But when a yellow school bus emblazoned with Batchewana First Nation pulled up to the Canada Border Services Agency booths, something changed, said the Garden River First Nation chief.

"Once the bus went across, they were pulled in, from that, (people in) the next car were given yellow slips, and the next one, and the next one, and the next one, and that's when I realized these guys are pulling everybody over regardless of the amount," said Sayers.

"If you looked Anishinabe, you're going to get pulled in."

Lyle Sayers and Batchewana First Nation Chief Dean Sayers were part of a lengthy protest Monday that blocked traffic on the International Bridge from getting to Canadian customs booths.

Members of Garden River and Batchewana First Nations were shopping in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., as part of a sovereignty demonstration over federal and provincial plans for a harmonized sales tax that would do away with a point-of-sale exemption for First Nations people in Ontario.

The halt at the border was spurred, the chiefs say, by something that looked a lot like racial profiling. Dean Sayers said Monday that he and others joined hands to block Canada-bound traffic when a border guard threatened to seize an elder's vehicle if she refused to pay duty.

A spokesperson for Canada Border Services Agency said the agency "absolutely," denies its staff employed racial profiling Monday.

"Border services officers have the authority, under the Customs Act, to question any travellers and examine their goods and to verify their declarations, so it doesn't distinguish who you are -- race, creed, anything like that -- if you present yourself at the border, they ask you questions and the examinations or other things pursue as a result of how you answer those questions," said Chris Kealey, a CBSA spokesperson.

Kealey said the blockade ended when CBSA officials agreed to take the declarations and bill the Garden River and Batchewana members "for any duties and taxes later on," through the mail.

The Garden River chief said he believes the front-line response at the border "came from the top down."

"If you declare like $60 worth of goods, very rarely do they ask you to go in and pay duty on that," said Lyle Sayers. "Yesterday, it was everybody, no matter what the amount, was being pulled in."

He said CBSA officials have asked for a meeting, which he hopes occurs early in the new year.

Sayers said he understands the border guards had a job to do. "Doyour job, but don't do it because of somebody's colour. We're not criminals, we cross the border like anybody else," he said.

He said what First Nations people don't have to do is pay duty on personal items. He said it is a right protected by the Jay Treaty.

Kealey said it is the position of CBSA that there are "no exemptions," for duties.

Dean Sayers said Monday that duty is a long-running issue for First Nations, that the government appears reluctant to take it to court.

A small group from Garden River and Batchewana who left the Batchewana band office for Monday's cross-border shopping were joined by others who went separately to the Michigan side of the St. Mary's River, said Lyle Sayers.

Lyle Sayers said an unknown number gathered to return to Canada at 3 p. m. He estimates about 60 took part in blocking Canada-bound bridge traffic, with many more likely backed up on the bridge in their vehicles.

Kealey said the blockade lasted for about an hour.