Business | National

Interview with Anthony Rivera on creation of marijuana firm

Thursday, October 15, 2015

From left: Andy Nakai, Anthony Rivera, Jr., Stuart W. Titus, PhD, and Dr. Cedric Black Eagle. Photo from CannaNative

Cashinbis interviews Anthony Rivera, a former chairman of the Juaneno Band of Mission Indians / Acjachemen Nation of California who is the co-founder of CannaNative, a company that plans to help tribes develop hemp and marijuana economies:

The current state of native involvement does look to be shifting, especially with the historic partnership CannaNative, LLC., just signed. Can you tell us about it and why it’s making such big news?
Yes. This is big news. As a matter of fact, launching today in press releases around the country. That is the partnership between 7 Green Feathers and General Hemp, LLC. 7 Green Feathers is a company which is native owned by myself and a great team of native folks who have experience in Indian country, whether it’s tribal leadership, tribal finance, economic or business development. Our new partner, General Hemp, LLC. is one of the leaders in the cannabis industry. They bring a great track record and industry knowledge to the table, not only here in the United States, but globally. We felt that our visions were compatible.
We felt that the professional leaders at General Hemp, LLC. would bring their experience and expertise into Indian country to support our leadership. Their expertise will fit very nicely in the marketplace. For those reasons, we formed a partnership. We’re very excited about it, and we’re bringing it into Indian country.
You’re a former Tribal Chairman and now you’re the co-founder of CannaNative. Can you walk us through what led you to want to start and co-found an organization like CannaNative?
Excellent question. This was the last industry I ever thought I was going to enter. Prior to founding CannaNative, I was working alongside my future Co-Founders Cedric Black Eagle, former chairman from the Crow Tribe, and Andy Nakai from Navajo Nation, in Indian country. We were primarily focused on financial and business development projects, as well as bridging the gap between corporate America and Indian tribes in an effort to find certain ways to help tribes leverage their advantages in the corporate business development world. That being said, it wasn’t until late 2014 when Department Of Justice memo, called the ‘Wilkinson’s memo‘ came out that basically provided guidelines for tribes if they were considering entering into the cannabis industry. That sparked a lot of interest and a lot of curiosities.
We were naturally curious to see “What does this have to offer Indian country as far as a real economic opportunity?” We continued doing some research. We interviewed a lot of folks. We asked a lot of questions, and we used our economic development experience to weigh the advantages. We saw a potentially big opportunity based off of our prior industry building experience that Indian country has a strong background in. We felt that this would be a new, emerging, up and coming industry that perhaps we can apply.
For example, we could take our Indian gaming industry experience, and apply it here, to build a new industry. What we saw while conducting our due diligence was an emerging industry that we believe tribes can really take advantage of. Tribes can apply other industry experiences, like Indian gaming, and take this to another level, not only a higher business level, but another level where tribes can be truly self-sustainable and truly exercise their full access of tribal sovereignty. We formed CannaNative, LLC., to make sure that we can do that. We formed a great partnership with General Hemp, LLC., because of their fantastic experience and it’s been nothing but positive and successful as we’ve moved forward.

Get the Story:
CannaNative Impacts Native American Cannabis Industry (Cashinbis 10/15)

Also Today:
Are ‘marijuana resorts’ the new tribal casinos? (Fusion 10/13)

Relevant Documents:
Department of Justice Policy Statement Regarding Marijuana Issues in Indian Country (October 2014)