State's first off-reservation cannabis dispensary to open in Moorhead

MAHNOMEN, MINN. – 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."

Right now consumers are only able to buy recreational cannabis on tribal lands. A handful of reservations currently own the market as they have sovereignty to set their own regulations. White Earth and Red Lake Band of Ojibwe had a head start as they created medical marijuana programs in 2020.

The Legislature legalized recreational cannabis in 2023, and the state's Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) set a goal of launching the retail market in early 2025. But in December it snuffed out an early lottery for social equity applicants seeking licenses after lawsuits were filed by applicants claiming they were unfairly denied, further delaying retail off tribal lands.

Then OCM Director Charlene Briner stepped down last month.

New lotteries are expected later this spring, but then it could take weeks or months for businesses to become operational.

Meanwhile, tribes continue to make toeholds in the market, namely in in northern Minnesota with White Earth, Red Lake and Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe.

The Prairie Island Indian Community, a Mdewakanton Sioux Indian Reservation 14 miles north of Red Wing, was the latest tribe to enter the market, opening a store in June, and recently a cultivation facility and their own flower brand. Others are joining.

The Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa is building an 18,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Brookston, about 27 miles west of Duluth. And tribally owned Mille Lacs Corporate Ventures is making a major play as a cannabis grower with a 50,000-square-foot cultivation facility on track to open this fall.

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Waabigwan's footprint

White Earth purchased JL Beers, a former bar and restaurant along Hwy. 10 in Moorhead, last May for $850,000.

The band's business committee told the Minnesota Star Tribune shortly after the sale that "cannabis is certainly one potential use for this property should the law change to permit it."

Tribes set their own regulations, but there are higher compliance standards with the state. Wilson said to operate off-reservation, "everything we do is meet or beat standards." And he said Waabigwan is already doing that.

OCM spokesman Josh Collins said in a statement that the state's first tribal compact agreement is likely to be finalized by March.

"We continue to be in active compact negotiations with multiple Tribal nations in Minnesota related to the adult-use cannabis market. We will have additional information to share when we have a signed compact in place, which we expect soon," Collins said.

Wilson said it took months to arrive at this point.

"We've been in really good shape ... doing all the things that I would suspect the state would want ... so we could get to market faster than everyone else because I kind of knew the playbook," he said. "I've been doing this awhile."

Wilson has been in the cannabis industry for a decade, working in Michigan and Mississippi and now Minnesota. White Earth hired him 16 months ago and he assembled a team to join him in Mahnomen. About 70% of the 88 employees there are Native American, with the rest made up of industry experts helping train locals to eventually take over operations.

"This is ultimately about the tribe and being able to benefit the community and White Earth members," Wilson said.

White Earth is the largest of Minnesota's 11 reservations with 19,000 enrolled members.

Grace Nicolas, 28, moved to Mahnomen from Mississippi to work as a supervisor at the manufacturing facility. She's used to living in rural areas along the Mississippi River.

"It reminds me of home except everyone sounds a little bit different, and it's much colder," she said.

Still, she saw the opportunity to join Wilson at a new company that is Indigenous owned.

"That's something that I've been interested in being involved in, especially as a women of color. To be part of this is really exciting."

Another 30 people will be hired in Moorhead and that's expected to be mirrored in St. Cloud.

To supply enough cannabis for the additional locations, the Mahnomen facility is doubling its monthly production of 700 pounds to 1,400 pounds of cannabis.

The manufacturing facility, less than a half-mile from the flagship dispensary, is 45,000 square feet. Wilson said construction will begin later this year to potentially double in size to produce more cannabis.

Meanwhile, the former bar in Moorhead is undergoing renovations and is expected to open mid-March.

Wilson said Moorhead is "a big enough city to sustain the dispensary ... plus another quarter million people potentially right across the river is also a benefit."

Waabigwan purchased a former medical marijuana dispensary, LeafLine, in St. Cloud kitty-corner to Walmart that will be coming online three months after Moorhead. They will look down the Interstate 94 corridor to see where they can plant their flag next.

"It just made sense to keep on going towards the big cities and larger volume," Wilson said. "That's the name of the game."

Peter Steidl of Glyndon made the familiar hourlong drive to the Mahnomen dispensary Wednesday afternoon. The Moorhead location will be closer to home, but more important than proximity, he said the expansion is helping destigmatize cannabis.

"They used to imprison people for life," he said.

"I'm almost 67. I've been looking forward to this since I was 18, so I've been following this like you can't believe."

Matt DeLong of the Minnesota Star Tribune contributed to this report.