Nevada's Original Cannabis Resource // Since 2014
TRIBAL CANNABIS almost never ending and the aftershock of those injustices are still being felt by generations of modern Paiutes today.
on a reservation-located dispensary in contrast to the more massive, corporateowned larger city dispensaries.
While Las Vegas and Reno aren’t at any possible shortage of dispensaries to visit, it’s important for cannabis consumers to remember that there are still plenty of Nevada dispensaries that exist and operate outside the city limits of The Silver State’s two biggest cities. Fully functional retail dispensaries operate in Elko and Ely with menus that rival even the most popular of Vegas dispensaries while Lovelock hosts the Nabodoka Dispensary. Near Mason, Nevada there is the Pesha Numma dispensary and only 30 minutes east of that store is the Tumatzwkwae Nobe dispensary, located on the Walker River Reservation.
“Working on tribal land is different. You have a different sense of community and it’s nice that we get to see our elders a lot more. When we have our elders come in, we’ve been able to educate them and I’ve done education tutorials with our elderly center in town. When they’re playing bingo or something like that, I can help them learn more about CBD products and THC products. The products that could really help them and tap into the medicine that is actually grown and not a pharmaceutical medication.”
In fact, many of the dispensaries mentioned above are owned not by multistate operators but by Native American tribes who’ve utilized the cannabis plant’s many uses on those lands for centuries before the federal prohibition of a completely natural plant was even fathomable. Throughout reservations and smaller Nevada towns, Indigenous people have found their way into the wider statewide cannabis industry. Dispensaries and even cultivation/production facilities are fully owned and operated by the Lovelock Paiute, Winnemucca, Walker River Paiute, Yerington Paiute, and Ely Shoshone tribes. As a member of the Yerington Paiute tribe and General Manager of the tribal-owned Pesha Numma Dispensary in Yerington, NV, Kendra Triplett is well-versed and experienced in the field of Native American cannabis and the growing involvement of Indigenous people in the cannabis industry. Especially since she’s only ever been employed by the dispensary that she worked her way up from budtender within, her perspective on the matter is of great importance. As the total population of Yerington is slightly under 3,200 people, Triplett describes both a very different working environment and shopping environment
Because Yerington is in such a rural area (almost two hours away from Reno) and the town itself is very small, that sense of community is incredibly strong. To the store’s credit, it’s fully stocked with many of the popular cannabis brands that have become award-winning in Nevada cities and the green ambulance adorned in weed leaves always parked outside the store lovingly referred to as the “Dab-ulance” is a great attraction for the tribal dispensary. While those city cannabis brands are represented, Pesha Numma also makes sure to feature Native-owned cannabis brands and cultivations. “In my eyes, I think that we’re able to take a little bit of an advantage to actually help the community.” Triplett explained. “Not only does our tax money go back to the community that we serve, we also get to have more interactions with locals and elders. We have open communication when our customers walk in and ask them how they like the products. When I’ve gone to a state dispensary, I haven’t seen that very much. But here, when they walk in our doors, we’re really able to have that communication with them.” Similarly to other dispensaries owned and operated by Native Americans on tribal land, the specialness of the land that Pesha Numma is located on is greatly emphasized and appreciated by not only the dispensary itself but Triplett as well.
“The cannabis plant is natural. For us, when we are trying to heal ourselves from whatever we’re dealing with, we want to look for the most natural medicine possible because that’s how our land has always been able to give us the nutrients. Everything that we need is always from the land. The land can provide all of that for us. It can help with illnesses. It can help anyone dealing with unfortunate circumstances in life.” From her years working with Pesha Numma, the experience has allowed Triplett to become a cannabis educator in her life outside of the dispensary. “I learned more about cannabis and having that natural plant and the difference it can make for someone who has diabetes or someone who’s suffering from cancer. The difference that it can make without having to take pharmaceuticals that are man-made that are putting poison into your body at the end of the day.” Outside of her work with Pesha Numma, Triplett also serves as the Regional Manager of the Tribal Cannabis Consultants. The Nevada-based organization helps provide many avenues for Native Americans to enter the cannabis industry and access to legal, administrative and financial services that those Native-owned cannabis brands and stores will be using on an almost daily basis. Since the organization’s creation in 2014, the TCC has helped a total of five different tribes become established in the cannabis industry with the Ely Shoshone tribe holding the distinct honor of being the first tribe to create their own medical cannabis cards that gained reciprocity from Nevada. In a similar fashion to the work done by advocacy groups to enact legal reforms or new laws entirely related to cannabis, the TCC and Natives working in cannabis came together to pass an incredibly influential bill in 2017. Introduced and sponsored by then State Senator Tick Segerblom, Nevada Senate Bill 375 “authorizes agreements between the Governor and Indian tribes in this
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