[Senate Report 119-72]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 177
119th Congress } { Report
SENATE
1st Session } { 119-72
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WOUNDED KNEE MASSACRE MEMORIAL AND SACRED SITE ACT
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October 2, 2025.--Ordered to be printed
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Mrs. Murkowski, from the Committee on Indian Affairs,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 165]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Indian Affairs, to which was referred the
bill (H.R. 165) to direct the Secretary of the Interior to
complete all actions necessary for certain land to be held in
restricted fee status by the Oglala Sioux Tribe and Cheyenne
River Sioux Tribe, and for other purposes, having considered
the same, reports favorably thereon without amendment and
recommends that the bill do pass.
PURPOSE
H.R. 165 would place approximately 40 acres of the Wounded
Knee massacre site, currently owned in fee by the Oglala Sioux
Tribe and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, into restricted fee
status.
BACKGROUND AND NEED
In 1868, the United States entered into the Treaty of Fort
Laramie with the Sioux Nation.\1\ In exchange for ceding
thousands of acres of land, among other promises, to the United
States, the Treaty established the Great Sioux Reservation in
western South Dakota, which was ``set apart for the absolute
and undisturbed use and occupation'' as a ``permanent home''
for the Nation.\2\ The Reservation was ultimately divided into
six separate reservations in North and South Dakota, including
the Pine Ridge and Cheyenne River Indian Reservations, by the
Act of March 2, 1889.\3\
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\1\15 Stat. 635 (Feb. 16, 1869) (Brule, Oglala, Miniconjou,
Yanktonai, Hunkpapa, Blackfeet, Cuthead, Two Kettle, Sans Arcs, and
Santee Sioux bands and the Arapaho).
\2\Id., Arts. 2, 7.
\3\Act of March 2, 1889 (25 Stat. 888).
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Despite the Treaty, tensions between non-Indian settlers,
federal agents, and the Sioux bands continued. On December 28,
1890, Chief Spotted Elk (Big Foot) and his Miniconjou Sioux
band were stopped by the U.S. Army's Seventh Cavalry on their
way to Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Major
Samuel M. Whitside ordered Chief Spotted Elk and his people to
camp near Wounded Knee Creek. Chief Spotted Elk objected and
told him that they were headed to Pine Ridge and would camp
there. Major Whitside refused and ordered them to camp at
Wounded Knee overnight.\4\
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\4\See, eg., Louis S. Warren, ``The Lakota Ghost Dance and the
Massacre at Wounded Knee,'' PBS, American Experience, Apr. 16, 2021.
Available at: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/
american-oz-lakota-ghost-dance-massacre-wounded-knee/.
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On December 29, 1890, 7th Calvary troops were sent to
disarm the Lakota due to non-Indian settler concern over
potential armed attack. A struggle occurred between the U.S.
Army and some of Chief Spotted Elk's band, and the U.S. Army
opened fire on this largely unarmed group, massacring hundreds
of Lakota men, women, and children. Those who tried to escape
were hunted down and killed by the U.S. Army.
On the 100th anniversary of the massacre, Congress issued a
formal apology, expressing deep regret for the actions of the
federal government and acknowledging the historical
significance of this event as the last armed conflict of the
Indian wars.\5\
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\5\S. Con. Res. 153 101st Cong. (1990).
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In September 2022, the Oglala Sioux Tribe and Cheyenne
River Sioux Tribe purchased a portion of the land where the
massacre occurred, in fee simple title, from a private owner.
On October 21, 2022, both Tribes signed a covenant providing
that the property will be maintained as a memorial and sacred
site without any commercial development, including gaming.\6\
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\6\Covenant Between the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the Cheyenne River
Sioux Tribe Concerning the Czywczynski Property at Wounded Knee (Oct.
21, 2022), on record with the Committee.
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Legislation is needed in order to place the 40-acre Wounded
Knee Massacre site into restricted fee status for the Oglala
Sioux Tribe and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.\7\
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\7\Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock, 187 U.S. 553 (1903).
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SUMMARY
H.R. 165 directs the Secretary of the Interior to place the
40-acre Wounded Knee Massacre site into restricted fee status
for the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.
H.R. 165 defines restricted fee status to mean that the two
Tribes retain ownership of the land, the lands are part of the
Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The use of the lands is limited
to those uses outlined in the October 2022 covenant, which
states the lands will be held and maintained as a memorial and
sacred site without commercial development, and the lands
cannot be used for gaming.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
H.R. 165 was introduced by Representative Johnson (R-SD) on
January 3, 2025. H.R. 165 passed the House of Representatives
on a vote of 416-0 on January 21, 2025. H.R. 165 was received
in the Senate and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs
on January 23, 2025. The Committee held a business meeting on
March 5, 2025, to consider H.R. 165 and ordered the bill to be
reported favorably, without amendment, by voice vote.
An identical bill, S. 105, was introduced by Senators
Rounds and Thune on January 15, 2025. The Committee held a
business meeting on March 5, 2025, to consider S. 105 and
ordered the bill to be reported favorably, without amendment,
by voice vote.
In the 118th Congress, an identical bill, H.R. 3371, was
introduced by Representative Johnson (R-SD) in the House of
Representatives on May 16, 2023. H.R. 3371 was referred to the
House Committee on Natural Resources. The House Natural
Resources Committee Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs
held a hearing on H.R. 3371 on June 7, 2023. H.R. 3371 was
considered at a markup in the House Natural Resources
Committee, on June 13, 2023, and ordered reported favorably by
unanimous consent, without amendment. H.R. 3371 passed the
House of Representatives by voice vote on September 14, 2023.
