Tag: Gathering of Nations

Tag: Gathering of Nations

Medical cannabis firm to sponsor Gathering of Nations

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By Rick Nathanson / Albuquerque Journal
Published on July 7, 2016

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Native people have a long history with natural healing and the use of herbal remedies. That’s why Gathering of Nations founder Derek Mathews says the powwow’s new title sponsor, regional cannabis producer Ultra Health, “is a great fit.”

Mathews said Wednesday that he and Ultra Health CEO and President Duke Rodriguez have signed a five-year sponsorship agreement with an option for another five years. Neither would reveal the amount of that investment, only saying it was “in the six figures.”

The Gathering of Nations earlier this year separated from the University of New Mexico, which hosted the powwow for more than three decades in the Pit basketball arena. The annual event will now be held on the grounds of Expo New Mexico, and its new formal title will be Ultra Health Gathering of Nations.

“It’s really great security for the powwow, long-term,” Mathews said. “When we renew our contract with the fairgrounds, Ultra Health’s investment increases.”

The Gathering of Nations has a four-year agreement with Expo New Mexico and an option for an additional four years.

The event is billed as the largest powwow of Native people in the world, attracting more than 3,000 singers and dancers from more than 700 tribes across the United States and Canada. The three-day event generates an estimated $20 million in local spending annually.

Arizona-based Ultra Health has seven locations in New Mexico – six dispensaries and one cultivation site. The company’s revenue from medical cannabis in New Mexico is about $5 million a year, said Rodriguez, a former chief operations officer with Lovelace Health Systems and the former Cabinet secretary for the state Human Services Department under Gov. Gary Johnson.

Ultra Health is looking to “reach out to the tribes because they feel the cannabis industry represents economic stability and because they believe the Indian casino industry has peaked,” Mathews said. “They’re looking at helping tribes invest in cannabis,” and having a presence at the Gathering of Nations will help convey that message, he said.

Ultra Health is building two dispensaries and an 84,000-square-foot cultivation facility in Las Vegas, Nev., on property of the Las Vegas Paiute tribe, Rodriguez said.

In January, a survey commissioned by Ultra Health showed that Native peoples were the population that looked most favorably on natural healing and the use of cannabis. Hispanics were the second-largest “favorable” population, followed by people with higher educations and larger incomes, Rodriguez said.

Ultra Health was recently rejected in its bid to be a sponsor of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.

“They think it’s too soon,” Rodriguez said, but they were “open to reconsidering it in the future.”

There are currently 25,000 medical cannabis card holders in New Mexico and 35 growers.

Medical Marijuana Company Lead Sponsor at Gathering of Nations

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By Vincent Shilling / Indian Country Today

Published on July 6, 2016

Ultra Health, a national provider for the healthcare cannabis industry with operations and facilities in Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico, and retail dispensaries to commercial-scale cannabis production in New Mexico and Las Vegas, has become the title sponsor for the Gathering of Nations Pow wow for 2017.

In addition to the sponsorship, the official name of the event will be the “Ultra Health – Gathering of Nations.”

This marks the first time a medical cannabis company has sponsored such an event. Ultra Health has agreed to the title sponsorship for the next five years and holds an option to consider sponsorship through 2027.

“The Gathering of Nations Powwow is a very spiritual and social celebration,” said Duke Rodriguez, CEO and President of Ultra Health in a company release. “At Ultra Health we believe such components are vital to well-being, and sponsoring the event was an obvious decision in light of the importance Native people have historically put on healing and natural medicine.”

According to the release, Ultra Health is committed to fostering positive relationships with Indian tribes. In 2016, Ultra Health broke ground with the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe to build two dispensaries and a major cultivation center on the Snow Mountain Reservation and near downtown Las Vegas. Ultra Health is also in talks with tribes in a number of economic development projects in the cannabis industry including retailing, cultivation and cannabis event promotion.

The Gathering of Nations pow wow, a 3-day event which gathered nearly 90,000 people last year, is a 3 day event, will be held April 27th to 29th, 2017 on the new Pow wow Grounds at Tingley Coliseum/EXPO in Albuquerque.

Though recent polls have indicated 90 percent of Americans approve of medical cannabis, and 54 percent approve of its total legalization, not all sponsorships are so readily accepted, earlier this year, the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta denied Ultra Health’s bid for sponsorship.

According to PRNewswire, In a letter received on June 16th, 2016 from Paul Smith, Executive Director of the AIBF, “…several members of the Board related stories of how their patients or members of their family had received great results from medical cannabis. Most of the Board agreed that medical cannabis should be considered a mainstream pharmaceutical.”

Though the letter voiced some support, the AIBF Board ultimately declined Ultra Health’s sponsorship request.

Deborah White Plume, whose husband, Alex White Plume has been an advocate for the growing of hemp for decades, says she has mixed emotions about the sponsorship. White Plume says she supports the use of medical marijuana as well as the sponsorship, yet is disappointed by Ultra Health’s name on the Gathering of Nations.

“First of all I am curious what the organizers get for sponsorship. But ultimately though I use medical marijuana, I feel this is an exploitative and corporatizing of Native people. I think it would be friendly and respectful if Ultra Health took their name off of the event name, otherwise it is just another exploitative and oppressive gesture to the red nation.”

“We debated whether this was the right thing to do,” Rodriguez told ICTMN. “But we did a lot of research and found the highest rates of support for cannabis is from Native people.”

Though ICTMN submitted requests for comment, GON organizer Derrick Matthews was not yet available to comment.

Medical cannabis provider becomes new Gathering of Nations sponsor

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By Sandra Ramirez / KOAT Action 7 News

Published on July 6, 2016

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Native Americans from all over the world make their way to Albuquerque every year for the Gathering of Nations.

The world’s largest powwow is moving to a new location next year–Expo New Mexico– and now there’s more news: medical cannabis provider Ultra Health is the gathering’s big new sponsor.

“There has been a connection with cannabis with the Native American community for hundreds of years,” Leonard Salgado, with Ultra Health, said.

KOAT spoke with Gathering of Nations organizer Derrick Matthews who said they’ve had health and dental clinics at previous powwows. He said this sponsorship is similar and will provide more health and treatment options to the Native American community.

“It’s been used for medicinal purposes throughout the United States, particularly in Indian country,” Salgado said.

Ultra Health hasn’t had as much luck getting into other big New Mexico events. The company also applied to be a sponsor of this year’s Balloon Fiesta, but that didn’t work out.

“It was not a good fit at this time. Certainly there was still some question about it being illegal from the federal standpoint,” Salgado said.

Salgado said he’ll try to sponsor Balloon Fiesta again but in the meantime he’s focused squarely on the gathering.

“We’re hoping to have a long-standing relationship with the Gathering of Nations, with the Matthews family for many years to come,” Salgado said.

Ultra Health’s sponsorship of the Gathering of Nations runs through 2022 but can be extended for another five years once the deal is up.