Island Peži: Tribal Sovereignty and Regenerative Cannabis in Minnesota

[image: Island Pezi Feature Image]

In this episode of the Ganjapreneur Podcast, host TG Branfalt speaks with
Blake Johnson, president of Prairie Island CBH, and Ben Halley, COO and
founder of Honest Cannabis. Together, they explore how the Prairie Island
Indian Community developed Island Peži, a vertically integrated cannabis
enterprise in Minnesota, built on tribal sovereignty, Indigenous values,
and regenerative agriculture.

The conversation covers the complexities of launching cannabis programs on
tribal land, the importance of community engagement, and the tribe’s
decision to invest in a 13-acre cultivation and processing campus. Blake
and Ben discuss the intertribal collaboration taking shape in Minnesota,
product trends at Island Peži, the tribe’s education and training efforts,
and how this model of values-driven development can inform the broader
cannabis industry as state markets mature.
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Listen to the episode:
Ganjapreneur · Island Peži: Tribal Sovereignty and Regenerative Cannabis in
Minnesota
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Read the transcript:

*Editor’s note: this transcript was auto-generated and may contain errors.*

TG Branfalt:

Hey there, I’m your host, TG Branfalt and this is the Ganjapreneur.com
podcast where we try to bring you actionable information and normalized
cannabis through the stories of entrepreneurs, activists, and industry
stakeholders. Today I’m joined by Blake Johnson, president of Prairie
Island, CBH Inc, the tribal entity that oversees the Island Pegi Cannabis
dispensary, and Ben Halley, COO and Founder of Honest Cannabis, a
consulting company that works with Native American tribes on cannabis
programs. How are you doing this afternoon, fellas?

Blake Johnson:

Doing great, how are you?

TG Branfalt:

Well, well, this is a topic I’ve really wanted to discuss for a long time
because I think that maybe a lot of people don’t understand how these
programs work and just sort of demystify this a little bit for people who
may not even know about the sort of tribal agreements and cannabis and that
sort of thing. But before we get into that, tell me about yourself, guys.
What’s your background and how’d you end up with the cannabis space?

Blake Johnson:

Yeah, so Blake Johnson, Prairie Island Sea, Inc. President that oversees
all of our cannabis operations for the tribe for Prairie Island Indian
community. I am a tribal member. I grew up on the reservation. I ended up
working for Prairie Island, been our lobbyist at the Minnesota State
Capitol for 13 years now, and been super involved throughout the whole
process of the state legalizing cannabis. And so got involved on the
business side for our community.

TG Branfalt:

And briefly, as your role as a lobbyist, what did you do in the legislature?

Blake Johnson:

Yeah, I think I lobby on behalf of our community’s interests, being able to
make sure that our voice is heard and have thoughts and opinions on a
variety of different matters when it relates to tribes and travel issues.
Being able to be there to be that voice, to be able to be a seat at the
table is important for our community to be able to have things that not
only help and support our community, but other tribes in the state as a
whole.

TG Branfalt:

And Ben, what about you? What’s your background and how’d you end up in the
cannabis space?

Ben Halley:

Thank you, Ben Halley, honest Cannabis. I come to cannabis from hospitality
and restaurants, so I spent 20 years, I worked in Vegas, France, Germany,
Lebanon, Cyprus as a chef, food beverage director. And then I had a
consulting company that would guide private investors, tribes, casinos, et
cetera, kind of on their progress of development redevelopment. And seven
years ago I repositioned in cannabis and had the great fortune of working
with a friend who’s now my business partner. He’s a CPA in the cannabis
space. And my first project I ever worked on was with a tribe, and I’ve
stayed inside that space and I’ve become somewhat of an authority on safely
landing cannabis with tribes and the oddity of a federally illegal
substance being sold in a federal entity. So find myself now working with
Prairie Island Indian Community for the past few years, helping them
conceptualize, build and launch their cannabis enterprise.

