In marijuana, as in gambling, the Onondagas stand out among other Haudenosaunee Indian nations in Upstate New York.
In the past year, the Oneidas, Mohawks, Cayugas and Senecas have either launched or announced plans to launch nation-operated or licensed recreational marijuana businesses. That puts them on pace with, or in some cases ahead of, the state’s own sanctioned legal weed enterprises.
The Onondagas, whose territory is located just south of Syracuse, have not joined in.
And they’re not likely to, according to Joe Heath, the local lawyer who has represented the Onondaga Nation for years. That decision is based on the same beliefs that have led the Onondagas to reject the notion of entering the gambling and casino business, he said.
Each of the other four Haudenosaunee nations that are entering the marijuana market also have some form of gambling operations, from full-service casinos to electronic gaming machine venues.
Onondaga leaders, including the clan mothers and chiefs, follow traditional teachings that “warn against” gambling and mind-altering substances, Heath said. Some of those teachings date back to an 18th century Haudenosaunee religious leader named Handsome Lake.
“No change is anticipated” in the Onondagas’ stance on either marijuana or gambling, Heath said.
“The Onondaga still adhere to the original teachings,” he said. “That’s why they pass up these potentially enormous profits. The teachings say they should not be running casinos, not selling mind-altering drugs.”
The Onondaga Nation does operate other businesses, including a smoke shop that sells untaxed cigarettes; the Firekeepers Diner; the Nation Arena (primarily for lacrosse and ice hockey); and Plantagon, a sustainable food greenhouse.
The moves by some of the Upstate Indian nations into the marijuana business started after New York state legalized recreational use and possession of marijuana for those 21 and older in April 2021. But the state’s own roll out of the business side of legal marijuana has been slow.
Some “conditional” state licenses have been issued for cultivation and processing. but the first retail shops are not likely to open until the end of this year at the earliest. And even that took a hit last week, when a federal judge issued an injunction that blocks the state from issuing retail licenses.
As with gambling, the sovereign Indian nations are able to move into these businesses on their own schedule, regardless of the state’s timetable. They operate independently, but typically under compacts or other agreements with the state.
Of course, on some Indian nation territories marijuana sellers have long acted outside the law, just as on non-Indian territory. Since the state legalized recreational marijuana, unauthorized weed sellers have popped up both on Indian and non-Indian lands.
By some estimates, there are perhaps thousands of black market weed detailers active in New York state now, with little or no enforcement to shut them down.
Into that scenario, the Senecas, Mohawks, Oneidas and Cayugas all now have programs for some sort of nation-sanctioned business. That makes their shops, or dispensaries, Upstate New York’s only “legal” recreational marijuana sellers — at least until the state can get its own licensing underway.
Here’s a look at the status of the other Indian nation marijuana plans in Upstate New York:
· The Seneca Nation of Indians announced last week they plan to open a retail dispensary near their casino in downtown Niagara Falls and build a cultivation facility in the Southern Tier (both on parts of the Senecas’ sprawling territory in western New York.) The retail business, called Nativa Cannabis, could be open by early 2023. The Senecas have also begun to license some of the independent shops that have opened on the territory.
· In September, the Oneida Indian Nation announced plans to launch a “seed to sale” marijuana business that is expected to open retail outlets in 2023. The Oneidas plan to grow and process marijuana in a new 50,000-square-foot facility to be built on Hill Road in Verona and sell it at shops on its lands in Oneida and Madison counties next year.
· On the Akwesasne Mohawk territory near Hogansburg in northern New York, there are already about a dozen nation-sanctioned marijuana dispensaries. The Mohawks began licensing shops after several unauthorized businesses opened in 2021. The latest shop, which opened at the end of October, is owned by a Mohawk tribal member with a minority investment from actor and comedian Jim Belushi.
· The Cayuga Nation has a recreational dispensary at its Lakeside Trading post in Union Springs in Cayuga County and another south of Seneca Falls in Seneca County. It also operates a growing/processing facility in Seneca County.
On Long Island, meanwhile, the Shinnecock Nation is also launching a cultivation-to-sale marijuana business.
See more New York cannabis news.
Don Cazentre writes for NYup.com, syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Reach him at dcazentre@nyup.com, or follow him at NYup.com, on Twitter or Facebook.
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