Building NativeCare: Community, Culture, and Cannabis in Minnesota

Cannabis in Minnesota isn’t just about business.

It’s about people, culture, and creating something that reflects the community it serves.

In this episode, recorded live at Lucky Leaf Expo, we sit down with the team behind NativeCare to talk about what it means to build with intention in a new market.

Terrell Charnoski and Shyanne McDaniel share their perspective on launching in Minnesota, the importance of representation, and how NativeCare is approaching cannabis differently.

This isn’t just about opening doors. It’s about doing it the right way.

We talk about:

•  What NativeCare is building in Minnesota 
•  The role of culture and community in cannabis 
•  Navigating a brand new market as it unfolds 
•  Why collaboration matters more than competition right now 

As the industry grows, the voices shaping it matter.

This is one of those voices.

Listen in and stay connected with the community.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

The thoughts, views, and opinions expressed on the CannaConnect show belong solely to the individuals and do not reflect those of CannaConnect and its affiliates, sponsors, or partners. Can I Connect does not promote or facilitate any activity that violates state or federal regulations. Everything you hear here is strictly for educational and entertainment purposes. It is not legal advice. It is not financial guidance, and it's definitely not medical direction. Seriously, don't take our word for it. Even if someone on the mic sounds like they know what they're talking about, and they're probably crazy smart too. Regardless of how legit our guests may be, you should always do your own homework, consult with your attorney, and understand the risk you're taking before you do anything when it comes to cannabis. Our intention is to keep it real. If you've got a problem with anything we've said, take us to court.

SPEAKER_01 0:48

Welcome back to the Can of Connect Show. I'm your host, Stephen Aigiman. Day two of Lucky Leaf. We are sitting down with the team from Native Care. I've got Terrell and Shy. We're gonna get into it on the Can of Connect show. First question first, like what time do you start your days at the at the shop?

SPEAKER_04 1:04

I start at 7 30 a.m.

SPEAKER_01 1:06

Okay. How about you? I start around nine. At nine, yeah. Yeah, but I'd say a little later, you know. Of course, yeah. And are you do you feel like you you do a little bit of everything around it? Well, absolutely. Yeah. And production manager, would you say that's common?

SPEAKER_04 1:20

Is is that role sort of uh well, I'm actually director of production.

SPEAKER_01 1:24

I'm sorry, director of production.

SPEAKER_04 1:25

Yeah, so it's like I'm I handle a lot of things. And the thing is, it's like we're one big team, so it's like we really do have to try to help each other. Like uh Terrell handles events, but I'm down here helping them out with this, you know, talking about wholesale. This is like so uh yeah, you know, we all help each other. We all wear a lot of hats.

SPEAKER_01 1:39

Yeah, right. And uh is each day a little different for as a director of production?

SPEAKER_04 1:44

Oh, yeah, there's always different things coming up. Uh, but you know, like there is a routine too, like we're harvesting every week, you know. Uh wow. Yep, it's like we're hanging, drying, carrying, bucking, trimming, packaging, you know, it's like it's it's kind of a routine now. Uh, you know, at some point you get down where it's just consistent.

SPEAKER_01 2:00

You guys are dialed, so every week you're harvesting. Yep. What has that been like to get to that point?

SPEAKER_04 2:06

It's been a lot of work uh building the team. Um, we've got really great people working for us. Sure. So I mean that's it's it's worked out well for us. Yeah, I mean, it takes time to dial everything in, but like I really do believe we're there.

SPEAKER_01 2:18

Amazing. And how much of the team is uh natives that are on reservation that have kind of found a role inside of Native Care versus folks that have cannabis experience from other places and are now working at Native Care?

SPEAKER_04 2:31

Well, um, even the ones on the reservation, we all come, a lot of us come from the legacy market. Yeah. So it's like we've all had experience. You know, I I've I've lived in Michigan, I had experience, you know. So it's like uh I would say the majority of us have some experience, different levels of it. Yeah. But um, you know, it's about 80% of our staff is uh from the reservation.

SPEAKER_01 2:50

Wow. And for you personally, has it been fun or empowering to be able to pop up and be above ground and be able to be.

SPEAKER_04 2:59

Oh, it's amazing. Uh I you know, I love I love what I do. Um, I wake up every day ready to go to work, you know. Um I have so much pay time off, you know, leave that I haven't used because I I love going in every day.

