MOORHEAD — The White Earth Nation is celebrating the opening of its first off-reservation cannabis dispensary in Moorhead, with another opening planned for sometime this summer in St. Cloud.
The tribe’s cannabis enterprise is named Wabigwan Mashkiki, which translates from Ojibwe to “medicine flower.” The on-reservation location opened to the public for adult recreational use in August 2023.
White Earth’s attorney Mitch Chargo explained the first-of-its-kind tribal compact with Minnesota is very complicated.
“You have two sovereign powers that are negotiating a complicated process for transacting what the state says is legal, but the federal government still says it's not legal," he said.
Chargo added that the compact provides a framework for tribal nations to engage with the state, nation-to-nation.
“This isn't a handout, this is a chance for two sovereign powers to work together,” he said. “The benefit for the tribal nations that enter into the compact and engage is really the revenue framework, the revenue generation, the economic sovereignty that can evolve from this and result from it.”
Chairman Michael Fairbanks said in a Facebook post that the Moorhead opening is a “proud moment for our community, honoring tradition and embracing the future.”
