Indigenous

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians adult-use cannabis store, the Great Smoky Cannabis Company in the Qualla Boundary, North Carolina, is opening its doors on September 7 to all adults aged 21+.

The Southern Ute Indian Tribe is investing in a 500,000-square-foot hemp processing facility in Wichita Falls, Texas; the facility will process hemp straw for use in textiles, straw, and pellets.

The first medical cannabis dispensary in North Carolina opened for business on 4/20, serving patients registered with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ Cannabis Control Board and cardholders from other state or tribal programs.

In the latest development from an ongoing legal battle involving the Navajo Nation, two tribal members have been formally charged with illegal marijuana cultivation. A lawyer for one of the defendants said that the facility was growing hemp, not marijuana.

The Lower Sioux Indian Community in Minnesota is constructing a vertically integrated campus for the manufacturing of hempcrete. The campus, once complete, will be the first facility of its kind in the U.S.

Nearly 70 New York state lawmakers sent a letter to Gov. Kathy Hochul urging her to sign the Cannabis Crop Rescue Act, which lawmakers approved in June to allow licensed cannabis farmers to sell their products to dispensaries located on Tribal lands.

Citizens of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina voted on Thursday to legalize adult-use cannabis.

New York lawmakers voted to let the state’s cannabis cultivators sell products to tribal nations that have launched their own cannabis markets.

Cherokee medical cannabis company Qualla Enterprises LLC will receive $63 million to increase staffing and build new facilities following a recent Tribal Council vote.

Actor Jim Belushi’s cannabis company, Belushi’s Farm, has opened a new license partner location on Saint Regis (Akwesasne) Mohawk Tribe territory in upstate New York.

Members of the Crow Tribe are looking to open the first cannabis dispensary on tribal land in Montana but approval has been delayed by the tribe and Big Horn County. 

A recent letter by the director of Montana’s Department of Revenue revealed that tribes in the state are restricted to the lowest tier of cannabis cultivation license.

The Pojoaque and Picuris tribes in New Mexico signed an agreement with the state last week to collect taxes on local cannabis product sales.

Cannabis retailers in British Columbia, Canada are suing the province’s attorney general, minister of public safety, and Community Safety Unit over unlicensed cannabis sales on First Nation lands.

Chenae Bullock is Managing Director of Little Beach Harvest, a vertically integrated cannabis operation by the Shinnecock Indian Nation in New York in partnership with TILT Holdings Inc.

South Dakota law enforcement officials are arresting medical cannabis cardholders issued by the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe, arguing that the cards are invalid for non-tribal members.

Researchers at Washington State University and several partnering West Coast universities have received a five-year, $10 million U.S. Department of Agriculture grant to study hemp and its agricultural benefits.

The Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe of New York awarded its first cannabis industry conditional cultivation licenses.

Tribes in Montana will be allowed to acquire licenses for high-capacity cannabis cultivation facilities; previously, tribes could only acquire the smallest-capacity grow licenses.

Indigenous and Native American tribes have stewarded the land in North America for countless generations. Today, Indigenous-owned cannabis and hemp brands are thriving in the industry despite regulatory obstacles including licensing issues, local restrictions, and more.

The Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians filed an application with Sonoma County, California officials to grow nearly 1,000 cannabis plants outdoors on land in Petaluma that it had previously considered for a casino.

The adult-use cannabis ordinance approved by the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians Tribal Council took effect yesterday, allowing the tribes to regulate the commercial cultivation, processing, and distribution of cannabis.