By Melissa Olson/MPR News
Tiketa Champion was on vacation with her family visiting The Lagoon, a water park at Treasure Island Resort & Casino. On the drive over from Rochester, she noticed signs advertising Island Peži, a new cannabis dispensary.
So she dropped off her husband and two boys at the water park and headed to the dispensary.
“I’m here trying to figure out what they have for me,” Champion said.
The water park, resort and casino are owned by the Prairie Island Indian Community. In late June, the tribe celebrates the opening of Island Peži in Welch, near Red Wing (Peži is the Dakota word for grass — pronounced PAY-zhee.) Champion arrived a few days early, during the store’s soft opening.
Island Peži’s grand opening was on June 29th. Cannabis vendors, food trucks and live music were part of the festivities.
“I think it is a great opportunity to be one of the first to the market,” said Blake Johnson, president of Prairie Island Cannabis Holdings, the tribally-owned company that owns Island Peži. “Staff is just very excited to be able to interact with the guests and to help support what they’re looking for.”
Johnson says while the dispensary is an opportunity to diversify Prairie Island’s business holdings, he emphasized the community’s decision-making power around whether to enter the cannabis business.
“That work initially started with community outreach,” he said. “We wanted the community involved, we heard from a number of community members that wanted to see us go down this path.”
Daniel Dow works as a security guard at the dispensary. He’s one of more than 20 tribal members employed at Island Peži. As a tribal member, he participated in the tribe’s consensus process. He says not everyone was eager to get into the cannabis business, but all members were invited to participate.
“Some of them kept their same positions,” Dow said. “Others have informed themselves and educated themselves and they said ‘OK, as long as everything’s done correctly and properly,’ they’re okay with it.”
Following the consensus process, the tribe passed its cannabis ordinance. The tribe’s laws mirror those passed by the state when it passed legislation legalizing cannabis last year.
“We made it a priority to have some strong, safe, well-regulated business.” Johnson said.
As for Champion, she uses cannabis to treat rheumatoid arthritis. During her visit, she chatted with staff as she examined the dispensary’s cannabis flower, hemp gummies, and THC beverages.
“[Cannabis] helped me out with this pain, at least you know calming down a little bit,” she said. She also had surgery earlier this year and pointed to a small scar left from a surgery.
Champion says she likes the dispensary’s location.
“It’s a good thing to have it close by.” said Champion.
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