TG Branfalt:

And briefly, can you tell me how your experience outside of the cannabis
space in sort of hospitality industry, how you brought some of those skills
into your work now, your roles now?

Ben Halley:

Yeah, absolutely. I think cannabis spent a lot of time trying to reinvent
the wheel on the front end. And my business partners and my ideology is
certainly rooted in, there are some preexisting industries where there’s a
lot of lines of parallel and you see an enormous amount of hospitality
staff transition into cannabis. So the language, the dialogue, the course
of action, the day-to-day activities, running a business that lives on
razor thin margins, there’s a lot of tenure and understanding how and why
that is. And at the end of the day, it’s a guest facing retail. People walk
through the door with expectations. It’s our job to exceed those and make
sure they come back. So the similarities and lines of parallel you can draw
between restaurant ideology and cannabis ideology are fairly profound. And
then it creates a lot of comfortability as well in tribal cannabis where
often opening in advance. So there’s a lack of preexisting cannabis staff,
so inoculating your ideology with restaurant theory, it creates a lot of
comfortability when you hire people in and people start to see things that
they register with and identify with. It creates comfort in the practical
application of the job, and we’re able to get ’em to focus on the specific
things, regulations, compliance, et cetera.

TG Branfalt:

Awesome, man. Thank you. So why don’t you guys tell me about the just sort
of history of legal cannabis in the Prairie Island Indian community?

Blake Johnson:

Yeah, I think as it relates to our existence in this business, it leads
back to when Minnesota started discussing and having conversations and
started to pass legalizing cannabis in Minnesota. Our travel council
brought it to our community members to see if there’s any interest and if
there was where we’d want to be in this market. And so it started there,
having community meeting, getting community feedback on where we’d want to
see this, and developed into an opportunity to be able to look at opening
up our own cannabis dispensary, which is Island Pagey. And then from there
it has built out to being vertically integrated into a 13 acre cannabis
campus where we do our own cultivation, we have partners in cultivation, we
have manufacturing production, and then our distribution company. As we
looked at it and started to bill out our dispensary, we realized that the
product, having enough product to even be open was a problem to be one of
the first in the state for tribes.

We had the ability to adopt our regulations and adopt our ordinances for
our community to be able to be in a place where we can start to develop
this business. And from that point is just seeing the growth and the
opportunity that this brings to our community. And that’s very important is
the structural piece. We really took advantage of having the expertise on
the regulation side of gaming and bringing that to the forefront of
cultivation and cannabis and making sure that we have high regulations and
that’s in there for a purpose and that it’s to serve and protect our
community, our staff, everybody involved, all the way up to the guests that
walked through our doors.

TG Branfalt:

And briefly, what did the conversation with the community members look
like? Was there a lot of discussion had or was everyone pretty excited
about it?

Blake Johnson:

Yeah, I think the younger generation, there was a ton of excitement. And I
think what we did see is our older generation is that persona of what
cannabis really was to them and how they were told it was and not really
understanding it. But I think from the cultural side and the Native
American side here is that a long time ago, our elders used to use this as
medicine. There was a purpose as we look at how we view everything on this
earth, is that our creator created everything to be here for a purpose, and
cannabis is one of them.

TG Branfalt:

And so can you guys get into what is the potential economic impact of the
cannabis industry for the tribe?

Blake Johnson:

Yeah. Yeah. I think as we look at for a lot of tribes including ourselves,
is that we don’t raise taxes. So as we look at business opportunity and
running businesses, that provides for essential work funds to fund our
government and to also be able to supply funds for our healthcare, our
education, public safety. So all those things relies on our businesses. And
so this impact only also, this also contributes to those opportunities for
our people and to be able to fully fund and have opportunity and having
essential things that could be important for our community members.

TG Branfalt:

You had mentioned recent, this complex that is relatively new, right?

Blake Johnson:

Yes. Yeah. So this 13 acre cannabis campus broke ground last April,

TG Branfalt:

And you said it’s vertically integrated and you expect that this can supply
how much of the community’s operations or your operations as it were?