SPEAKER_01 3:12

Yeah. Now, native care is for the kids. So, like, how does it feel to be supporting not just yourselves, but the overall community and the overall Red Lake Nation? Like, how much of a role, how much of is that a part of the culture to to give back and to do better for Red Lake?

SPEAKER_04 3:26

Oh, it's a huge part of our culture. Um, we have uh we do donation committees. So, like, well, you know, if someone will come in with uh uh family thing or an event or something, we do a lot of stuff for the community. Um we do a lot of donations. Um, you know, uh that's our goal. Like we talk about it constantly. Like what we do is for all of us. Like we all live here, we have children here, you know, we're a lot of us are members. Yeah, you know, we do this for the community.

SPEAKER_01 3:50

And before August 1st, 2023, Red Lake had a medical cannabis program. So that that's the one of the largest differentiators between Red Lake Nation and any of the other tribes in the Midwest. Uh so Terrell, having grown up on reservation and being a part of the community, what is it like to see the transition from Red Lake or Native Care being, well, Red Lake Nation having a medical program to Native Care being an adult use cannabis brand?

SPEAKER_03 4:16

Like it's been amazing, you know, like um seeing how far we progressed from the beginning to now is is great, you know. Like, and I believe, you know, like we we just get better and better, you know. Yeah, we learn and we we we just move past and we we get better from those mistakes and are any mistake that we've made.

SPEAKER_01 4:34

Yeah. You guys made history on August 1st by being the first uh dispensary to open the same day as the state legalized adult use of cannabis. Like, yeah, that was uh a crazy opening.

SPEAKER_04 4:45

Yeah, that was an amazing day. Um, I've been here since I'm through medical and stuff uh since we opened. Really? Yep, so it's like uh August 1st was a crazy day. I was actually a bud tender that day. Like I said, we all wear a lot of hats. Yeah, we're one big team, we all help each other, and like it was an amazing day. It like it was historic for us.

SPEAKER_01 5:03

If folks haven't tried Native Care Flour yet, take take me through in your mind, in your eyes, how much your quality has improved from August 1st, 2023 to now we're end of February 2026. Like Red Leg Nation, Native Care uh OGs, it's about to hit the market. It's about everybody's about to get like not everybody, but like significantly more opportunities are opening up for the wholesale market. What can folks expect from a quality standpoint with Red Leg Nation and Native Care Flower?

SPEAKER_04 5:35

Oh, I'm I'm super proud of our quality. Um it does take time to dial things in. Those first runs in those rooms are hard. You know, you're dialing in, figuring out well, you know, if the emitters are running right or if your flow rate's right, you know, all kinds of little stuff, right? But you get you get through that first run, is like it gets so much better. Yeah, and we've done so many now, and now we're off the weekly harvest. Like our quality, I think, is the best in the Minnesota. Um we take pride in what we do, especially like I said, our pre-rolls. We take great pride in our pre-rolls. Our pre-rolls are all full flower, no trim, no shake. Uh, these guys have to stems out everything. It's a full flower pre-roll.

SPEAKER_01 6:12

Yeah. And uh some of our audience doesn't have the cultivation background that you have. Like, talk about what goes into flipping a room.

SPEAKER_04 6:21

Oh, that's a lot. So um yeah, flipping a room is uh it's a lot of work. Uh sanitation is the top priority. Like everything has to pass testing. That's another thing I'm proud of too is our flower passed testing with no remediation. We've never needed it. So it's like, I mean, I'm proud of that.

SPEAKER_01 6:40

Um and it's because I think that's the knock on whether you call it medical flower or tribal flower. The knock is the quiet part is that flower has been remediated.

SPEAKER_04 6:49

Ah, yes. Yep. And it's like, I'm super proud of our our quality. Like I said, we've we've never needed it. We have never used remediation.

SPEAKER_01 6:56

Hell yeah.

SPEAKER_04 6:57

Yeah, so flipping a room, the most important part is sanitation, and that's be that goes into testing. We it needs to be clean environments. Um, you know, we pressure wash, uh, xerotol, everything, uh, you know, do the gas bomb, you know, clean the room, sanitize, sanitizing HVAC, changing filters, you know, uh pressure washing everything.

