The White Earth Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe will open a cannabis dispensary off tribal land in Moorhead, after a first-of-its-kind agreement signed with the State of Minnesota.

“Lot of excitement, very proud, very excited, it’s historical,” said Zach Wilson, CEO of the White Earth Nation’s cannabis business.

The new agreement allows White Earth to open upwards of eight dispensaries, which include plans in St. Cloud, toward the Twin Cities and into southern Minnesota.

The White Earth Nation facility will now have to pay local, state, and the special 10% cannabis tax on sales.

On Highway 10 in Moorhead, the final preps are underway for the cannabis dispensary “Waabigwan Mashkiki,” meaning flower medicine in Ojibwe, to open this weekend.

Minnesota legalized recreational marijuana back in 2023.

Ever since, the state has been trying to create the rules, along with setting up a licensing system to allow businesses to grow and sell cannabis in a commercial space, including opening dispensaries.

Tribal communities did not have to wait for that process to finish, and only grow and sell product on tribal land.

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Up until now, White Earth’s cannabis business has grown and sold products only on tribal land in Mahnomen, in northwest Minnesota.

Wilson estimates that on a typical weekend day, the dispensary serves upwards of 300 customers. “It’s a revenue source that can get put back into the tribe, back into the community,” Wilson said. “Sales have been good over the year, they have been, we’re looking at multiple millions of dollars a year.”

“We’ve been negotiating these for over a year, we always understood the possibility that we would have tribal compacts signed prior to the first licenses issued,” said Eric Taubel, Interim Director, Minnesota’s Office of Cannabis Management.

The state plans to start a license lottery on June 5th to allow other businesses to get into the cannabis marketplace.