Our Anishinaabe prophecies speak of a choice between a scorched path and one which is green. This spring, a set of gatherings on cannabis and hemp informed and inspired tribal farmers and leaders to look at the potential of this plant and the green path for housing, medicine, paper, and healing the soils.
On February 25, the Sokaogon Chippewa Community hosted the Wisconsin Cannabis Summit, bringing together around l50 tribal and industry leaders. That community made the choice to follow the Green Path decades ago with an epic victory over a huge, proposed mine, and today Sokaogon looks towards a future.
Chairman Robert Vanzile points towards the deep woods behind the conference center on the left. “That is where they wanted to put in the mine.” There is no mine, only woods. Sometimes the people and the land win.
It’s been fifty years since the battle over Crandon Mine began – that’s when the world’s largest mining companies set their sights on a l6 billion ton deposit which, if mined, would have destroyed the entire ecosystem of the tribe. “We cannot forget what happened here and what we had to do to stop the mine,” Tina VanZile told a reporter.
It was a 27-year battle between the big corporations and the tribes, Rio Tinto Zinc, Exxon and BHP Billiton to name a few. It was a time of “deep trauma” for the tribe, Richard Akeley would write. But after years of regulations, ceremony, litigation, and a coalition of more than 30 organizations, the tribes prevailed. In this case, the Forest County Potawatami and the Sokaogon Chippewa bought the 5000 acre mine site and protected the watershed of the Wolf River and more. They made their final payment on the purchase in 2003. That was a choice of a Green Path. Sometimes we pause and remember.
The February Wisconsin Cannabis Summit was attended by tribal government and community members as well as the cannabis and hemp industry – talking about regulations, science and a different path. Wisconsin has not yet legalized marijuana, but is likely to, since both bordering states, Minnesota and Michigan, have emergent and robust recreational cannabis industries. As well, both adjoining states are moving ahead with other hemp industries, particularly housing. (It was legalized in 2022 under building codes.) The summit brought in experts on a range of subjects, including medicine, regulations, food and housing. The tribal nations want to be at the table, not on the menu.
Indigenous Hemp Farmers gathering
The last week of March, fifty tribal farmers, tribal agriculture programs and students gathered at the Indigenous Hemp Farmers gathering at United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck.
“There’s a magic in this work, Elisha Yellow Thunder, conference organizer said “We are seeing the way people became hopeful… with this plant, and that we could become self-sustaining gives us all inspiration.”
Representatives from all tribal nations of North Dakota were in attendance, with interests ranging from food to housing. The Turtle Mountain Anishinaabe have been active in hemp since 2000, and operate Chippewa Harvest, a successful food and supplement company. Other tribes like Cheyenne River are looking at solving their housing crises by growing and building their own hempcrete houses. Bringing together hemp farmers, processers, builders and Native people, this summit was intended to provide information before the growing season.
Among the presenters, Richard Silliboy (Mi’kmaq) talked about his work with hemp to bioremediate the Loring Military base, land returned to the tribe. The land was full of so-called forever chemicals. Hemp’s deep roots and quick growth are known to pull heavy metals out of soils and show promise.
Since many military bases adjoin or are within native lands (Badger Munitions, Gunnery Range, Pine Ridge, Ft. Wingate at Navajo and a myriad of Alaskan bases) tribes are increasingly interested in protecting ground water and healing those lands. Processors like Ken Meyer (Complete Hemp Processing) discussed decortication technologies and products, and Samantha Moreno illustrated the pre-fabricated panel system of housing they’ve developed at Homeland Hempcrete in Bismarck.
NOCO Conference
A couple of weeks later, on April 11, some well-dressed young men from Wind River Shoshone and Arapaho nation walked into the NOCO Conference in Estes Park Colorado. I ask them why they came to learn about hemp. Their response? “Because we have mold in our houses, and hemp is mold resistant.” Seems simple.
It’s basic, hemp or cannabis sativa is a plant of the past, and the future. In April. Prairie Band Potawatami debuted their new hemp straw business, Mnokiwen Hemp, which addresses some of the plastic mountain created by straws and other non-biodegradable products.
What’s clear is that hemp is a problem-solving plant. Kunu Bearchum, a videographer and hemp researcher came to the NOCO Conference and interviewed tribal members who are ready to create this industry, the green path on their reservations. “I was really inspired by these stories, and see that hemp can solve tribal housing needs, and create new sustainable industries for our future.”
It’s time for hemp. It’s not just about making money, it’s about the potential of hemp to save some forests, provide safe affordable housing, sequester carbon and more. Our remaining forests are at risk. Today, roughly 3.8 million cords of wood fiber are harvested annually by Minnesota’s forest industries – a number comparable to the peak of the white pine logging era more than a century. That’s not good, because the amount of forest that existed a century ago was a lot more than what’s left today. The industry is clearcutting the remaining forests.
There is a solution. An acre of hemp can yield as much paper as 4 to 10 acres of trees over a 20-year cycle. It’s an annual crop that sequesters carbon at the highest rate of any field crop, and the bleaching process, often the most environmentally damaging phase in traditional paper production, is not needed. Hemp’s natural light color means less harmful chemical usage, resulting in less pollution. And hemp paper can be recycled up to seven times, while tree-based paper is limited to three. And that’s just the fiber of the plant. Not even the hurd, that’s what is used for hempcrete housing. For hurd, it takes about three acres of fiber hemp to provide the materials for a house – and it can be grown in the same year.
It’s thirty-two years after the final payment on the 5000 acres at Mole Lake- Sokaogon Chippewa. That big mining battle ended because people worked together. In 2006, BHP Billiton, the world’s largest mining corporation, returned $8 million to the tribe,putting all their mortgage payments into a trust fund for the tribe. That was a hard-fought battle to the green path.
Robert Vanzile and his community paid a big price and won. And today, that same tribe is looking to provide leadership into the next economy, the green path, which will include cannabis and hemp. That’s the future.