NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. -- Seneca leaders cut the ribbon in Niagara Falls for the first nation-owned dispensary.

Seneca Development Chair Josh Jimerson said the lot is not the only thing it shares with Seneca Niagara Casino that opened two decades earlier.

"Many people thought that it couldn't be done but the Seneca Nation did it and opened the doors to an exciting new era in Western New York. Today we are making history again with the opening of Nativa Cannabis," Jimerson said.

News crews got the first look at Nativa Cannabis Wednesday as a few dozen people waited eagerly outside to make their inaugural purchases. Seneca President Rickey Armstrong Sr. said the nation expects the industry to be another important source of revenue for the Nation to pay for things like education, infrastructure and elders' benefits.

"We don't have a tax base so whatever we generate as revenue we take directly back to services for our people," Armstrong said.

Niagara Falls resident Anthony Printup was the first customer through the door.

"I never thought this would happen ever. It's great that it actually came," he said.

After council approval, Seneca leaders said it took several months and countless hours of planning to prepare the building and create a regulatory structure. It chose Opus Consulting to guide the way and industry veteran Brittany Moore will be the general manager for 18 employees to start.

"What's different is it that it is on territory and there are a lot of bonuses and pros that come with that and not being regulated by the state although it mimics that. I think that for me it's an honor be here and to be a part of the social good that is happening right now by empowering the nation to get this off of the ground," Moore said.

No New York regulated dispensaries have opened in the region yet thanks to a court order that stalled state approval until late last month. The Cannabis Control Board did grant four Western New York licenses at its April meeting.

"I don't really know that it means anything to be first. We're probably going to be first of many," Armstrong said.

The president said he can't speak for the council but he would be in favor of more dispensaries potentially next to the Buffalo casino or on the Cattaraugus territory. The Nation is also developing its own cultivating facility which it expects to come online later this year.