The donated hemp fiber will be used to help build and insulate environmentally friendly houses for Indian families on the Pine Ridge reservation. That, too, wasn't the strange part. Well, the hemp being donated by Nunn and the farmers to the Oglala Tribe wasn't even grown in Kentucky. It was grown in Canada and imported to Kentucky. Now it's on its way to South Dakota.
Industrial hemp is a multimillion-dollar industry.
The cause of industrial hemp production a cause that has already drawn attention in Kentucky from folks like actor Woody Harrelson again brought together some unusual allies. On the surface, the donation by the Kentucky Hemp Growers Cooperative of 25 bales of raw hemp fiber and 60 bags of hemp that had been processed for horse stall bedding will help the Oglala continue building houses in an experimental land development. On the more symbolic side, the event was intended by pro-hemp forces to again make the case for growing industrial hemp, which can be used for making a range of other products, such as clothes and paper. Nunn planned to travel with the Kentucky hemp shipment to educate people about the crop and its uses. Law enforcement groups typically object to growing hemp because it is a relative of marijuana.