H.R. 3371 was received in the Senate and referred to the
Committee on Indian Affairs.
Senators Rounds and Thune introduced S. 2088, an identical
bill to H.R. 3371, on June 21, 2023. The Committee held a
hearing on S. 2088 on July 19, 2023 (S. Hrg. 118-170). On
November 15, 2023, the Committee held a business meeting to
consider S. 2088 and ordered the bill to be reported favorably,
without amendment, by voice vote (S. Rept. No. 118-208).
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION
The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in an open business
meeting on March 5, 2025, by a majority voice vote of a quorum
present, recommends that the Senate pass H.R. 165, without
amendment.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1--Short title
This section establishes the short title of the bill as,
the ``Wounded Knee Massacre Memorial and Sacred Site Act.''
Section 2--Definitions
This section provides definitions for the terms used in the
bill.
Section 3--Land held in restricted fee status by the tribes
This section directs the Secretary of the Interior place
into restricted fee status, not later than one year after
enactment of the legislation, approximately 40 acres of land
that is currently jointly owned in fee simple title by the
Oglala Sioux Tribe and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. The bill
also clarifies that the land shall be subject to restrictions
against alienation; limited to the purposes described in the
2022 covenant between the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the Cheyenne
River Sioux Tribe;\8\ subject to existing encumbrances, rights-
of-way, or other restriction or use; and subject to a
prohibition against gaming under the Indian Gaming Regulatory
Act.\9\
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\8\Covenant Between the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the Cheyenne River
Sioux Tribe, supra note 6, at page 2.
\9\Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, 25 U.S.C. Sec. Sec. 2701-2721
(1988).
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COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
H.R. 165 would direct the Department of the Interior (DOI)
to place approximately 40 acres of land owned by the Oglala
Sioux and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribes in restricted fee status.
The two tribes would retain ownership of the land, and the land
could not be transferred without the consent of the Congress
and the tribes. H.R. 165 would limit the use of the land to a
memorial and sacred site and prohibit commercial development
and gaming activity as outlined in a covenant signed in October
2022. The act also would require DOI to make any necessary
corrections to the survey and legal description of the land.
Using information from the department, CBO estimates that the
administrative costs to implement H.R. 165 would not be
significant.
H.R. 165 would impose an intergovernmental mandate as
defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA). The act
would prohibit state and local governments from taxing land
placed into restricted fee status for the Oglala Sioux Tribe
and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. Information from Oglala
Lakota County about taxes and other receipts associated with
the land indicates that those foregone revenues would total
less than $100,000 annually, well below the annual
intergovernmental threshold established in UMRA ($103 million
in 2025, adjusted annually for inflation).
The act contains no private-sector mandates.
On April 3, 2025, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for S.
105, the Wounded Knee Massacre Memorial and Sacred Site Act, as
ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on
March 5, 2025. The two pieces of legislation are similar, and
CBO's estimates of their budgetary effects are the same.
The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Julia Aman
(for federal costs) and Rachel Austin (for mandates). The
estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Director
of Budget Analysis.
Phillip L. Swagel,
Director, Congressional Budget Office.
REGULATORY AND PAPERWORK IMPACT STATEMENT
Paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the
Senate requires each report accompanying a bill to evaluate the
regulatory and paperwork impact that would be incurred in
carrying out the bill. The Committee believes that H.R. 165
will have minimal impact on regulatory or paperwork
requirements.
EXECUTIVE TESTIMONY AND COMMUNICATIONS
The testimony provided by the U.S. Department of the
Interior from the July 19, 2023, hearing on S. 2088 follows:
statement of wizipan garriott principal deputy assistant
secretary for indian affairs u.s. department of the
interior
S. 2088--Wounded Knee Massacre Memorial and Sacred Site Act
Good afternoon, Chairman Schatz, Vice Chairman Murkowski,
and members of the Committee. My name is Wizipan Garriott, and
I am the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Indian
Affairs at the Department of the Interior (Department). Thank
you for the opportunity to present testimony regarding S. 2088,
Wounded Knee Massacre Memorial and Sacred Site Act.
In October 2022, the Oglala Sioux Tribe and Cheyenne River
Sioux Tribe of the Cheyenne River Reservation (Tribes) acquired
approximately 40 acres of land in Wounded Knee, South Dakota.
The lands are significant to both Tribes as more than 300
Lakota people were lost at the site in 1890. The Tribes
acquired the land from private owners and plan to maintain the
site as a memorial and sacred site protected from commercial
development.
S. 2088 directs the Secretary of the Interior, within one
year, to complete and make any corrections to the survey and
legal description of the land and any other necessary actions
for the land to be held by the Tribes in restricted fee status.
S. 2088 defines restricted fee status to mean that the two
Tribes retain ownership of the land, the lands are part of the
Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and subject to civil and criminal
jurisdiction of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, cannot be transferred
without the consent of Congress and the Tribes, is not subject
to State or local taxation, and is not subject to any law
requiring the review or approval of the Secretary of the
Interior for the Tribes to use the land as allowed by the
covenant the Tribes entered into on October 21, 2022. The use
of the lands is limited by S. 2088 to those outlined in the
October 2022 covenant, which states the lands will be held and
maintained as a memorial and sacred site without commercial
development, and the lands cannot be used for gaming activities
under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. The Department supports
S. 2088 as it aligns with the Administration's commitment to
restore Tribal homelands. The Tribes will have more authority
to honor and protect the Wounded Knee site.
Chairman Schatz, Vice Chairman Murkowski, and Members of
the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to provide the
Department's views.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
In accordance with subsection 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee notes that no
changes in existing law are made by the bill as ordered
reported.
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