Johnson’s Wounded Knee Memorial Bill Passes U.S. Senate

Washington, D.C. - Today, the Wounded Knee Sacred Site and Memorial Act, introduced by U.S. Representative Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.), passed the United States Senate by unanimous consent. The bill now heads to the president's desk.

"Nearly 135 years after hundreds of lives were lost in the Wounded Knee Massacre, the time is now here to properly memorialize the lost and preserve the land," said Johnson. "I look forward to seeing the president sign this into law to ensure the land remains sacred for generations to come."

"We thank the Senators Thune and Rounds and Congressman Dusty Johnson for their leadership and support in helping us protect our sacred site through the passage of the Wounded Knee Massacre Memorial and Sacred Site Act," said Ryman LeBeau, Chairman, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. "The U.S. Cavalry shot at and murdered more than 350 unarmed Lakota babies, girls, boys, women, men, and elders at Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The U.S. Cavalry stopped our people out on the high plains as they were seeking peace, surrounded them with guns and cannons, disarmed them, opened fire, and murdered them. Today, we stand to acknowledge the atrocities committed against the Lakota people to continue to heal, to protect, to educate, and most importantly, to ensure that we never forget the Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890."

"On behalf of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, I am pleased that today the Senate passed the Wounded Knee Massacre site bill, a bill that passed the House earlier this year," said Frank Star Comes Out, President, Oglala Sioux Tribe. "It is now poised to become an Act of Congress: an important Act that will preserve the memory of the Wounded Knee Massacre and the legacy and sacrifice of our ancestors. Significantly, it also promotes tribal self-determination and allows us to protect our Wounded Knee site in perpetuity. We thank Representative Dusty Johnson as well as Senator Rounds and Majority Leader Thune for getting this bill through both chambers of Congress. It is fitting that this action comes as we prepare to commemorate the 135^th anniversary of the Wounded Knee Massacre on December 29^th."

After months of working in coordination with the Oglala Sioux Tribe and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Johnson introducedthe legislation last Congress, which passed the House unanimously but was not voted on by the U.S. Senate. Johnson reintroduced the bill in January 2025 and it passed the Houselater that month.

The identical Senate companion bill is led by U.S. Senators Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and John Thune (R-S.D.).

Wounded Knee Massacre Background:

In the late 1880s, a movement called the Ghost Dance swept across the nation. Indians believed that this dance would give stolen land back to the Indians, bringing about a renewal of Native society. Indians would join together, wearing shirts they believed would protect them from bullets, to dance for this renewal, all at the protest of the federal government.

On December 29, 1890, a group of Lakota Indians led by Chief Spotted Elk had made camp near Wounded Knee Creek on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. There, U.S. Army 7th Calvary troops were sent to disarm the Lakota. A struggle occurred between the U.S. Army and some of Chief Spotted Elk's band - a majority of which consisted of women and children. A shot rang out, and the U.S. Army opened fire on the largely unarmed group, massacring an estimated up to 350-375 Lakota Indians. Twenty-five U.S. soldiers also died.