of contraband, most recently for high-grade marijuana from Canada. But according to U.S. Border Patrol figures, the amount of drugs seized is a fraction of what's trafficked across the U.S.-Mexico border.

Akwesasne made headlines in the 1990s when some Mohawks asserted their sovereign trade rights to bring untaxed cigarettes into Canada. Canadian Mounties tried to stop them.

Since then, national media in both countries have published stories with titles like "smugglers playground" and "contraband capital." After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, some media outlets erroneously reported terrorists had entered the U.S. through Akwesasne.

"It's not necessarily that it's a Native American reservation," says U.S. Border Patrol agent Wade Laughman, who directs operations in the region around Akwesasne. He says it's not fair to blame the Mohawks. "It's the geography of the reservation. It's the fact that half of the reservation is in Canada basically and half is in the United States."

The smuggling stereotype persists. Kevin Lazore was born and raised in Akwesasne. When he went to college in Toronto and introduced himself, people would react, saying, " 'Wow, the famous Akwesasne? Are you in that business?' I'm like, 'what business? What are you talking about?' And it finally clicked," Lazore recalls. "They must think I'm a smuggler. I'm like, 'no, I'm not into that business.' "