Blake Johnson:

Yeah, I think as we look at a full buildup, we’re still continuing to build
and expand on our campus. We have tremendous growth over the last year of
on the campus and building indoor facility that not only holds three grow
rooms, but also has a huge drying area. And then on the other side of that
building is our production manufacturing side for the finished product
goods, but we also have two and a half acre outdoor grow, and then we have
eight greenhouses that are almost completed. So we are continuing to look
and evaluate at what opportunities there are, but it is a way to look at a
business and making sure we have supply for ourselves. So as we look at the
state market is opening up, Minnesota just gave all licenses, they’re going
to be looking for product. We may not have enough product to sell out to a
lot of people, but we have opportunity to look at what is our initial needs
as a dispensary and making sure we have some supply for us. But we have had
opportunity of being able to reach out to other tribes that are operational
now with their dispensaries and have been able to sell some goods their way.

TG Branfalt:

So Ben, I do want to ask you, in your role as as a consultant, what does
that process for you look like when you’re trying to sort of direct or work
with a state, especially in emerging market like Minnesota, when you start
working with tribes,

Ben Halley:

It’s a complex process and I think at the base level is what is the
relationship between tribes and that state government? Each one’s
different. Minnesota, we have the great benefit that there’s a fairly
collaborative process between the tribes and between the state government.
There was a willingness to support it from Governor Waltz. I mean, he and
Peggy Flanagan spent a whole day touring Prairie Island, the site, the
facility really on the states, and they wanted to understand what we were
doing versus telling us what to do, which was a really incredible, I have
the great fortune to work in a couple of different states, and each one is
different as it pertains to the relationship with the state. Nevada and
Washington have cannabis compacts, which is a relationship on the specifics
of the business between the state and the tribe. And each one affords them
separate opportunities, much like a gaming compact, an agreement on how we
choose to manage our gaming and how we regulate that gaming.

So meeting with the state, you are a state as a tribe. So when Blake spoke
to the decriminalization of cannabis, then that happens at Prairie Island
and then there’s an ordinance and there’s a regulation and there’s a
regulatory body. So my process is to make sure that the cannabis businesses
that I deliver meet with the preexisting and kind of cultural guidelines
that Blake and his community identify, and then making sure that our
business doesn’t behave in abstinence to what the community, or excuse me,
the state is going to ask for it, which can be difficult because we’re
often in advance of the state. One of the strategies that we’re able to
deploy as a tribe is the opportunity to look at what everyone else has
done, the wins and the losses, and shape that ordinance and those
regulations to best reflect, not necessarily how can we bend the rule, but
how we can continue to create safety and then create an ROI for the
community. And that’s one of the curiosities about investment in this
space. The tribes, it is an investment in an economy. So the goal that’s
certainly the base level. So the economy interacts with the state, we have
to make sure that we’re compliant with the state and they have a healthy
understanding of what we’re doing, making sure that we regulate it, it’s
safe, and that allows us to operate with a lot of efficiencies.

TG Branfalt:

So does each state these compacts, are they different for each industry?
There’s not a blanket compact that covers gaming, covers tobacco covers,
cannabis that you can sort of

Ben Halley:

No. They’re all individual relationships between the specific tribe and the
government. And then there are opportunities where you can, as a tribe that
maybe doesn’t have one view the other compacts and shape your own. But yes,
they are an individual relationship between each indigenous community and
the state in which they find themselves

TG Branfalt:

Interesting. And again, a lot of people don’t understand really how these
things sort of work. And you do get a lot of questions when the
dispensaries open at the aqua near where I live, people were asking, well,
how is that legal? Right? And so part of why I really wanted to have this
conversation is to sort of demystify that, as I said at the top. So one of
the things about this complex that I found quite interesting is that you
guys are employing regenerative agricultural practices in the operation.
And Blake had sort of said, mentioned the sort of spiritual element of
cannabis for Native American communities. So how important is that sort of
element of having that regenerative agricultural practices for this complex?

