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2025 was a big year for tribal-state cannabis agreements. Seven tribal nations have entered into government-to-government cooperative agreements or compacts with the state that regulate tribal businesses participating in the state’s cannabis market.  

Two and a half years ago, state lawmakers envisioned a role for tribally regulated cannabis markets. The resulting state law authorizes the governor to negotiate compact agreements with tribes.  

Tuesday, Gov. Tim Walz and the Office of Cannabis Management announced the signing of a new cannabis compact agreement with the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa. The Bois Forte Band is located north of Duluth near the Canadian Border.

Last February, when the Bois Forte Band opened a dispensary on its reservation, it was the first new business that the tribe had opened in nearly two decades.  

The new agreement was signed a week before the Christmas holiday. Bois Forte Secretary Treasurer Tara Geshick said entering the state’s cannabis market will open more economic opportunities for the tribe.

“Seeking strategic alliances will uplift employment, the economy, and business for Bois Forte and all that share geographic space within the state of Minnesota,” said Geshick.

Bois Forte has not announced plans to open a dispensary under the terms of its new state compact.  

Red Lake Nation also has plans to enter the state market.

In early December, NativeCare, the tribe’s cannabis enterprise, announced plans to open a dispensary in West St. Paul, a move made possible by the signing of an agreement with the state.

In a joint announcement with the state, Red Lake Nation’s Chair Darrell Seki Sr. stressed the importance of the agreement for creating a path for Red Lake to participate in the state’s cannabis market.

"The Red Lake Nation's unique status as a closed reservation requires that we develop the means to fund infrastructure projects, such as the replacement of outdated water and sewer systems, as well as the means to fund services for our members,” Seki said.

Red Lake Nation is also set to open a dispensary on its tribal trust lands in Thief River Falls to ring in the new year.

Five other tribal nations—Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Prairie Island Indian Community, Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, and White Earth Nation have entered into cannabis agreements with the state since May.

While each agreement is unique, there are many similarities among them. Each one sets the number of cannabis dispensaries a tribal enterprise may operate at eight. The agreements also limit tribal growing operations located outside tribal lands to 30,000 square feet. The agreements require seed-to-sale tracking and set out terms and conditions for wholesaling and advertising under a tribe’s regulatory authority, so long as tribal regulations meet or exceed state regulations.  

Red Lake Nation’s unique cooperative agreement

Red Lake styled its agreement with the state as a “cooperative agreement” rather than a compact. The agreement has the same effect as a compact under state law.

There are substantive differences between the Red Lake Nation’s agreement with the state and other tribal cannabis agreements, according to Eric Taubel, executive director of the Office of Cannabis Management.

Tucked away in the opening pages is a paragraph suggesting that it might work to develop a memorandum of understanding to add “purchases, sale, and distribution” of medical cannabis to the existing cooperative agreement.

When the state lawmakers crafted the bill legalizing cannabis, they included two separate compacting statutes, one for medical cannabis and another for adult-use cannabis.

“Every one of our [tribal-state] compacts has just noted this is really an adult-use cannabis compact. There is some language in this one about the possibility of the Red Lake Nation and the Office of Cannabis Management developing a memorandum of understanding for medical cannabis if, at some point in the future, that sort of becomes something that the nation wishes to pursue,” said Taubel.

Red Lake Nation’s NativeCare was the first tribal enterprise in the state to open a dispensary when the state legalized recreational cannabis. NativeCare had initially operated as a medical dispensary, then expanded to recreational in August 2023.

An expert with the Indigenous Cannabis Industry Association is urging tribal nations to maintain a relationship with medical cannabis, as research into the medical uses of cannabis may expand within the next few years as the federal government eases restrictions.

In mid-December, President Donald Trump signed an executive order “Increasing Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research” directing the Attorney General to reschedule cannabis from a Schedule I to a Schedule III drug under the Controlled Substances Act.

Mary Jane Oatman, executive director of the Indigenous Cannabis Industry Association, says she believes Trump’s executive order “will open tremendous opportunity for our federally funded healthcare facilities to lean into the health and wellness aspects of cannabinoids and cannabis as a medicine.”

“For Indian Country, I believe this is where the return on investment for cannabis in our communities is going to have the biggest headwind. To be able to have our tribal communities have a new framework to assess qualifying medical conditions,” Oatman said.  

She says she believes there will be a transition period for tribes operating medical dispensaries to “pull back the layers” of what rescheduling might mean for tribal nations engaged in cannabis activity.

Taubel says Red Lake Nation’s agreement is also unique in that it is the first to create a mechanism for information sharing between the state and the tribe regarding changes to cannabis rulemaking.

“Red Lake negotiated for a requirement that the Office of Cannabis Management essentially convene a tribal advisory committee prior to undertaking any rules or advanced any rules to make sure the tribal regulators and operators had a chance to weigh in on potential rule changes,” Taubel said.

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Melissa Olson

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The cannabis market expanded through seven tribal-state agreements in 2025, the latest signed by Bois Forte Band and Red Lake Nation in December.

Bois Forte Band, Red Lake Nation agreements cap a big year for tribal cannabis

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