Shinnecock Nation Breaks Ground On Cannabis Dispensary Near Southampton Village

Members of the Shinnecock Nation and their business and construction partners gathered Monday, July 11, to break ground on the Little Beach Harvest cannabis dispensary.

The 5,000-square-foot dispensary will be built on the tribe’s territory off Montauk Highway west of Southampton Village, with the dispensary expected to be completed by early next year. Later this year, the tribe expects to begin work on a cannabis cultivation facility that will eventually provide product for the dispensary.

The project is a partnership between Little Beach Harvest and TILT Holdings. TILT is working with Conor Green, the tribe’s cannabis economic development firm, to finance construction of the estimated $5 million project.

“What we are doing with this sacred plant is going to heal not only the Shinnecock community but so many in the world,” Chenae Bullock, a tribe member and the managing director of Little Beach Harvest, said after the Youngblood Singers welcomed the crowd with a drum-and-song performance. “And that’s not just through commerce but through education and the energy put into giving this plant a voice again.”

Shinnecock Nation Chairman Bryan Polite also spoke at the gathering, which was also attended by other members of the tribal council of trustees. He recounted the tribe’s seven-year-long effort to enter the cannabis field, a struggle he said was only successful because of the tribe’s resiliency.

“This is not just an economic development project for the Shinnecock Indian Nation — this is community building,” he said. “The proceeds and revenue from this will greatly expand our social safety network. We will be able to provide more programs for people, direct support financially, and we will also give them a sense of well-being to get back to our original agricultural roots.”

Polite said cannabis “has been demonized over the years, but I’ve never looked at it that way. It’s a medical plant that has so many ways to use it.”

Although Little Beach Harvest was initially planned to be a medicinal cannabis sales dispensary, last fall tribe members approved measures that would allow the company to move forward with recreational sales as well. Separately, New York State legalized personal marijuana use last year, but many local communities opted out of allowing dispensaries to operate in their jurisdiction, providing an opportunity for the Shinnecock to get a head start in what is expected to become a competitive field.

But TILT’s chief operating officer, Dana Arvidson, said his company saw more than an opportunity for profits.

“It provides a chance to sponsor the first of its kind partnership that could be a force for good in the indigenous community,” he said, “a community that has largely been excluded from the social equity conversations taking place across the country.”

He added that the tribe’s leaders “wanted nothing more than to provide for their people with an opportunity for economic growth and prosperity, and we are thrilled to partner with them in that endeavor.”

Bullock also pointed to Little Beach Harvest as more than just a business. While it will provide jobs and careers for members of the tribe, she said the nation was launching the enterprise as a way to retain its sovereignty, and said she held TILT to a high standard and had asked its representatives, “How far are you willing to fight for our sovereignty?”

TILT, which describes itself as “a global provider of cannabis business solutions,” ranging from inhalation technologies to cultivation and branding, is providing the financing for the dispensary through a partnership with Conor Green, the tribe’s cannabis economic development advisor.

The dispensary will be designed by T-Arch Studios, which has proposed a modern design that uses light wood elements and natural stone.