Great Smoky Cannabis: A Cherokee Cannabis Story

How the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians used tribal sovereignty to build a regulated cannabis industry, develop its own brands & create a new path for economic growth on the Qualla Boundary.

Built in Cherokee

On the Qualla Boundary in Cherokee, North Carolina, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians used tribal sovereignty to establish a regulated cannabis industry on its land.

Great Smoky Cannabis Company became a tribally owned enterprise within that effort, connecting cultivation, manufacturing, retail and brand development under Cherokee control.

April 20, 2024: The Medical Opening

On April 20, 2024, Great Smoky began medical cannabis sales.

The opening brought a new tribal business to life, with ambitions extending beyond a single dispensary into cultivation, manufacturing, retail and long-term economic development.

The First Customer

The first medical cannabis purchase on the Qualla Boundary was made by Myrtle Driver Johnson, a Cherokee language translator and Beloved Woman of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

During the opening ceremony, she exchanged traditional wampum as part of the historic purchase.

Driver Johnson later described cannabis as personally meaningful following surgery related to colon cancer. She said cannabis helped her stop using oxycodone within 5 days.

For her, the opening represented more than access to a product:

“It just makes me happy that it’s now added to our list of native medicines.”

The Adult-Use Transition

Great Smoky expanded access in stages.

On July 4, 2024, adult-use sales opened to members of the Eastern Band and other federally recognized tribes.

Then, on September 7, 2024, sales expanded to all adults 21 and older.

That transition opened the market to a much broader group of local customers and visitors traveling to Cherokee.

Beyond the Dispensary

Great Smoky’s operation extends far beyond the retail counter.

Its roughly 10,000-square-foot store includes a drive-thru and dedicated glass shop.

Behind the storefront is a larger seed-to-sale system covering cultivation, production, manufacturing, product development, branding and retail.

The goal is not simply to sell cannabis grown elsewhere. Great Smoky is building the infrastructure to develop its own products and brands from within the tribal enterprise.

Inside the Operation

Atlanta creator and filmmaker Keno White traveled to Cherokee to tour Great Smoky Cannabis Company.

His visit took viewers inside the tribe’s seed-to-sale operation, offering a broader audience a look at cannabis cultivation, production and retail being built on sovereign tribal land.

The tour helped show that Great Smoky is not simply a dispensary. It is part of a larger vertically integrated cannabis operation.

Building Its Own Brands

Great Smoky is developing a portfolio of cannabis brands with their own identities, packaging and collaborations.

Its products span flower, pre-rolls, concentrates, vapes, edibles and beverages.

The strategy is to build recognizable brands that can stand on their own rather than relying entirely on the Great Smoky storefront name.

First Fire

One example is First Fire, a premium brand inspired by the Cherokee story of Water Spider bringing fire to the animals.

The lineup includes premium rosin and rosin gummies, alongside limited collaborations and custom packaging.

The concept connects modern cannabis branding with a story rooted in Cherokee culture.

Rooted in Cherokee

Great Smoky has also worked with Cherokee artists on packaging projects.

Those collaborations bring Cherokee creative talent directly into product and brand development.

Rather than separating the cannabis business from the community around it, the company has used packaging and design to connect its products with the people, stories and place they come from.

Legacy

Great Smoky’s long-term goal is to build a sustainable tribal enterprise capable of creating jobs, supporting Cherokee talent and developing lasting economic opportunities.

Its significance is already visible in its structure.

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is not simply participating in an emerging cannabis market. It is regulating the industry on its own land, building its own infrastructure, developing its own brands and shaping another part of its economic future through tribal sovereignty.