SPEAKER_01 7:16

Wow, wow. It is pristine, like in order, like quality in, quality out, right? Exactly. Okay, okay. Tyrell, tell me a little bit about your role as a brand ambassador.

SPEAKER_03 7:27

So I do a little bit of everything from uh our events, setting up our events, and kind of representing us at these events. Sure. Um, anywhere from, you know, we if someone has questions about us online, you know, they've they reach out through our info. Yep, you know, I get back to them, you know, stuff like that. Um, and it's kind of progressed into different roles. Like, you know, I stepped up in in our wholesale management, you know. So yeah, if someone's looking to get some products from us, you know, I'm the guy to talk to. And how and and that inbox must be just ringing off the hook. Oh man, it's been insane lately, you know. And uh we actually just got approval from the OCM recently to move forward with our wholesale menu. So it's been like even crazier, you know. Hell yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 8:06

Don't forget to plug your radio show too.

SPEAKER_03 8:08

Oh, yeah. I actually just started a radio show up in Red Lake. You did? Yep, yep. It's called The Sesh 105.3 W R L N. I've got to add you on Facebook. I've been seeing that. For sure, for sure. Yeah, it's starting out, you know, uh, I just kind of music centered right now, but you know, as I evolve and kind of learn more about the controls and all that stuff, you know, we're gonna be looking to bring some guests on, you know, add some informational segments, you know. What kind of music do you like to play on the show? Uh mostly hip-hop. I love hip-hop, but you know, everybody from the native care team has kind of been providing me with song requests and you know, helping me find out, you know, mix it up. Right. Doing a radio show is a lot of fun. Yeah, it is, man. It's been uh a cool learning experience for me.

SPEAKER_01 8:46

Yeah. Uh so we're in 2026. You guys have been open for it'll be three years in August this year. Tell tell me about uh a couple of the events that you guys have done over the last year. Like uh you guys do a 420 event, but then talk about the the snotty nose res kids and having them at the Oh man, that was an amazing show.

SPEAKER_03 9:04

It was, you know, it's gonna be very hard for us to pop dead, but I believe we can do it, you know. Like so many people come up for our events and have a great time, you know. And um, you know, we have a pre-consumption lounge. Wow. Uh we have food trucks, you know, uh joint rolling contests. Yeah. Just so much going on, and it's it's very fun.

SPEAKER_01 9:22

Some of the Canada Connect team was there uh last year in August. Uh I'm planning on coming up this year in April for the 420 weekend. Great, great. Yeah, well, we're excited to have you. And I remember seeing you guys at Legacy Cup. You guys uh you guys really roll out the red carpet. You're not willing, you're not afraid to share. You know, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 9:40

I really appreciate that about you guys. Yeah, that's our thing. You know, we really want to connect with everybody and you know build relationships, you know, and for great relationships that's you know.

SPEAKER_01 9:47

Yeah, I'm looking forward to building with you guys for sure.

SPEAKER_03 9:49

Uh in the next couple weeks, you guys have some cool new openings on the horizon, right? Oh, yeah, yep. So we have uh West St. Paul opening uh March 20th. And we're gonna be having an event for that as well, you know. You know, we'll have Oakley have like some food trucks and you know other things like that going on.

SPEAKER_01 10:03

So you got 320 coming up, and then you'll you got 420 coming up. Yeah, yeah. Maplewood's on the horizon as well. Yep, Maplewood. We're not sure how far along we are with that, but that's the thing. Construction takes time, yeah. Wow. I mean, are you excited for like the greater mission as it relates to native care and red lake nation?

SPEAKER_03 10:20

You guys are getting off res and like yeah, we're excited for that to you know push our product out there, like Shy said. You know, we believe we have the highest quality product in the state. Yeah, we take pride in uh integrity, as you might say. Yeah integrity part. Yep, yep.

SPEAKER_04 10:34

Um, yeah, you know, we book it's very we did win three uh three trophies at the Legacy Cup too. Wow. So a best infused free roll, best free roll, and uh best vape.

SPEAKER_01 10:45

Yeah, talk about it, yeah. So three wins at Legacy Cup. Legacy Cup is only gonna get better as as more folks are starting to be in the space and putting out product. Like how's your team? Like, tell me a little bit about like what what really motivates you as a leader, as a director inside the company. Like, what is it like seeing the team grow?

