U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-South Dakota, reintroduced a bill Monday to protect 40 acres at the Wounded Knee Massacre site on behalf of the Oglala Sioux Tribe and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.

Johnson’s Wounded Knee Massacre Memorial and Sacred Site Act passed the House in 2023 but didn’t make it through the Senate last year. The new session of Congress began Friday.

“I’m hopeful the bill passes this Congress to provide greater tribal sovereignty to this sacred land,” Johnson said in a news release. 

Fate uncertain for Wounded Knee land bill and medals review as massacre commemoration approaches • South Dakota Searchlight

As the 134th commemoration of the Wounded Knee Massacre nears, efforts to protect the massacre site and review medals awarded to participating soldiers are in limbo.

South Dakota Searchlight

The massacre occurred on December 29, 1890. Lakota people were camped near Wounded Knee Creek on the Pine Ridge Reservation in southwestern South Dakota, where they were surrounded by hundreds of Army soldiers. A shot rang out while the soldiers tried to disarm the camp, and chaotic shooting ensued.

Fewer than 40 soldiers were killed (some by friendly fire, according to historians), while estimates of Lakota deaths ran from 200 to 300 or more, depending on the source. After some of the bodies froze on the ground for several days, a military-led burial party dumped them into a mass grave.

Two years ago, the two tribes purchased 40 acres at the massacre site from a private owner. The legislation would place the land in restricted-fee status, which means it could not be sold, taxed, gifted or leased without approval by Congress and both tribes.

Sen. Mike Rounds, R-South Dakota, told South Dakota Searchlight that he plans to reintroduce his own version of the bill soon in the Senate. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina, took advantage of rules last November allowing a single senator to block consideration of the House-passed bill. 

“We’ll do whatever we can to help the leaders of the two tribes to get this accomplished,” Rounds said. “This is their request. This is not a partisan issue. Republicans and Democrats all agree this should be done. One way or another, we’ll get it completed.”

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Tillis has opposed several tribal-related bills in an attempt to get senators to support his own bill to federally recognize the Lumbee Tribe in North Carolina. He called out the leaders of the Oglala and Cheyenne River Sioux tribes for allegedly not supporting his efforts. Rounds said Tillis may seek federal recognition in a “different direction” with President-elect Donald Trump’s impending inauguration.

Oglala Sioux Tribe President Frank Star Comes Out called the new bill “wholly uncontroversial” in Johnson’s Monday news release.

“This sacred site should forever serve to remind us of where we as a country have been and as a marker for how much further we have to go,” Star Comes Out said.

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Meanwhile, efforts to rescind medals of honor awarded to soldiers who participated in the massacre remain in limbo. The medals were subjected to a review last year by the Department of Defense, but there hasn’t been an announcement of the review panel’s recommendations. 

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been updated since its original publication with the addition of comments from Sen. Mike Rounds.

This story originally appeared on South Dakota Searchlight on January 6, 2025. It is published under a Creative Commons license (CC BY-ND 4.0).

South Dakota Searchlight is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. South Dakota Searchlight maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seth Tupper for questions: info@southdakotasearchlight.com.