Pine Journal reports
BROOKSTON — While overseeing a 30,000-square-foot cannabis cultivation facility in Missouri, Saydee Whitebird was presented with the opportunity to help her tribe, the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, start its own cannabis company.
“The only way I would ever leave … was for my tribe,” Whitebird said of her previous position as director of agricultural sciences at Missouri Made Marijuana.
Whitebird returned to Minnesota and started Whitebird Logistics, which is serving as a consultant to the Fond du Lac Band’s forthcoming Fond du Lac Cannabis Corp. The operation is expected to open sometime in 2024 and will grow, manufacture and sell medical and adult-use cannabis products including flower, edibles and concentrates, according to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.
When Minnesota legalized recreational cannabis in 2023, it gave tribal nations the sole authority to operate and regulate cannabis businesses located on their lands. Because tribal nations are not subject to state regulations, tribal nations have the opportunity to get a head start on the cannabis industry while other cannabis operations navigate regulatory barriers.
The Fond du Lac Band, which declined to comment on this story, is one of several Minnesota tribal nations pursuing cannabis operations. However, the Fond du Lac Cannabis Corp. aims to be comprehensive by providing educational opportunities, jobs, infrastructure and internal quality control.
