On a road leading to the Glooscap First Nation, a community of a few dozen homes near Hantsport, N.S., a sign points to the band administration office. Next to it, a placard with cannabis leaves shows the way to a truckhouse, a term from the days of trading posts that’s returned to assert treaty rights.
The signs at this crossroad are a metaphor for the position this Mi’kmaw community finds itself in.
Following the RCMP raids on what police call illegal storefronts in Nova Scotia, Glooscap is asking whether it wants cannabis sold on the reserve at all. If the answer is yes, who should sell it and profit from it. That could be private retailers — one is already operating on the reserve — or the band itself.
