Maah Daah Hey
Tribally Led Protection
The proposed Maah Daah Hey National Monument would permanently protect 139,729 acres on 11 nonmotorized backcountry designated areas of the Dakota Prairie Grasslands of western North Dakota.
The buttes of the North Dakota Badlands are a unique and wild landscape that is the result of millions of years of sedimentary buildup and erosion. Native American tribes have lived in the area going back to the beginning of human habitation on the land, where the Badlands were a place to hunt bison, trap eagles, and a place for prayer, contemplation and spirit quests.
The creation of the Maah Daah Hey National Monument will recognize Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation’s long standing history and connection to the North Dakota Badlands.
Location
Much of the Badlands remain a sacred place for Native Americans in North Dakota, most notably the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara (Sahnish) (MHA) Nation. Members of MHA Nation still travel to the Badlands for ceremonies and to connect with their present and past. One connection to the tribe’s history in the area is the multi-use trail that transects 144 miles of the North Dakota Badlands, known as the Maah Daah Hey Trail. The name Maah Daah Hey was originally developed by MHA member and former National Park Service Superintendent of Mount Rushmore, Gerard Baker. In the Mandan language, the phrase “Maah Daah Hey” means “grandfather, long-lasting.” It is used to describe things or an area that have been or will be around for a long time and is deserving of respect. The Maah Daah Hey Trail has also been recognized as a National Recreational Trail by Congress.
Under Threat
This landscape that has long been inhabited by Native people is one that is now under massive threat. Corporate oil and gas development and its associated infrastructure are being allowed to encroach upon some of the wildest places in the North Dakota Badlands. We are proposing the permanent conservation of 139,729 acres of the North Dakota Badlands along the Maah Daah Hey Trail. The acreage within the proposed monument has already been designated as “Roadless Areas” by the United States Forest Service and is currently managed as “Non-Motorized Backcountry.” As a result, monument designation will keep the land as Roadless Non-Motorized Backcountry, permanently protecting its extraordinarily abundant and diverse late cretaceous fossil resources, allowing rich recreation opportunities in the area, including hunting, fishing, hiking, and mountain biking. Most importantly, the proposed monument will assign permanent protection to the ancestral lands of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Sahnish (Arikara) people recognizing their connection to the land long before it was expropriated by the United States.