One tribal government is blazing ahead to fill gaps in Minnesota's recreational cannabis market that has been delayed by litigation.
The White Earth Band of Chippewa is poised to have the largest footprint in the state's fledgling cannabis industry by expanding off the reservation with dispensaries in Moorhead next month and St. Cloud in the spring. The Moorhead location will be the state's first off-reservation dispensary once a tribal compact agreement with the state is finalized.
Waabigwan Mashkiki, White Earth's cannabis company, opened its flagship dispensary in Mahnomen in 2023. CEO Zach Wilson said they are eyeing storefronts as far south as Mankato and Rochester as part of their expansion.
"You'll see Waabigwan everywhere," Wilson said, referring to the store's name, which is Ojibwe for medicine flower. "It's historical. ... We are so far ahead as far as the company and the infrastructure."
Read more at The Minnesota Star Tribune