Cannabis on tribal land a '50/50' gamble for Native Americans in Washington

Among the lofty pines of timber country across the street from the Little Creek Casino on State Highway 108, the first tribal-owned-and-operated recreational cannabis store in the US is open for business.

Customers flow into the nondescript cabin storefront, on the Squaxin Island tribe’s reservation, reflecting much of the same diversity as the rest of Washington state’s growing legal cannabis market: a young couple on their way to work from the nearby town of Shelton, a retired couple who are staying at the casino. A man in a tie-dye hat buys a couple joints and tells everyone to “be good, dudes” as he leaves.

The shop, Elevation, is perhaps the riskiest venture yet for the Squaxin Island tribe 15 miles north of Olympia, Washington. The tribe is a trailblazer, often the first in the region to assert its mix of economic and sovereign rights. Cautiously, with the opening of...

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