By Rob Pero, Founder of Indigenous Cannabis Industry Association
The most exciting future for cannabis in the U.S. isn’t coming out of Congress or corporate boardrooms. It’s happening in Indigenous communities across North America. Tribal Nations are organizing and making moves to destigmatize plant medicine, build sustainable and generational wealth, and plan for a better future for cannabis, as the Ojibwe say, in a good way.
While lawmakers continue to debate hemp-derived cannabinoids and whether THC should stay legal at the state or federal level, Indigenous communities aren’t waiting around. Tribes are moving forward, asserting sovereignty and reconnecting with cannabis in ways that honor long-standing relationships with plant medicine.
Cannabis use is a form of plant medicine that’s been practiced by Indigenous people and passed down through generations as both a treatment and a spiritual practice. In addition to honoring that powerful history and the wisdom of our elders, Indigenous people are looking toward a long-term future in hemp that respects both the earth and future generations. The Traditional Ecological Knowledge of Indigenous people is a well-rooted foundation for ethically, intentionally, and sustainably participating in the cannabis industry.
Nearly 10 years ago, the first regulated Indigenous cannabis storefront opened in Washington state. Since then, dozens of Tribal Nations have built their own cannabis regulatory systems, governing cultivation, production, and sales on their own terms. Beyond cannabis, 52 tribes currently operate federally approved hemp programs. Out of 575 federally recognized tribes nationwide (358 in the U.S.), about 26% are now involved in cannabis or hemp in some form.
A Note About Sovereignty
Indigenous people were thriving in the Americas before 1492; then, as Europeans began to occupy their lands, they entered into treaties with what would eventually become the United States government. Treaties began to define who was Indigenous, and non-Indigenous and what rights each group had inside and outside of Indian Country. While treaties acknowledged the power of tribes as sovereign nations, the U.S. government would go on to repeatedly renege on promises and terms, to devastating effect for Tribes, leading to a long history of struggle for our people to assert their sovereign rights.
The modern-day legal situation for tribes is a tangle of federal, state, and tribal governance. When it comes to cannabis, sovereignty means that tribes have the ability to manage cannabis and hemp on their own lands, and to make the right decisions for the health and well-being of their communities.
Sovereignty opens up opportunities that your average cannabis entrepreneur might not have, since Tribal governments can choose to legalize or criminalize cannabis use—even if they’re within a state that may have opposing legislation. This sovereign power is the basis for what tribes are doing in cannabis. The following are a few examples of tribes making recent strides in cannabis through tribal resolutions and tribal-state compacts.
Omaha Tribe
In July 2025, the Omaha Tribe in Nebraska unanimously adopted Title 51, creating the first fully legal and regulated medical and adult-use cannabis system in the state. Under the new law, adults 21 and over, Tribal members and non-members alike, can legally purchase cannabis on tribal land. The law also establishes a Cannabis Regulatory Commission to handle licensing, testing, and enforcement, and it allows for the expungement of past cannabis offenses under tribal jurisdiction.
The Omaha Tribe is just one example of how Indigenous communities are stepping up this year to shape cannabis policy with strong community backing. Every tribe that enters into cannabis has to deal with a challenge most operators never face: how do you build a regulated industry when the surrounding legal system doesn’t fully recognize your authority as a sovereign nation?
For Omaha, their code explicitly states that any attempt by state or local authorities to interfere with lawful tribal cannabis operations on reservation land is a violation of Tribal sovereignty.
They’re carrying forward a long-standing principle in Indian Country: Tribes don’t need to wait for permission from states or the federal government to do what’s right for their people. Every Indigenous community building cannabis policy today is reclaiming agency, access to healthcare, and economic justice.
Given the disproportionate harm Indigenous communities have experienced, from addiction and lack of healthcare access to decades of disinvestment, regulated cannabis with local oversight and accountability offers a real path toward healing. Not just for our people, but for our systems of governance too.
Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians
In 2025, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) made history in North Carolina by launching the state’s first legal medical cannabis program well ahead of the state legislature. After nearly three years of planning, the Tribe opened the Great Smoky Cannabis Company, operating under a cannabis control board approved by Tribal Council back in 2021.
The program began serving patients in April and became the first in the country to allow non-Tribal patients to enroll through a Tribal medical cannabis registry. That decision was a clear exercise of sovereignty and a recognition that access matters, even in states where cannabis is still prohibited.
Earlier this year, EBCI citizens overwhelmingly reaffirmed their support for legalization in a historic referendum, opening the door for expanded cultivation, patient services, and economic opportunities tied to cannabis.
