Posts Tagged ‘mandan’

‘Black Gold Boom’ film documentary

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2015

Some Native American tribes have banned fracking on tribal lands. With vast deposits of oil underneath its borders, Three Affiliated Tribes is at a crossroads. Should the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation in western North Dakota drill for black gold or outlaw oil exploration on its land? Tribal member Marty Young Bear worries about environmental effects. Meanwhile, local leaders rush to form a tribal-owned oil company with the motto “Sovereignty by the Barrel.”

The documentary, directed by Todd Melby, is now available for online streaming.

Previously, the documentary aired on PBS World Channel (155 stations nationwide), Prairie Public, Alaska Public Media, TPT (Twin Cities PBS), New Mexico PBS, Wyoming PBS, Arizona Public Television, WOSU Ohio, Colorado Public Television, KEDT (South Texas), SOPTV (Southern Oregon), WTVP (Peoria, Illinois), WSKG/WSQX (New York), KVIE (Sacramento, California) and WDSC (Daytona Beach, Florida).

Black Gold Boom

Press coverage:
MPR News
South Dakota Public Broadcasting
Midwest Energy News
TPT Almanac (begins at 23:15)

Grandma’s Got a Nice Truck

Sunday, May 11th, 2014

Oil tankers rumble on lots of roads near Mandaree and New Town, North Dakota. Both towns are on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, home to the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara. But another tribal town — Twin Buttes — is just east of the Bakken oil field, making it a quiet place.

Twin Buttes resident Cory Spotted Bear and friends recently constructed a traditional earth lodge there. Spotted Bear talked to Black Gold Boom’s Todd Melby about the project and his thoughts about the nearby boom.

Photo by Philipp Batta

Made possible by a grant from the North Dakota Humanities Council