Driving into Badlands National Park in South Dakota is a bit like being transported to the floor of Tatooine, because it positively feels out-of-this-world. This distinctive park is thought for its putting landscapes, that includes an otherworldly mixture of jagged and layered rock formations and expansive prairies. It’s a spot the place guests can witness
In September 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, WWF worked with Indigenous leaders and photographer
Jason Houston to gather stories from Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Here, four members of the Oglala Lakota
Nation share, through their own words and images, stories from their lives. Monica Terkildsen
WWF Native Nations liaison and a member of the Oglala Lakota Nation. Monica facilitates Indigenous conservation efforts and works to bring the will of her people to the management of their land.
I am of the grass, plants, and trees, the root nation that sways in the winds of the prairie of the Northern Great Plains, storing carbon and returning oxygen to the world above. I am of the soil, that holds the very footprints and knowledge of my ancestors and provides life and vision for me. I am Oglala Lakota, Indigenous to this land, to this space, and I want to share with you the story of this place.