THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

Many years ago I read a historical account of early white explorers describing the local natives smoking ritual which involved burning dried leaves and inhaling deeply and holding it in and after exhaling the smoker passed out. The white explorers were told that tobacco was source of the leaves, the seeds of which they took with them and began a worldwide industry. Personally I always thought those dudes were the first white men burned in a dope deal. Whatever the truth, modern Indians are exploring the benefits of supplying the real stuff to modern white dudes and anyone else interested.

After making hundreds of billions of dollars running casinos, American Indian tribes are getting a good whiff of another potential moneymaker: marijuana.

The first Tribal Marijuana Conference is set for Friday on the Tulalip Indian Reservation in Washington state as Indian Country gets ready to capitalize on the nation’s expanding pot industry.

Organizers said representatives from more than 50 tribes in at least 20 states have registered, with total attendance expected to surpass 300.

The gathering comes after the Obama administration announced late last year that it would not interfere with any federally recognized tribes that want to grow and sell pot on reservation lands – if they do a good job policing themselves.

The tribes would join the District of Columbia and four states – Washington, Colorado, Oregon and Alaska – where voters already have approved marijuana for recreational use.

Robert Odawi Porter, one of the conference organizers and the former president of the Seneca Nation of Indians in New York, said tribes have “a tremendous economic diversification opportunity to consider” with marijuana commerce. He said the event would bring together “trailblazers” in the industry who will help tribal leaders understand the complex issues involved.

While it’s unknown how many tribes ultimately will seek to take advantage of the change, one analyst warned that any tribe expecting to hit the jackpot might be in for a surprise, particularly as the supply of legal pot in the U.S. increases.

“People keep forgetting it’s a competitive market,” said Mark Kleiman, a professor of public policy at the University of California, Los Angeles, who served as Washington state’s top pot consultant. “And it’s cheap to grow.”

In Washington state, where retail pot stores opened in July, Kleiman said pot growers who sold their product for $21 a gram only a few months ago are now getting $4 a gram.

“The price of marijuana is the price of illegality,” he said.

The economics of weed may allow the white man to return the favor on this dope deal or it may provide a period of prosperity to the reservations until the rest of the country comes to its senses.