Ben Halley:

I’ll jump in and grab that if you don’t mind. So on the onset, part of my
job is to identify what’s important to the tribe. Prairie land restoration
is big to prairie Island Indian community. It’s why the buffalo herd
exists, the acquisition of land, the need to return and heal farmland, turn
it back into what it once was. So in the strategy of building out that
complex was to align the tribe with partners that shared that same
ideology. So the process of healing that land a massive exercise to remove
the whole top layer of soil that’s been contaminated, years of
industrialized farming, soy and corn predominantly. And then to build back
that soil healthy biochar, wild rice holes from the northern tribes, but to
first heal the land and then to build upon it, right? That’s still the
premise. We can still observe that ideology, be we building on top of it,
right?

The land has been healed. So the outdoor portion of the farm is really the
magical part. Biodynamic, regen, companion plants, nothing leaves or comes
back, right? Everything that was sourced for that soil regeneration is
within 300 miles of the tribe’s location. So cannabis is often looking for
a story, looking for an identity, looking for a purpose that’s greater than
the product. That’s where tribes have this unique opportunity to stand
behind their own internal messaging with their cannabis products and have
that ring true. And in cannabis where artificial stories are quickly
upended and pointed out, there’s a layer of integrity, process and identity
and cannabis products that come from tribes that is different from the
regulated industry. And Prairie Island was able to capture that with their
preexisting kind of spirited court.

Blake Johnson:

Yeah, I think just to add on to what Ben is saying, as we look at how can
we get back to preserving in which is mother and being able to look at the
next seven generations as Dakota people, we want to be able to protect the
next seven generations and give opportunity for our future generations. And
preserving and trying to maintain the lands that we are using for the time
being is the approach that we go down in. I think it’s important for us to
showcase how we can be better stewards of the land, how we can put it in a
better place than it first started. And so from that perspective, and our
partners that partnered with us on the cultivation side, they’ve really
took this initiative and have really went with it. And it’s been very
successful to this point to where I think it’s something that we can
showcase and teach people.

TG Branfalt:

It’s really beautiful. I mean, the sentiment is just something you don’t
really hear a whole lot with people who are entering industry no matter
what that industry is. So I do want to switch gears a little bit and talk
to you about the products that you guys are selling and what, is flour
still king for you guys? Or have you seen a shift to other products? What’s
been most popular, most exciting?

Blake Johnson:

Yeah, I think it is been just in general been exciting to see first be open
and having a dispensary open, but seeing what products our guests are
attracted to and what they want to have and what they want to see in the
future here. And so with that, obviously flower is still king. A lot of
people are coming in for the flower, but I think right behind that is our
10 pack of mini pre-rolls. There have been a hot item lately. And being
able to offer other products like gummies and carts and things like that,
we’ve finally been able to hit that phase. And we’re starting to see that
side of the product line start to jump a little bit. Now that we have the
true cannabis products available and not the hemp derived products, we have
seen that shift and people are excited to see those products online.

TG Branfalt:

So you did actually, when you were selling the sort of hemp derived stuff,
you’ve seen an uptick since you went to the stuff, I don’t want to say
cannabis, cannabis stuff, but the same thing essentially, but you know what
I mean.

Blake Johnson:

Yeah, yeah. We definitely have, we put it out there on our marketing to
showcase that we have these products lines available. And since that point,
nobody’s really buying the hemp derived products anymore. They have shifted
over to the cannabis products that we’ve been able to create.

TG Branfalt:

Do either one of you have any insight as to why that might be the case?

Blake Johnson:

I just personally think it’s the stigma around hemp derived that people
have. I don’t think they truly fully grasp that it’s, it is still like the
same plant. It just takes a lot more of that plant to produce that product.
So I think it seems like it is a little bit harder to change people’s minds
when it comes to things like that. But now that we have these products
online, it’s been really going really well.

