A monument erected over a century ago at the Wounded Knee Massacre site to honor tribal leaders killed there was vandalized sometime earlier this month..
Oglala Lakota County Commissioner Wendell Yellow Bull says a decorative element resembling an urn on the top of the monument was pulled off and left broken nearby while graffiti was sprayed on the monument’s south side.
The monument honors the 22 headmen or “Itancan” who were killed in the Wounded Knee Massacre.
It has special meaning to Yellow Bull because it was commissioned by his great-grandfather, Joseph Horn Cloud, who survived the massacre at Wounded Knee as a teenager and whose parents, 2 brothers, and a niece died there at the hands of the U-S Army.
Yellow Bull has worked with Sioux Monument in Martin since the vandalism was discovered to repair and clean the monument. Company owner Rick May, who is Oglala Lakota, paid for the repairs himself, estimating the cost at about $500.
Yellow Bull plans to hold a ceremony when the broken pieces are placed back atop the monument on Monday. Rick May hopes the event will bring renewed attention to Wounded Knee