MHA Nation Interpretive Center

The MHA Interpretive Center helps visitors understand and visualize the history and culture of the Mandan, Hidasta, and Arikara people. It tells the story of the Great MHA Nation via living history programs, permanent exhibits, and special events.

Guided tours are available for advance booking. The interpretive center also features a gift shop with exclusive merchandise and a coffee shop featuring specialty blends.

Masters of agriculture, the tribes settled near the fertile banks of the river majestic Missouri River, or its native name of “Awati.” They built large circular homes 30–60 feet across to accommodate multiple families, typically sisters and their kin. Today, you can experience these sacred structures at the reconstructed Earth Lodge Village at the interpretive center. You can stay the night in an earth lodge, take a trail ride, hear stories of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara peoples from cultural interpreters.

The Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, also known as the Three Affiliated Tribes, is located on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in central North Dakota. The reservation stretches across 988,000 acres of wide-open plains and grasslands, and along both sides of the longest river in North America, the majestic Missouri River, or its native name of “Awati.”

The native lands of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara people once extended from North Dakota across the Missouri River basin through western Montana and Wyoming. The Mandan, or “Nueta,” were prosperous farmers and traders, noted for their excellent maize cultivation and crafting of Knife River flint. The Hidatsa, or “Nuxbaaga” are considered a parent tribe to the Crow in Montana. The Arikara, or “Sahnish,” lived as a semi-nomadic people on the Great Plains.

Lewis and Clark stayed with the Mandan when they passed through the Upper Missouri region on their expedition to the Northwest, including five months in the winter of 1804–1805. Sakakawea then joined the expedition as an interpreter and native guide. On the return trip, the expedition brought the Mandan chief Sheheke with them back to Washington, DC.