Federal legislation designating 40 acres at the Wounded Knee massacre site as a memorial and sacred ground is now awaiting President Donald Trump’s signature.
The Wounded Knee Massacre Memorial and Sacred Site Act, sponsored by Sen. Mike Rounds and Rep. Dusty Johnson of South Dakota, passed the Senate unanimously Thursday after the House approved it earlier this year. Sen. John Thune cosponsored the measure.
The act directs the Interior Department to place the land in restricted fee status as part of the Pine Ridge Reservation, jointly owned by the Oglala Sioux Tribe and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. The tribes purchased the property in 2022 and pledged it would remain a memorial site without commercial development.
Lawmakers and tribal leaders hailed the legislation as a historic step to honor the more than 250 Lakota men, women, and children killed by U.S. soldiers at Wounded Knee on December 29, 1890. The bill’s passage comes just weeks before the 135th anniversary of the massacre.
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