Badlands Crude: Oil development and the Three Affiliated Tribes
BY FELIX GILLETTEBusiness Week
Tex Hall strolls across a parking lot at the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota and enters the tribe’s administrative headquarters. Hall, 56, is wearing jeans, cowboy boots, and an ornate silver belt buckle the size of a tortoise shell. He removes his sunglasses. Inside, the tribal business chamber has the air of a bustling county courthouse. Hall is the reservation’s top elected leader, chairman of the 12,000 members of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation (also known as the Three Affiliated Tribes). Over the past century, Fort Berthold has struggled with poverty and high unemployment, but recently its fortunes have been on the upswing. The reservation has struck oil.
Fort Berthold, which covers an area slightly larger than Rhode Island, sits above the Williston Basin, a geologic formation rich in shale oil. About five years ago, engineers figured out how to extract the oil using hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, techniques. Since 2008, according to tribal records, more than $500 million in oil revenue from fracking leasing rights and royalties has flowed into Fort Berthold.
Jodi Rave Spotted Bear
(Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation)Founder & Editor in Chief
Spoken Languages: English
Topic Expertise: Federal trust relationship with American Indians; Indigenous issues ranging from spirituality and environment to education and land rights
Sharing Is Caring
This article is not included in our Story Share & Care selection.
The content may only be reproduced with permission from the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance. Please see our content sharing guidelines.
© Buffalo's Fire. All rights reserved.
Respect The Fire
At Buffalo's Fire, we value constructive dialogue that builds an informed Indian Country. To keep this space healthy, moderators will remove:
- Personal attacks, harassment, or hate speech
- Spam, misinformation, or unsolicited promotion
- Off-topic rants and excessive shouting (All Caps)
Let’s keep the fire burning with respect.