White Earth
In May 2025, Minnesota’s governor signed a groundbreaking tribal-state compact allowing White Earth to operate cannabis dispensaries off tribal land, the first agreement of its kind since Minnesota legalized cannabis in 2023. White Earth opened a recreational dispensary in Moorhead last year, the first in the state fully operated under Tribal regulatory authority and outside the state’s private licensing system.
White Earth’s cannabis enterprise, Waabigwan Mashkiki (“flower medicine” in Ojibwe), is a sovereign business rooted in Anishinaabe values, Tribal oversight, and community priorities. It’s a strong example of how Indigenous self-determination and public health standards go hand in hand.
Wisconsin
My home state, Wisconsin, finally took a step toward acknowledging patient rights last year with the introduction of Senate Bill 534. Led by a public awareness campaign, Wisconsin Wellness, created by the Wisconsin Tribal Cannabis Task Force and the Indigenous Cannabis Industry Association, public support is already there: 86% of Wisconsin residents support regulated medical cannabis. We’re moving into phase two of the Wisconsin Wellness campaign this year, continuing to build on our momentum to advance plant medicine in 2027.
Legalization in Wisconsin wouldn’t just benefit tribes. It will help veterans, seniors, patients, farmers, families, and entire communities. The goal of Wisconsin Wellness is simple: legalize medical cannabis and make sure voters understand what’s at stake. Indigenous leadership in Wisconsin is inviting everyone to be part of the push to finally make medical cannabis legal in the state.
Indigenous Cannabis Movement
As tribes lay the foundation for what regulations best benefit and protect our own communities, we are creating an intertribal network of cannabis leadership. Tribal resolutions and tribal-state compacts being developed today are showing how cannabis can be regulated responsibly while centered on community values into the future.
Sovereignty matters, especially when states are collecting millions in cannabis tax revenue while tribes are still treated like exceptions instead of governments. Because Tribes are accountable to their people and future generations, Indigenous cannabis systems often end up being some of the most tightly regulated and ethically grounded in the country.
That’s why we founded the Indigenous Cannabis Industry Association (ICIA) in 2022. ICIA exists to help Indian Country regain access to plant medicine, while sharing technical resources, support, and community across the entire cannabis supply chain.
With the right networks and tools, Indigenous Nations are using cannabis to do what federal and state systems still struggle to do: treat chronic pain and PTSD, address addiction, create long-term jobs, support local farmers, and strengthen community health. And we’re doing it while navigating a confusing patchwork of laws that leaves Tribes in jurisdictional limbo, while others profit off a plant we’ve cultivated a relationship with since long before laws were in place.
From vertically integrated businesses to workforce training programs and cultivation initiatives that support local farmers, tribes are building resilient systems designed to last. We’re not waiting on Congress or the DEA. We’re moving at the speed of sovereignty.
ICIA exists to support that work: helping tribes and Tribal businesses share best practices, connect with partners who respect sovereignty, and advocate for the policy changes needed to grow safely and sustainably. Sovereignty is also not a one-size-fits-all concept–it’s defined by each Tribe according to its own laws, values, and responsibilities to its people.
Self-determination means having the authority to decide what healing, economic development, and governance look like for our communities, without waiting for permission from systems that have historically excluded us.
Indigenous Cannabis Summit
In November 2025, during Native American Heritage Month, Tribal leaders, federal agencies, healthcare providers, veterans’ organizations, and industry partners came together in Washington, D.C., for the fourth annual National Indigenous Cannabis Policy Summit. Just steps from the Capitol, the Summit creates space for real conversations about the challenges and opportunities shaping Indigenous cannabis right now.
One highlight from last year’s Summit was a presentation by Dr. Joseph Rosado, an ICIA board member who has been leading Data & Wellness seminars and Tribal town halls across the country. By breaking down the science of plant medicine in plain language, Dr. Rosado is helping communities replace stigma with facts, transparency, and education.
Now more than ever, armed with data, public health insights, and real-world examples, tribes are stepping into cannabis and expanding its impact.
The question isn’t whether Indigenous Nations will shape the future of cannabis. We already are. The real question is whether the rest of the industry is ready to learn from the people who’ve carried this knowledge the longest.
About Indigenous Cannabis Industry Association: This High Times column is provided by the Indigenous Cannabis Industry Association, and powered by THC Magazine. As the leading nonprofit organization dedicated to Indigenous cannabis, ICIA exists to promote the exploration, development, and advancement of the cannabis industry for the benefit of all Indigenous communities as we push towards a vision of an equitable, just, and sustainable Indigenous cannabis economy. To learn more about ICIA’s strategic vision and priorities, visit indigenouscannabis.org.
This article is from an external, unpaid contributor. It does not represent High Times’ reporting and has not been edited for content or accuracy.
