Near Interior in Jackson County, South Dakota — The American Midwest (Upper Plains)
Mako sica
Photographed by Ruth VanSteenwyk, July 15, 2019
1. Mako sica Marker
Mako sica - Lakota
Les mauvaises terres
The Badlands
When the Lakota looked on the land around you, they saw the Paha ska (white hills)-a place of bountiful hunting. Historically used for transitory camps, the Paha ska and their western counterpart the Paha sapa (black hills) lie in the heart of Lakota treaty lands set aside in 1868.
French trappers in the mid-1700s, frustrated by the land's sharp peaks and crumbling rock, regarded the area as les mauvaises terres (bad lands).The Lakota also began calling this place Mako sica (land bad).
Captions
Lakota men-Badlands 1905
Photographer Edward Curtis images provide glimpses of Native American lifeways across the United States at the turn of the 20th century.
Canadian badlands-Alberta, Canada
Badland formations are found on every continent. A visit to the White River Badlands of South Dakota is a tribute to the origin of the term: dry climate, sedentary rocks, canyons, and pinnacles. Welcome to the definitive Badlands.
Erected by National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic
this page online
Location. 43° 45.845′ N, 101° 55.492′ W. Marker is near Interior, South Dakota, in Jackson County. It is on Enter The Door Trail. Located on the Door Trail in the Badlands National Park. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Interior SD 57750, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is on South Dakota’s Oglala Lakota Pine Ridge Reservation, in West River, and in the Badlands. It is also in the American Lewis & Clark Corridor, on the prairies, and on the Northern Plains. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once Ruperts Land and also the Louisiana Purchase.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 4 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Anatomy of a Badland (within shouting distance of this marker); Badlands Oasis (approx. 0.9 miles away); Cliff Shelf Nature Trail (approx. one mile away);
Photographed by Ruth VanSteenwyk, July 15, 2019
2. Mako sica Marker
Credits. This page was last revised on June 30, 2026. It was originally submitted on July 25, 2019, by Ruth VanSteenwyk of Aberdeen, South Dakota. This page has been viewed 743 times since then and 38 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on July 25, 2019, by Ruth VanSteenwyk of Aberdeen, South Dakota. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.
