Our Rights
The U.S. government has affirmed MHA Nation’s property rights to the minerals below the Missouri River 10 times.
Treaties with the Mandan, Arikara, and Hidatsa Tribes
1825
Treaty of Fort Laramie
1851
Agreement of Fort Berthold
1866
Executive Order establishing the Fort Berthold Reservation
1870
Executive Order allowing railroad construction at Fort Berthold
1880
Agreement between United States and the MHA Nation that reduced the Reservation boundaries
1886
Legal opinion by the Department of Interior’s top lawyer recognizes MHA's mineral rights
1936
Legal decision by the Department of Interior’s Board of Land Appeals
1979
Fort Berthold Mineral Restoration Act
1984
Legal opinion by the Department of Interior affirms MHA's mineral rights
2017
The Department of the Interior rejects the false Jorjani opinion
2021
Department of the Interior Solicitor Bob Anderson issues a new legal opinion recognizing that the riverbed has always belonged to the MHA Nation
2022
The 2022 legal opinion must be upheld in order to maintain justice and return to self-sustainability for the MHA Nation.
Treaty Rights and Property Rights
For nearly two centuries, the federal government has repeatedly affirmed the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation’s property rights to the Missouri River. The legal and historical precedent is clear, MHA Nation owns the rights to the river and the river bed within the boundaries of our reservation.
As recently as February 2022, the federal government has issued a legal opinion in favor of the MHA Nation. There is no doubt that the MHA Nation are the rightful owners of the riverbed minerals, as proven time and again.
“There has never been a time when our property rights to the lands flooded by the Garrison Dam were under question. In fact, our rights to the minerals below the Missouri River were recognized before North Dakota even became a state. You only have to look at historical records and past actions by Congress to see the ten times the federal government has affirmed the minerals below the Missouri River belong to the MHA Nation.”
— John Fredericks III, Legal Counsel and MHA Nation tribal member
By recognizing our rights to the minerals below the Missouri, the current administration is upholding the federal government's treaty obligation, and supporting the MHA Nation’s ability to be more economically self-sufficient.
Our property rights allow us to depend more on our own resources and less on the federal government to provide for our people and for the larger Fort Berthold community.