TG Branfalt:

And are you seeing, as far as the edibles go, are you seeing people gearing
towards the lower THC products or the higher THC product?

Blake Johnson:

I think it’s a mix of both, because we do see a variety of age groups
coming through all the way from 21 up to the eighties, 80 year olds. And I
think it’s pretty neat to see when people come in that they’re looking for
certain things, different effects, right? Certain needs that they have. And
our bud tenders and our employees do a really great job at asking and
seeing what they are looking for, and they’re able to help them find
exactly what would benefit them the most.

TG Branfalt:

And as far as employees go, I like to ask this, people who own dispensaries
operate dispensaries, what do you look for in an employee, whether it be
somebody on the bud tender level or a manager level, what are you guys
looking for?

Ben Halley:

Humility and a willingness to learn. There’s so much cannabis education
available out there that’s very subjective. So particularly for Prairie
Island, being a year ahead of the rest of the community, we were early
onset employers of just the general public. There are way markers in your
community, individuals who control people, touch points, people who have
spent a lot of time momentarily creating impact with someone, grocery store
clerk, gas station, someone who may work at Home Depot or Maynards.
Cannabis always has an early onset rush of interest and due to the cost of
hiring an employee and then the added layer of Blake’s community needing to
understand the tribal component as well, there’s a massive investment on
making sure that that team member is successful and obviously an interest
in us retaining that team member. So making sure that you’re hiring people
that are genuinely curious, but also there for the long haul. I think
throughout my experience, California and Nevada, Mississippi, a bunch of
different states, I’ve been able to see who has staying power and then
understanding within your community, as Blake mentioned, 21 to 80 shops
there. And you need to have your community reflected in your staff. There’s
a level of comfortability in shopping with someone that looks and feels
like yourself. So there is a staged set, so to speak, inside and making
sure that there’s a healthy mix of all those age groups and a healthy mix
of attitude.

I mean, there’s people that come in that are very enthusiastic about
cannabis and they want to dive really, really deep. And then there’s other
people that would like to not be bothered. And so identifying that if you
are an enthusiast, not everyone is a bud tender, not everyone is going to
share that enthusiasm. And so finding someone that’s able to read in a very
short moment, we have about 10 minutes with these people. We have about
five at the counter, so how can you access that person? So it’s really
about, I’ll say it bluntly, every dispensary sells the same thing. So
you’re price point and your location are clearly important, but it’s the
quality of the human experience that brings people back. And so focusing on
having just great people that are willing to learn that have the humility
to maybe set down in a preexisting cannabis education and recognize the
education that Blake’s community puts forth because it is through a
different lens. It’s certainly cannabis, but it’s cannabis with an
indigenous community.

TG Branfalt:

Do you guys look at people who may have taken some of those courses? They
are offered at sort of certificate level in a lot of states run by these
private education companies. Do you look at applicants who may have taken
those courses in a different way than you might somebody who has not? Does
that matter as much?

Ben Halley:

Go ahead, Blake.

Blake Johnson:

Well, I think people that do take those courses, it’s nice to see that they
are making that effort to want to learn to have that capability. But I
think what one thing we do that’s unique that I think that would be
different than most cannabis businesses is that we create an education
program. We develop not only just the basic education on cannabis and the
terpenes and all the different things that relate to it and the education
so that when they’re speaking with the guests, they know what they’re
talking about. But we also created a program that is indigenous based,
Dakota based. So it also teaches our employees the perspective from our
lens as native people and what we perceive it to be. And so they have to
take those two courses before they can be even on the floor. And I think a
number of our employees that are native or non-tribal members, we’re very
excited to learn from that perspective. And so we have that different lens
of looking at cannabis, like I mentioned earlier, what it means to come
from Inika and how we used to use every piece of living thing on this earth
and be able to showcase that to our staff.

