Badlands

Lore & Background

The Lakota named this region *makȟóšiča*, meaning "bad lands," for its extreme temperatures, scarce water, and rugged, exposed terrain. The area is defined by sharply eroded buttes and pinnacles, part of the White River drainage, and also contains the largest undisturbed mixed grass prairie in the United States. The park’s highest point is Red Shirt Table. The Badlands Wilderness protects a portion of the North Unit as designated wilderness. The South Unit, known as the Stronghold District, includes sites of 1890s Ghost Dances and a former U.S. Air Force bomb and gunnery range. For thousands of years, Native Americans used these lands for hunting, camping in secluded valleys with fresh water and game. The Lakota displaced earlier tribes from the northern prairie about one hundred fifty years ago. The area was originally Sioux territory, assured to them by treaty in 1868, but confiscated by the United States in 1889. The park is co-managed with the Oglala Lakota tribe. One of the most endangered mammals in the world, the black-footed ferret, was reintroduced to the wild here.

Reader's Guide

Badlands National Park holds significance as a site of the Ghost Dance, a ceremony performed by Sioux Indians at the end of the 19th century to revive buffalo and the dead. The last known Ghost Dance was conducted on Stronghold Table in the South Unit. The park also contains the White River Badlands, an internationally renowned fossil resource with the richest deposits of Oligocene mammals known, first studied by paleontologists in the 1840s. The park's South Unit includes a former U.S. Air Force bomb and gunnery range. The Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890, which occurred about 45 miles south of the park, is interpreted by the Oglala of Pine Ridge and Minneconjou of Standing Rock Reservation. The park also administers the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site.

Did You Know?

• The black-footed ferret, one of the most endangered mammals in the world, was reintroduced in the Badlands Wilderness.
• The White River Badlands contain the richest deposits of Oligocene mammals known, dating back 33 million years.

Common Misconceptions (Editorial)

Some people think the name "Badlands" was given by European settlers, but the Lakota people originally called it *makȟóšiča*, meaning "bad lands," due to its extreme temperatures, lack of water, and rugged terrain. Another common misconception is that the entire park is managed solely by the National Park Service; in fact, the South Unit is co-managed with the Oglala Lakota tribe.

Why It Matters (Editorial)

Badlands National Park endures as a place where natural and cultural history are inseparably linked—it is both a stunning fossil record of Oligocene mammals and a living ceremonial sacred site for the Oglala Lakota. Its co-management model reflects a vital step toward honoring Indigenous stewardship, while the reintroduction of the endangered black-footed ferret shows how conservation can bring species back from the brink.