187 rigs drilling in North Dakota. Three or four drilling on federal land.
It appears the sweet spots in the Bakken were conveniently located outside Federal land. Intelligent Designer? I grew up hearing that North Dakota was truly "God's country."
The Lakota, no doubt, agreed: God's country.
One of the Bakken sweet spots is inside the reservation.
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In my original post, I spoke of the Lakota, not thinking. See first comment below. The Lakota are not associated with the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, one of the sweet spots of the Bakken. But, it was "fun" to reminisce about the Lakota, so I will leave that part in.
In western North Dakota, we were all very familiar with some big Lakota names: Sitting Bull (Hunkpapa); Crazy Horse (huge monument being carved in the Black Hills); Red Cloud; Black Elk (his spirituality and words captured by Neihardt); Spotted Tail.
So, it looks like I need to include a bit about the MHA to try to make up for my faux pas. To start, here is the link to the MHA Nation webpage. Probably the most famous name associated with the Mandan-Hidatsa was Sakajawea (various spellings) but she was not of the MHA Nation -- she was Shoshone. Interesting, interesting story. Incredible woman. But again, I digress. Don't get me started. Sorry.
But I digress. Sorry.
If you are thinking of the reservation in McKenzie and parts of Dunn Counties. It is NOT the Lakota, it is the Mandan, Hidatsa, & Arikara Nations. Once referred to as the Three Affiliated Tribes it also includes a part of Mountrail County including Makoti ND where they are building the next refinery.
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely correct. I will make that note above in the stand-alone post.
DeleteIt reveals my biases. I apologize. I guess it would be as bad as confusing a Norwegian with a Swede. Smile.
Growing up with the Tetons in Williston (UND/Williston), I have fond memories of the Lakota, having read much of the native American history in North Dakota. I was weak with regard to the MHA / TAT history but learned a lot more about them through the blog.
I really appreciate you taking the time to note the confusion I probably caused. I will update the post. By the way, on my other computer, I have photos of all the great MHA native Americans posted in various murals at Four Bears/New Town area. If I ever get back to my old computer, I will try to post those photos. It's possible they are already on the blog somewhere.