SPEAKER_04 11:06

Oh, it's great. These guys uh I have a lot of people working for me that they they put their heart into this. Uh like I said, this is for the community, and even the non-members, you know, like we have people driving from Bemidji and stuff, it's a little bit of a drive, but like yo, we have uh non-members working for us too. And it's like they do it too. It's for the community. Yeah, you know, uh, it's it's a good thing. We're a nonprofit.

SPEAKER_01 11:26

Yes, yes, it is it is a good thing. Um so we covered Legacy Cup, we talked about some of your events. This weekend's been kind of fun. How how has the response been for native care and at the booth at Lucky Leaf?

SPEAKER_03 11:40

It's been very good, you know. Like we try to, like you said, we try to give things out to attendees, you know, kind of draw them in, yeah. Kind of help them remember us in a way, right? And it's always, you know, great items such as you know, like a chalum, a rolling tray, stuff like that that they're actually gonna use.

SPEAKER_04 11:54

So I give them the whole kid everything but the flower, they gotta come see us for the flower.

SPEAKER_01 11:59

And right now you guys are open uh in Red Lake, and you also opened in Thief River Falls as well, right? So um that's that's because you guys have property as well in Thief River Falls. Yep. Uh I think some folks don't realize how much property Red Lake Nation actually has. Like you have you have a college in Minneapolis, there's there's a lot of infrastructure that exists off reservation as well. Uh, and I just think the the potential is is unlimited for you guys. I'd agree. For sure. Yeah. It's cool. It's cool. Uh, what's the best way to get in touch if folks are looking to reach out and learn more about how they can work with native care?

SPEAKER_03 12:34

Um, kind of just depends what they're looking for. We do have, you know, like a general information email you can send info at native care.com. And if they're looking to wholesale from you guys, uh pretty similar. Wholesale at native care.com. Those emails will be sent to me, you know, and we can uh coordinate from there.

SPEAKER_01 12:50

And your menu is fire. If people want to buy flour right now, Thief River Falls, Red Lake Nation, by the time this interview comes out, we'll be uh you West St. Paul will be an option, and like you guys have great product selection.

SPEAKER_03 13:03

You guys are you guys are doing a great job. Yeah, we're looking to carry everything, you know, from the flour, vapes, concentrates, edibles, topicals. I've heard the name of it.

SPEAKER_01 13:12

I've heard the oils are crazy. Oh yeah, they're very good. Yeah. Uh you guys are setting, you guys are leading the way, setting the setting the standard. Is it anything else you want to share with the people on the Canon Connect show?

SPEAKER_03 13:23

Um, yeah, just be on the lookout for our 420 event, you know. That's gonna be on 418. We'll have the Lunas. Um, you know, they got the I Got Five on their song. Yeah, nice classic right there. Um, you know, our what is it be our third year anniversary in August? Hell yeah. Yeah, it'll be big.

SPEAKER_04 13:40

It gets bigger every year.

SPEAKER_03 13:41

Yeah, like just gets bigger and bigger, better and better. Everybody loves the consumption lounge. Yeah, those consumption lounges are amazing.

SPEAKER_04 13:47

We got games going on in there, a claw machine.

SPEAKER_01 13:51

And uh, I meant to ask this earlier, but you've got your native care hoodie on. Can you pronounce the second line for me?

SPEAKER_02 13:57

Sure, it's a little tough for me, even, but uh anashinabe gone in the wind, gone in the wind win.

SPEAKER_01 14:02

And what does that mean?

SPEAKER_02 14:04

Essentially just native care, native care in the native language.

SPEAKER_01 14:06

Yep, yep. Amazing. Yeah, I really appreciate your guys' support. Thank you for coming on the show. Yeah, thank you for having me for having us. I'm looking forward to the West St. Paul opening as well as the Maplewood opening. And for folks around the country, or sorry, for folks around the state to be able to tap in with native care. That's gonna change the game.

SPEAKER_03 14:22

Yeah, we're great. You know, we're very grateful to have this opportunity and platform to you know put ourselves out there. Absolutely. Look forward to keep working with you guys.

SPEAKER_01 14:30

All right, absolutely. Thank you. We'll be back on the Canada Connect Show.