TG Branfalt:

I was actually going to ask whether or not you had a specific training
program. Now, is this something that maybe just the cannabis training
portion of it that you may be able to bring to state regulators? Or is that
something you prefer to sort of keep an out

Ben Halley:

For the base education? We worked with Oakton.

TG Branfalt:

Okay.

Ben Halley:

With Dale and Angela and the team there, to someone who’s recognized as a
house of education, right? We need an origin point for that. And it’s
certainly accredited as much as a cannabis university can be. But it was
their willingness to set down what they typically do and work with Blake
and myself and the rest of the team and shape that education to reflect
cannabis, reflect Minnesota cannabis, and then what are the curiosities
that make tribal cannabis a touch different? And they’re certainly working
at the forefront of creating, taking the cannabis education that they’ve
researched for years and being able to work on that lens. And then the
additional education is the things that Blake’s community find important to
know, but then also what are the questions that our team are being asked as
a tribal dispensary and making sure that there’s a huge cast of confidence
walking onto a reservation, going into a tribal dispensary. There’s a lot
of unknown. And making sure that the staff can explain the rationality
behind the existence as much as they can explain the terpene profile and
the flower.

TG Branfalt:

It’s really, really interesting. I do want to ask you, Ben, working with
Minnesota versus working with these other states and other tribes, can you
tell me maybe what some of the differences were? I mean, you said that
walls, governor Walls actually tour the facility. Is that the sort of open
arms you get in other states?

Ben Halley:

No, I can’t say that that’s not a universal I’ll retract that. I spend a
lot of time in California, and there are 10 times the number of federally
recognized tribes in California that there are in Minnesota. So the benefit
of Minnesota is, I mean truly was Blake and his relationships with the
other community leaders and a preexisting relationship of inner community
dialogue between the tribes in Minnesota, which is not always common in
states. So waltz that wasn’t inclusive to us, he spent time with Red Lake,
he spent time with white really understanding how each tribe was going at
this. Each state has its own box of curiosities and it’s public law two 80
is another component that has a large factor in this. I won’t dive too deep
into that, but it’s something that affects some tribes in some states, some
tribes in other states that’s not applicable, right?

It’s not a PL two 80 state. And then there are states that are PL two 80,
like Minnesota, where Red Lake, it doesn’t apply to them, do their specific
structure. So there’s a whole handful of curiosities that bring that to the
table. But the inner community dialogue about cannabis and the willingness
to share and communicate for me was inherently unique in Minnesota. And
Blake’s ability to reach out to other community leaders in his position,
chairman, vice chair of the tribes, and discuss cannabis on a molecular
level, we’re creating an intertribal industry here. And that in itself is
inherently unique. We certainly all have gaming, but it doesn’t collaborate
with each other. And cannabis presents a unique opportunity for tribes to
work together on an intertribal economy that benefits all tribes within
that state, potentially on a national level. And that is something that
Blake has certainly led that charge of making sure that this is community
based as we are natives, not just within my community. This is going to
benefit all of us if we continue to collaborate and work together. And it’s
that collaboration that has made Minnesota really a joy to be part of, and
it’s advanced tribal cannabis as an overarching industry massively.

TG Branfalt:

And Blake, he brings up the process that you had to go through to talk to
people about cannabis. Can I ask a, how early did you start talking to
people about that process? Because everyone knows that cannabis is coming
eventually, right? So what does that look like for you?

Blake Johnson:

Yeah, I think we looked at the 2023 legislative session and the process of
the Minnesota legislature moving the bill through committees and looking
at, there’s actually a real possibility of this’s happening. So once we’ve
seen that, we started that process of community outreach and input and
wanted to really make this a community effort. And from that, like I said,
we pushed those regulations, those ordinances right away, had those in
place before we made any business decision, and we got that input from our
community and they were super interested and took off from there. We’ve had
a great two years of development that is continuing to grow and be able to
move in a way that is taking its time, but yet making sure we are having
those chances to be in the market.

