The Prairie Island Indian Community has announced plans to open an adult-use recreational cannabis dispensary this summer.
The new business venture will be called Island Peži (pronounced pay-zhee, meaning grass), the tribe announced March 21. It’ll open next to Dakota Station, the tribe’s convenience store and gas station on Prairie Island. It is owned and operated by CBH Inc., a PIIC corporation created to manage its cannabis-related economic development interests.
The tribe is excited for the prospects of the cannabis industry for Indian Country, specifically for Prairie Island, according to the announcement.
“Island Peži is a step forward in our efforts to diversify our economy and strengthen our tribe’s long-standing financial sovereignty,” Prairie Island Tribal Council President Grant Johnson said in a statement. “We’re excited to be among the first to enter the cannabis market and create new opportunities for the future of our tribe.”
Island Peži’s entrance into the cannabis industry will create another avenue of economic diversification for PIIC and develop opportunities for the tribe’s members for generations to come, according to the announcement.
As a sovereign nation, PIIC has enacted its own cannabis regulatory ordinance authorizing a comprehensive licensing and regulatory system to regulate cannabis within its jurisdiction. The tribe is committed