NEW YORK (AP) – Gov. David Paterson is concerned that members of the state's Indian tribes may engage in “violence and civil unrest” if he attempts to tax cigarettes sold at reservation smoke shops.

In a letter dated Sept. 23, Paterson asked three of the state's top federal prosecutors to help him assess the possibility of violent demonstrations if the state begins collecting its $2.75 per-pack tax on cigarettes sold at tribal shops.

Paterson also asked the Justice Department for an “operational commitment to help mitigate any disturbances that might occur.”

The letter was sent in confidence, but a copy was obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press.

A law taxing cigarettes sold to non-Indians on the reservations has been in place for years, but previous New York governors have chosen not to enforce it, partly out of fear of stirring up trouble.

The last two attempts to collect such taxes, in 1997 and 1992, led to clashes between tribal protesters and police.

During the 1997 clash, demonstrators halted traffic on the New York State Thruway, set fires and brawled with State Troopers. The state retaliated by blockading the reservations. Then-Gov. George Pataki ultimately backed down.

Since then, the reservation shops have become among the biggest cigarette dealers in the state, selling more than 300 million packs annually. Some reservations are now also home to cigarette factories churning out native brands sold throughout the U.S.

But with the state desperate for new revenue, Paterson is signaling he is giving the issue new thought.

In his Sept. 23 letter, the governor told the U.S. Attorneys for Western New York, Northern New York and Long Island that while his intent was to continue negotiating with the tribes, he wished to assess the possibility “of a repeat of the violent demonstrations that occurred in 1997” if the state were to act without an agreement.

“I would be grateful if you would please review this matter and provide me with your assessment as to the likelihood of violence and civil unrest,” he wrote.

Richard Nephew, chairman of the governing council at the Seneca Nation, the state's biggest seller of reservation cigarettes, dismissed the letter with a statement suggesting that the governor was right to be concerned.

“We see the letter as nothing more than the Governor doing his job to assess the historic consequences of what happens when the state tries to violate our treaty rights,” he said.

Spokespeople for the Shinnecock Nation and the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe had no immediate comment. The chief of the Unkechaug Nation did not immediately return an e-mail message. Each of those tribes oversee reservations where untaxed cigarettes are big business.

Paterson spokesman Morgan Hook declined to talk about the matter Tuesday, saying the letter spoke for itself.

The legality of cigarette sales on the reservations has come into question this year as a pair of federal judges in New York have separately ruled it illegal for the smoke shops to sell untaxed products to people who aren't members of the tribe.

Several smoke shops on the Unkechaug-controlled Poospatuck Reservation have shut down rather than comply with a judge's order, but there has been no violence or public demonstrations.