Embracing Your Roots
At long last, hemp is being cultivated in Washington State again. The versatile, highly renewable crop has been restricted by prohibition for nearly a century. Not anymore. Hemp crops have been planted all over North America, and the most notable as of late, is the The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation. The tribe was issued its license by The Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) to research hemp production last spring and has since planted a 60-acre plot of the hearty crop in July.
The Colville Reservation is expansive, located in the Northeast corner of the state, north of Spokane. The region has a long history with hemp production. Colville Chief William Three Mountains the Younger and his wife Mattie gifted some prized native hemp artifacts to a miner in 1906, according to a profile of the miner known as William Morley Manning (1877-1944) by Jack and Claire Nisbet. These artifacts likely represented a long-standing tradition, and it appears as if hemp has been a part of Colville culture for centuries. Finally, Washington State law has caught up to ancient traditions.
“There are three types of licenses we issue—a growers license, a processor’s license and a seed producer’s license. The Colville Tribes filed for and received a dual license for growing and processing.”
Hector Castro, Communications Director for the WSDA, spoke with CULTURE about the licenses for the hemp research project, which is known as the Industrial Hemp Research Pilot. “We’ve issued seven licenses so far.” Castro told CULTURE. “There are three types of licenses we issue—a growers license, a processor’s license and a seed producer’s license. The Colville Tribes filed for and received a dual license for growing and processing. So they’re looking to do both.” Castro explained.
The research aims to figure out the economic and agricultural feasibility of growing and processing hemp in the state. Of the seven licenses issued so far for research, five were grower’s licenses, one was a seed producer’s license and one was a processor’s license. The Colville Confederated Tribes were the only licensees to receive two, as well as the only to receive processor license at all. Additionally, the Colville Confederated Tribes are the only tribe to apply for and be issued any license pertaining to hemp in Washington State.
Native American tribes in the United States have a history of advocating for hemp production. The Oglala Sioux nation in South Dakota has been trying unsuccessfully (so far) to legalize industrial hemp on the tribe’s reservation in South Dakota since the late 1990s. The Navajo Nation filed a resolution to grow industrial hemp in 2016. Perhaps the geographic and cultural impetus to cultivate this sacred crop encouraged the Colville Confederated Tribes to seize this golden opportunity.
At the time of reporting, all the hemp crops in Washington were still in the ground, letting the last of Washington’s outlandishly sunny summer help the plants grow tall. But Castro said the first growers were due to harvest in early-mid September. So, by the time you’re reading this, Washington’s first legal hemp harvest in almost 100 years may very well be underway.
