Island Peži: Tribal Sovereignty and Regenerative Cannabis in Minnesota
Tue Nov 11 2025
In this episode of the Ganjapreneur Podcast, host TG Branfalt speaks with Blake Johnson, president of Prairie Island CBH, and Ben Halley, COO and founder of Honest Cannabis. Together, they explore how the Prairie Island Indian Community developed Island Peži, a vertically integrated cannabis enterprise in Minnesota, built on tribal sovereignty, Indigenous values, and regenerative agriculture.
The conversation covers the complexities of launching cannabis programs on tribal land, the importance of community engagement, and the tribe’s decision to invest in a 13-acre cultivation and processing campus. Blake and Ben discuss the intertribal collaboration taking shape in Minnesota, product trends at Island Peži, the tribe’s education and training efforts, and how this model of values-driven development can inform the broader cannabis industry as state markets mature.
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In this episode of the Ganjapreneur Podcast, host TG Branfalt speaks with Blake Johnson, president of Prairie Island CBH, and Ben Halley, COO and founder of Honest Cannabis. Together, they explore how the Prairie Island Indian Community developed Island Peži, a vertically integrated cannabis enterprise in Minnesota, built on tribal sovereignty, Indigenous values, and regenerative agriculture. The conversation covers the complexities of launching cannabis programs on tribal land, the importance of community engagement, and the tribe’s decision to invest in a 13-acre cultivation and processing campus. Blake and Ben discuss the intertribal collaboration taking shape in Minnesota, product trends at Island Peži, the tribe’s education and training efforts, and how this model of values-driven development can inform the broader cannabis industry as state markets mature.