TG Branfalt:

Could you guys talk to me a little bit about what might the impact of the
broader adult use market at statewide in Minnesota be on cannabis
businesses in indigenous communities? Like I said, I do live close to an
indigenous community here in New York, and once the adult use stuff went
online, a lot of people did just sort of migrate to the stuff that may be a
little closer or that sort of thing. So what might that impact be and how
are you preparing for statewide sales?

Ben Halley:

I mean, saturation certainly has an impact on everybody. One of the
oddities of Minnesota is you’re not allowed to say no as a community to
cannabis.

TG Branfalt:

Interesting.

Ben Halley:

And then based on population growth, Tim, you’re required to have more. So
for every 12,501 people, retail needs to grow. So there’s going to be a lot
of cannabis be well run, but in an effort to help maybe mitigate some of
that, the impact created by that in the compact language that we’ve worked
on with the community tribes are afforded eight off reservation licenses,
which allow us to go into communities that have stronger location. Tribal
land is wonderful, but it is often placed under a remote location. And as I
mentioned earlier, convenience drives so much of our traffic. So is there
an implication? Yes, absolutely it will have some impacts, but the shop we
have on reservation, it certainly serves the greater population in that
area, but it’s an accessory to the preexisting enterprise there. It’s
already a location that people travel to, the casino, the marina, the
campground, there’s so much there that bring people down.

It’s just kind of a tip of the hat that the folks that do consume. So it’ll
continue to stay relevant, but we will reposition ourselves with those
compact dispensaries as all the tribes and the state will to be in more
competitive metro markets. And so yes, there’s an impact. And then what are
we doing to mitigate that? We’re looking at those compact licenses. And
then for Blake and the Prairie Island Indian community, there’s been a
heavy investment into Cahe, which is the distribution and making sure that
our product, our only source of revenue is certainly not at the retail.
We’re a contributor on a product level as well. We already sell to a
handful of other tribes in the state. Ultimately, we’ll be able to have
that product flow through into the state market. So there’s some risk
mitigation and the choices and the decisions made to structure the business
to make sure that that’s saturation, which will have an effect. We can in
some way, kind of mitigate what that could ultimately be.

TG Branfalt:

Briefly, I mean, let’s just talk about Minnesota for a second. How many
dispensaries do we expect to sort of open simultaneously in the early days?
I mean within six months or something like that?

Ben Halley:

It’s going to be a lot. Product supply is going to dictate how individuals
can open a lot of hemp product available. However, the product that we’re
able to offer that Red Lake and White Earth, they’re able to offer in a La
s Leach Lake, Boise, Fort Sioux, that’s all tribal cannabis product. So

TG Branfalt:

You guys will really have a first mover advantage in this market

Ben Halley:

To be sure. Legalization happened almost two years ago, and White Earth and
Red Lake had themselves positioned to be successful and open a retail, and
then were able to position themselves to be sources of product for other
tribes as we opened. So absolutely, there’s some early market entry that
we’ve certainly been able to take advantage of and be able to explore what
that impact is.

TG Branfalt:

I’m only a little shocked because in New York, there are no indigenous
owned dispensaries or production facilities or cultivation facilities like
outside of tribal land. So to hear that Minnesota is actually set aside
some of these licenses, I think that’s an incredible story in and of
itself. Honestly,

Ben Halley:

It’s an incredible gesture. I think it speaks to the collaboration that I
mentioned earlier, a recognition of allowing the tribes to continue to be
competitive.

TG Branfalt:

Blake, you must be a hell of a lobbyist, bud.

Blake Johnson:

I think it is built up relationships that also showcase we are our own
nation and we have our own capabilities, but being able to integrate into
the state market and adapt. And I think one thing that is of note is that
we are going to be able to supply the market at a certain level. Tribes
have that capability of being able to supply additional stores, but I think
the fault of the state is that they approved and licensed not only
dispensaries, but then the cultivation at the same time. So there’s going
to be that time lapse of no product available for a little while, why a
dispensaries opened up. And so we are able to mitigate that on our end to
make sure that anything that we do, we already have product, we already
have the capabilities of supplying our stores.

