WASHINGTON — Attorney General Pam Bondi told Sen. Thom Tillis the Department of Justice would look into allegations he made that the Eastern Band of Cherokee is marketing its marijuana products to children and moving them outside the tribe’s boundary in violation of federal law.

Tillis, a Republican from Huntersville, spoke to Bondi about concerns he has regarding the tribe’s marijuana business during a Tuesday hearing of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary. He brought with him posterboards showing an aerial view of the tribe’s cannabis farm, the logo for an app the tribe uses to sell its product and advertisements of its fall-flavored cannabis.

Tillis told Bondi he had three concerns regarding the business: marketing the marijuana to youth, advertising on an app that indicates delivery to the buyer, and that the tribe would have to transfer the marijuana outside the boundary to get it from the farm to the tribe’s dispensary.

“Senator, I will absolutely have my team look at that issue,” Bondi told Tillis.

But Michell Hicks, the tribe’s principal chief, denied the allegations Tillis made throughout the hearing. Tillis “knows full well that the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians operates squarely within the law. Yet once again, he has chosen to ignore that truth to advance his own political agenda. “

“Our operations are fully compliant with federal and tribal law, guided by safety, transparency, and accountability,” Hicks said. “Senator Tillis’ attacks are not about legality; they are about ego. To suggest the EBCI would endanger children through marketing or sales practices is inaccurate and it is offensive to the values that guide our tribe.”

Tillis stressed, both during Tuesday’s hearing and during a Wednesday interview with McClatchy, that he is not against the tribe selling marijuana, but he does believe that how the tribe is going about it brings up broader issues that need to be addressed nationwide.

Hicks said his tribe will not be drawn into “petty politics or ego-driven theatrics.”

“Our focus remains on governing responsibly, protecting our heritage, and strengthening the future of our people and our partners across North Carolina and Indian Country,” Hicks said.

Tribal disputes

Tillis is a staunch supporter of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, a group of 55,000 members living in Robeson, Hoke, Scotland and Cumberland counties. It’s the largest tribe east of the Mississippi River and the ninth largest in the country.

The Lumbee and the Eastern Band of Cherokee, located in Western North Carolina, have had a tumultuous relationship. The Lumbee have fought, since 1888, for federal recognition, while the Cherokee have deployed lobbyists to work against them.

Congress provided the Lumbee federal recognition in 1956, but specified that the tribe would not receive the typical benefits afforded to a tribe with this distinction, leaving the Lumbee fighting for full recognition ever since. Many believe that since Congress made this decision, it would take an act of Congress to reverse it. The Cherokee argue that the Lumbee should go through the Bureau of Indian Affairs instead.

Tillis “is frustrated that the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians continues to stand with tribal nations across the country to defend our culture, sovereignty, and history against groups like the Lumbee, who seek federal recognition through false claims and political horse-trading rather than the historical truth,” Hicks said.

And if there’s any question whether Tillis’ loyalty to the Lumbee is coloring his view of this issue with the Cherokee, he answered that without question during McClatchy’s interview with him.

“I’m going after the Cherokee because they’re part of the casino cartels, and they’re trying to keep the Lumbee, who have deserved recognition for over 130 years,” Tillis said. “We’re going to go to the mat for them.”

The Eastern Band of Cherokee originally operated the only casino in North Carolina. The Catawba Nation opened, in 2021, its own casino in Kings Mountain and many believe the Lumbee might open their own if they receive federal benefits.

No ‘teleportation’ option for marijuana transport

The 57,000-acre Qualla Boundary is located about 50 miles west of Asheville. The Eastern Band of Cherokee is advertising in Charlotte that the tribe owns one of the country’s largest dispensaries. And Tillis said people don’t realize that when they buy marijuana from the tribe, they are not permitted to leave to the boundary with the product.

Marijuana remains illegal in North Carolina, and in every state around North Carolina with the exception of Virginia.

But tribes are considered sovereign nations and are allowed to make their own rules regarding marijuana. When the Cherokee allowed cannabis sales beginning on July 4, 2024, Tillis and Sen. Ted Budd, a Republican from Davie County, both raised concerns that it would be transported away from the tribal area. Hicks said the letter made false claims that “cannot withstand scrutiny.”

Tillis told McClatchy that there has to be a national framework for rules around dispensaries.

“We need to get rid of flavorings, eliminate Chinese imports, let states opt in, if they choose, and have rules of the road with excise tax and everything else,” Tillis said.

Tillis’ concerns about the transport of the product doesn’t just end at those who are buying cannabis.

He asked Bondi Tuesday if she’s familiar with the “science of teleportation,” adding that he doesn’t believe it’s been perfected yet.

“The problem is that I can’t find any legal way to get this pot that is grown here, to the dispensary that is in another noncontiguous area of the land of the boundary,” Tillis told Bondi. “I’m just trying to figure out how the Eastern Band of the Cherokee are legally transporting what they’re growing at scale here to what they’re advertising in Charlotte on billboards as one of the country’s largest dispensaries and apparently also offering to buy it online.”

Bondi assured Tillis she would answer his questions whether “there’s not a there, there” or “that they do have something that does not seem to comport to federal law.”

It’s the second time Tillis asked an attorney general to look into the dispensary. Tillis and Budd sent a letter in 2024 to then-Attorney General Merrick Garland raising similar issues. Tillis said he never heard back.

Bondi confirmed to Tillis on Tuesday that based on federal law, it would be illegal for the product to be transported away from the boundary.

‘Buc-ee’s of pot’

Tillis told Bondi he’s also concerned because it appears the tribe is “preying on younger people.”

He pointed to one of his posterboards showing flavored cannabis including “pumpkin spice.”

“This kind of feels to be like the way the tobacco industry got attacked for advertising to young people,” Tillis said. “We already know incidentally that we have a vape problem around here, particularly among young people. This worries me because it’s a money-making enterprise.”

Tillis told McClatchy he’s not happy with how the tribe is marketing the product.

“I mean, gosh, when you’re doing the ads in Charlotte: ‘One of the country’s biggest dispensaries,’ and you’ve got a really cute app and you’re advertising all these fruity names and everything, and you’re an island, I mean unless you’re going there and having one hell of a weekend, we all know that people are taking it and bringing it back,” Tillis said. “People need to know the minute they leave the boundary, they’re breaking the law.”

Hicks seized on the description of the tribe as being on an “island” and said: “He’s right about one thing, we are an island, and we are a stronghold of culture, integrity, and self-determination. Yet, we are not afforded real representation from his office. From the heart of our ancestral homeland, we stand as a model of how sovereignty and economic development can coexist with respect for state and federal law, the environment, and our neighbors.”

Tillis said he’s hearing from law enforcement that “people go there, and they think, because they can buy it there legally, they can transport it,” Tillis said. “It’s almost like the Buc-ee’s of pot.”

Buc-ee’s is a well-known Southern chain of travel stops, that includes the world’s largest convenience store at 75,593 square feet, and the world’s longest car wash with a 255-foot conveyor. It has a large fan-following and can draw long lines of people wanting to check out the hype.

“There are people lined up, the traffic is stopped, it’s amazing,” Tillis said of the tribe’s dispensary. “I’m not an anti-cannabis person, but you’ve got to do it legally.”

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