TRIBAL HEMP

In 2000, the Lakota began planting hemp on their tribal lands, enduring the federal agents who showed up each year to raid the reservation at gunpoint and seize the crop. Suing to stop the raids, Alex White Plume, who planted the hemp, declared that he had approval from the tribal council, and pointed to the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, which encouraged Native Americans to farm their land. Although a federal court ruled that White Plume must cease cultivation, hemp continues to florish on the Pine Ridge Reservation, growing wild from seeds spread across the land when the authorities dragged the previous crops away. "This hemp is more that just a crop to sell," White Plume told High Times. "We've prayed over these crops and done ceremonies. This hemp represents our sovereignty, our ability to live our lives and use our land as we see fit."