Last of two parts
Winona LaDuke writes about Alex White Plume a leader of the Ogala Lakota tribe in the Spring 2021 edition of Yes! magazine.
“More than 20 years ago, Alex White Plume, a leader of the Oglala Lakota, planted his first hemp crop on Wounded Knee Creek, on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota. I call White Plume ‘the Hemperer.’ He’s considered to be one of the grandfathers of the cannabis economy for Native people.
“That said, we have a lot of experience here in small field crops, horse cultivation, and traditional varieties. We grew in small plots, hand seeded, and in a larger 20-acre plot, mechanically harvested with 40-year-old equipment.
“We put in a field with horses because some of our partnerships here involve not only our horse-drawn agriculture, but those of our Amish neighbors. We’ve come to collaborate, as we have similar interests in terms of technology and geography.
“We provided seeds to tribes throughout the region, all interested in the same questions: How do you grow it? And, what can you do with it?
“What we found is that the plant will teach you: Don’t be in a rush. We are re-creating an industry from the seed to the product—whether smokable or for manufacturing. Some tribes are looking at materials processing—car parts, bags,—others are looking at hempcrete, an improvement on concrete because of its sustainability and the fact that it is a carbon sink.
“There’s a lot of room in the New Green Revolution. After all, if you are going to change the materials economy—well, the whole economy—you will need a lot of producers and some folks in manufacturing. That’s the goal. Indeed, if hemp’s potential is realized, we can transform the materials economy, and that’s revolutionary. That’s our work now, to investigate, vet, and find technologies and economic models that can be replicated.
“And though tribes had been reluctant to get into the hemp and cannabis industry, particularly under the Donald Trump presidency, there’s a growing interest among Native people in this new Green Revolution.
“The Wisconsin-based Oneida tribe, strategically situated near Green Bay, Wis., points to a growing market for hempcrete, and hemp hurd, which can be used for insulation.
“The Sisseton Tribe, based in present-day South Dakota and North Dakota, has been growing hemp for two years in collaboration with researchers from the University of Minnesota. They’re looking at fiber hemp for a composite bag facility—such as shopping bags. The tribe has an industrial facility on the reservation, and rail access.
“Diné textile artists are exploring hemp fiber with their Churro sheep wool to make a new specialty textile. The Oatman family from the Nez Perce reservation launched a magazine, Tribal Hemp and Cannabis, focused on tribal hemp and cannabis.
“The Tudinu, or Desert People in Las Vegas, have a little ‘colony’ downtown, a mile from the Strip. In l970, they were federally -7, opened the NuWu Cannabis Marketplace. That’s a big deal, because the tribe runs the only cannabis lounge in downtown Las Vegas. They may not have much land, but they have a big dispensary.
“Tribes are in a unique position. Tribal sovereignty provides their governments leeway in the development of cannabis policies and will be a stabilizing force in turbulent times. Today, confusing regulations and lucrative growth in the cannabis industry set a complex scene, but tribal nations are in a position to continue a course they set.
“Tribes have the potential to revolutionize the industry. We have the land—we just need a bit of time, technology, and finances. This is an opportunity for justice—social and ecological—in this post-petroleum economic transition. And we are ready to go,” LaDuke wrote.