Wounded Knee Massacre Memorial and Sacred Site Act

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3371, the Wounded Knee Massacre Memorial and Sacred Site Act, introduced by my colleague from South Dakota (Mr. Johnson).

This legislation is an important step to honor Lakota lives lost at Wounded Knee and honor the Lakota for generations to come.

In particular, this bill would place approximately 40 acres of land located within the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation into restricted fee status for the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. This is the land believed to be the site of the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre.

In the late 1880s, Tribes began holding ghost dances for the renewal of stolen land and in protest of the U.S. Government, a government that prohibited American Indians from practicing their religious freedom.

In December of 1890, the government sent U.S. Army 7th Cavalry troops to disarm the Lakota near Wounded Knee Creek. A struggle occurred, and the 7th Cavalry brutally massacred over 350 American Indian men, women, and children near Wounded Knee Creek.

The Wounded Knee Massacre was one of the most atrocious acts in our Nation's history. The healing is still continuing today.

In 2022, the Oglala Sioux Tribe and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe purchased this land and signed a covenant to hold and maintain the land as a memorial and sacred site.

Representative Johnson's bill affirms that covenant and would allow the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe to hold, maintain, and protect the land as a memorial and sacred site without any development.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. GALLEGO. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation. I yield back the balance of my time.

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