The Prairie Island Indian Community announced the launch of a farming, processing, and distribution facility as Minnesota tribes expand their role in the state’s emerging cannabis market.
Through its Island Peži brand, the tribe’s new 13-acre cannabis campus will produce more than 10,000 pounds of cannabis and related extracts to supply both its Island Peži dispensary and the broader Minnesota market.
The tribe has cultivated more than 20 cannabis strains in its first harvest, according to a statement.
“Prairie Island Cannabis Campus is a significant step toward economic sovereignty and self-determination for our tribe,” Grant Johnson, president of the Prairie Island Indian Community, said in a statement. “The cultivation site has provided new opportunities for sustainable economic growth and has created numerous job opportunities within our community. We are proud to take this step while respecting our traditions and ensuring responsible stewardship of our land.”
The tribe first announced the Island Peži brand and its plans to enter the cannabis market in March 2024, per prior Tribal Business News reporting. It later opened a store on its reservation in June, followed by Prairie Island Cannabis Company cultivation facility. According to that story, Island Peži operates under CBH, Inc., a tribal corporation that manages the tribe’s cannabis operations.
Minnesota legalized recreational marijuana in 2023, prompting several tribal nations in the state to launch operations. Last March, the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe commenced construction on a 50,000 square-foot cannabis cultivation facility of their own near the tribe’s casino in Onamia, Minn. Red Lake Nation and White Earth Nation each opened dispensaries on their reservations in 2023.
While most tribes have stuck to on-reservation cannabis operations, the White Earth Band of Chippewa will soon open the state’s first off-reservation dispensary in Moorhead, Minn., followed by a second one in St. Cloud, according to a story from the Minnesota Star Tribune.
The expansion comes as the state's general cannabis licensing program faces delays due to litigation. Pending compacts between Gov. Tim Walz and 10 of Minnesota's 11 tribal nations would allow tribal governments to license businesses to operate off-reservation stores, cultivation facilities and manufacturing operations, according to MinnPost. Tribal enterprises would be exempt from rules against vertical integration that prevent non-tribal businesses from combining retail, cultivation and manufacturing under one company.
Brian Edwards provided additional reporting.
