Dakota Plains chief appears in court on sex assault charges

A Manitoba chief appeared in a Saskatchewan court Tuesday on sexual assault charges in relation to incidents that allegedly occurred at a hotel last year.

Donald Smoke, 53, of Portage la Prairie was charged with two counts of sexual assault in February, by RCMP in Kindersley, Sask., a town about 200 kilometres of southwest of Saskatoon.

Smoke is hereditary chief of Dakota Plains, a First Nation of just about 300 people southwest of Portage la Prairie.

He became chief following the 2021 death of his father, Orville Smoke.

Saskatchewan RCMP spokeswoman Keely Grasser said the Kindersley detachment received a report in June 2024 about alleged sexual assaults, against more than one woman, said to have occurred in February of that year.

Grasser said Mounties would not release further details owing to privacy concerns. The names of the complainants are protected under a publication ban.

Smoke had his first appearance in provincial court in Kindersley Tuesday. He’s being represented by Saskatoon defence lawyer Brian Pfefferle, who said Smoke plans to defend himself from the allegations in court and denies any criminal wrongdoing.

One of the complainants, who spoke to the Free Press on Tuesday, said she was working for the band when she, a friend, Smoke and two others travelled to Alberta to tour a facility that ran a program that attracted the interest of the First Nation.

The woman said she and her friend arrived in Kindersley and stopped at a hotel on Feb. 27, 2024, which is where she alleges the two women were sexually assaulted that evening.

The group stayed overnight, then went to Alberta and did the tour before returning to Manitoba, she said.

“It’s really hard for me to talk about it,” the woman told the Free Press. “I’m only now getting more comfortable saying ‘I was sexually assaulted.’”

Pfefferle said the Crown has yet to disclose evidence to the defence.

“So we are in a bit of a disadvantage in terms of Chief Smoke’s ability to respond to the specific allegations in detail. I can assure you, he wants to do so as soon as possible,” the lawyer said.

“Obviously, any time someone who’s involved in politics and particularly involved in community politics in Indigenous communities, the community has a right to know and deserves to know as many details they can as soon as possible.”

Court was adjourned until May 6 so the defence can receive disclosure.

The chief remains free on an appearance notice, Pfefferle said.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca