Native America Calling: Tribal cannabis operations both welcomed and scorned

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Native America Calling: Tribal cannabis operations both welcomed and scorned

Tuesday, June 24, 2025

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Tribal cannabis operations both welcomed and scorned

Minnesota is the first state to sign compacts with tribes for cannabis operations.

The White Earth Nation just opened that state’s first off-reservation recreational marijuana retail store. A second store is already in the works with the tribe envisioning as many as eight dispensaries statewide.

But as some tribes lead the way with economic development potential for cannabis, some other tribes elsewhere are subject to law enforcement actions and regulatory hurdles. Join Native America Calling hear about both the success stories and dead ends for tribal cannabis operations.

Guests on Native America Calling

Mary Jane Oatman (Nez Perce and Delaware), executive director of the Indigenous Cannabis Industry Association and founder of THC Magazine

Lester Marston (Cahuilla), attorney and tribal court judge

Blake Johnson (Dakota), president of Prairie Island CBH Inc., an economic development entity of the Prairie Island Indian Community in Minnesota

Zach Wilson, CEO of Waabigwan Mashkiki LLC, an economic development entity of the White Earth Nation in Minnesota