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Native News
Melissa Olson

Bois Forte Band of Chippewa set to open cannabis dispensary on tribal land in northern Minnesota

Retail Manager at Ishkode
Paxton Goodsky is a retail manager at Ishkode, a new cannabis dispensary on the Bois Forte reservation in northern Minnesota.
Courtesy of Brian Anderson

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The Bois Forte Band of Chippewa will open a new 2,000 square foot cannabis dispensary near Fortune Bay Resort Casino and RV park near the town of Tower. 

“If the tribe does business the right way this will be a huge game changer for Bois Forte,” interim tribal council chair Shane Drift said in a social media post, as reported by The Timberjay. 

The Bois Forte Development Corporation owns the Bois Forte Cannabis Corporation. The dispensary will operate under the name ‘Ishkode,’ the Ojibwe word for fire. The dispensary is the first new business opened by Bois Forte since 2006. 

The dispensary will sell cannabis flower, pre-rolls, gummies and other cannabis products.  

The dispensary has created more than half a dozen new jobs, according to Bois Forte spokesperson Brian Anderson. Half of those new jobs have been filled by Bois Forte tribal citizens.  

The band will also offer cannabis products at a local convenience store in Nett Lake, on land also owned by the band.

Ishkode
Ishkode, the Bois Forte band's new cannabis dispensary is set to open Friday.
Courtesy of Brian Anderson

Anderson said the tribe is sourcing cannabis flower from other tribal nations in Minnesota who grow cannabis on their lands. The band is considering growing its own cannabis flower, Anderson said. 

Bois Forte’s regulatory authority will oversee the sale of cannabis on the reservation.  

The band’s laws around who can consume recreational cannabis mirrors state regulations. The dispensary will open its doors on Friday beginning at 10 a.m. 

Bois Forte will be the sixth tribal nation in the state to open a cannabis dispensary.  Several tribal nations are currently negotiating agreements with the state to open dispensaries outside of tribal lands. 

Anderson says the band may consider opening an off-reservation dispensary in the future.  

“We have discussed that, but it is too early to tell… we are more concerned about getting Ishkode Dispensary up and running,” Anderson said.