TG Branfalt:

And I will say that I think there’s probably, and this I’m sure a branding
opportunity here, because I think given the option, people would want
cannabis that is grown by stewards of the land.

Blake Johnson:

Yeah, I think it’s a unique story that not everybody can speak of. We’ve
been able to showcase that and teach people the meaning and why it’s
important to go down this path. And so our grasslands brand that is all of
our Sungrown products, I think is unique to everyone, and even to develop
the symbols of animals that represent each kind of terpene. So when you see
a package and it has a buffalo on it, there’s a terpene associated to that
buffalo each time. And if you have a eagle, there’s a different terpene
associated with it. So we have that unique opportunity to develop and
create something that is not only just a brand, but also has meaning behind
it and has reflection of our culture.

TG Branfalt:

That’s an awesome idea. I mean, really incredible story. So finally, guys,
what advice might you have for entrepreneurs who are interested in getting
into the cannabis space or just sort of in general?

Ben Halley:

I think Blake, and I’ll share this one. You have to have a plan, Tim. So
important. It’s a complicated business, and having a plan, not a passion,
is extremely important. You have to do the work, right? Blake has been part
of this since day one, right? The tribe has been at lockstep with myself
and the other consultants. They’ve done the work the whole way. This wasn’t
me doing the work. This was us doing the work. So at the point that we
depart, there’s native subject matter experts running the whole enterprise,
whether it be the business side or the regulated side. And lastly, this is
a business first. There’s a lot of people that come to cannabis with such a
deep passion for that that I believe that can cloud sound business
judgment. And the truth is, it’s money in versus money out. No matter how
you shape it, there are certainly people that are in this for a greater
cause, and I love that. But when it comes to your money as an entrepreneur
and you trying to create return on your investment, not to sound so
mechanical about it or disingenuine or a lack of passion, but make sure you
set yourself up to make some money.

Blake Johnson:

And I think to add to that, Ben, is you got to know your business and know
what that business’s goals are to be able to develop something. And that’s
including the staff piece, is understanding what type of staff or employees
are you bringing in to educate to be able to do that. But education is, I
think, key part in being able to be successful and be able to provide to
your guests that are in there. So education is another big piece of this.

TG Branfalt:

Real quick, Blake, what was the learning curve for you when you sort of
entered into this?

Blake Johnson:

Yeah, I think I didn’t know much about cannabis besides people smoked it
for, right? So my education on cannabis over the last two years has been
tremendous and just getting to understand it and to take the time to really
understand what each product means and the importance of it, and then also
educating myself on the cultural side and how that can be incorporated into
this as we view this as medicine and being able to just learn and learn and
learn. It is taken a lot of time, but it’s been exciting and fun to
navigate through and to get to where we are today.

TG Branfalt:

Thank you guys so much for taking the time, being on the show, explaining a
lot of things to me and to my audience that we probably wouldn’t have
gotten anywhere else. Where can people find out more about the island, pegy
Dispensary about Prairie Island, CBH, about honest cannabis? Where can
people find ’em more about you guys?

Ben Halley:

I think the best way to find out about the shop is to visit. If you’re
local website certainly gives you some purview. As does social media.
Social media, you have to be pretty delicate with these days. Meta has, as
its claws locked into that pretty deep, but the internet one-on-one, I
really think coming into the space is the most impactful way to experience
it if you’re local and if it’s certainly worth the drive if you’re a ways
away.

TG Branfalt:

Thank you guys again, so much for being on the show. Blake Johnson,
president Prairie Island, CBH, the tribal entity that oversees the island
pe, cannabis dispensary, and Ben Halley, COO and Founder of Honest
Cannabis, a consulting company that works with Native American tribes on
cannabis programs.