The U-S House has unanimously approved and sent to the Senate South Dakota Republican Congressman Dusty Johnson’s Wounded Knee Massacre Memorial and Sacred Site Act
The bill will safeguard a portion of the land where hundreds of Lakota Indians were massacred by the U-S Army in December 1890 by designating a memorial and exempting it from local and state taxes
Johnson introduced the bill in May after extensive collaboration with both the Oglala Sioux and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribes. It was advanced to floor debate in June on a unanimous vote by the House Natural Resources Committee in June.
In urging his colleagues to sign the bill earlier this week, Johnson called what happened at Wounded Knee “a stain on our nation’s past that cannot be washed away” and must not be forgotten.
Johnson said his bill is “a step closer to properly memorializing the lives lost and protecting the land forever.”
The Oglala and Cheyenne River tribes purchased 40 acres of privately-owned land near the Wounded Knee National Historic Landmark last year. The Dept of Interior took the land into trust for both tribes with the title in the Oglala Sioux name.
Cheyenne River Sioux Chairman Ryman LeBeau says the tribe extends its strong support for passage of the Wounded Knee Massacre Memorial and Sacred Site Act, and thanks Johnson and the full House for taking “this important step.”.
Oglala Sioux President Frank Star Comes Out says the Lakota are also praises the House of Representatives for acting quickly to pass what he calls “this important legislation.”
President Star Comes Out says the bill not only protects sacred land at Wounded Knee, but also continues the healing process for the descendants of victims and survivors of the Wounded Knee Massacre.”
Both Star Comes Out and LeBeau testified before the House Natural Resources this summer before the panel advanced the bill