Over the past few years, we’ve connected with many allies who are also working with hemp.

By mid-2024, the industry was experiencing a renaissance: entrepreneurs, farmers, and collaborators across North America and the world were creating hemp products—from insulation to hemp-based wood. The Prairie Band Ag LLC (Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation) has developed hemp food service products at Minokwiien, and our people were gathering, farmers were connecting, and interest was growing. In 2024 and 2025, we joined discussions with NOCO to further explore hemp opportunities.

We saw firsthand the continuing need for seed development, farmer support, and value-added processing. We gathered at the Lower Sioux Reservation, where Danny DeJarlais and the Lower Sioux Tribe hosted the International Hemp Building Association. By this time, our network had begun to grow, and momentum was building.

Today, we are laying the foundation for the Indigenous Hemp and Cannabis Farmers Cooperative. Our cooperative is dedicated to restoring Indigenous lands, revitalizing Indigenous economies, and rebuilding a hemp-based materials economy as a pathway to protect Mother Earth and future generations. Founded on the principles of restoration and the Indigenous Standard, we see hemp as the crop of the future—a means to achieve just restoration with the land, and equity and self-determination for Indigenous Nations.