Wounded Knee descendants want massacre medals revoked

WASHINGTON – Descendants of the Wounded Knee Massacre are in the nation’s capital to discuss efforts to rescind the Medals of Honor awarded to the soldiers who participated in the slaughter of their ancestors on December 29, 1890.

On that genocidal day, more than 300 Lakota children, women, men and elders were killed during an attack on a peaceful encampment on the Pine Ridge Reservation South Dakota. The U.S. Army called it a “battle” and awarded the Medal of Honor — its highest commendation — to 20 men who took part.

“The murderers of Wounded Knee committed no gallantry,” O.J. Semans, a veteran from the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, wrote in a letter to President Donald Trump earlier this year. “They committed an atrocity that stains the honor of the United States Armed Services to this day.”

To “remove the stain,” the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre Descendants Society and Four Directions, an advocacy group co-directed by Semans, are meeting with key members of Congress and holding a press conference at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday to explain why the medals must be revoked. The day was chosen for a reason — June 25 is the 143rd anniversary of the Battle of the Greasy Grass, also known as Battle of the Little Bighorn, a day of triumph for the Lakota people.

“We recognize and honor all the tribes and tribal members that have continually worked for over a 100-plus years to get to this point,” Manny Iron Hawk and Phyllis Hollow Horn, the co-chairs of the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre Descendants Society, said in a letter of support.

Iron Hawk, a citizen of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, and Hollow Horn, a citizen of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, are among the delegation of Wounded Knee descendants and supporters who left South Dakota for Washington, D.C., on Sunday. The group also includes Marcella LeBeau, a 99-year-old citizen of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe who received the Legion of Honour, the highest military award in France, for her service during World War II.

In 1990, Congress expressed “deep regret” to the Wounded Knee descendants for the massacre of their ancestors and relatives a century prior. S.Con.Res.135 passed the House and the Senate in October of that year.

The symbolic resolution reads: “Congress, on the occasion of the one hundredth anniversary of the Wounded Knee Massacre of December 29, 1890, hereby acknowledges the historical significance of this event as the last armed conflict of the Indian wars period resulting in the tragic death and injury of approximately 350-375 Indian men, women, and children of Chief Big Foot’s band of Minneconjou Sioux and hereby expresses its deep regret on behalf of the United States to the descendants of the victims and survivors and their respective tribal communities.”

The measure also cites “reconciliation efforts” underway to address the legacy of the massacre. Rescinding the Medals of Honor — through legislation or other means — is part of the ongoing work of the Wounded Knee descendants and their supporters.

“Take those medals back and let that action promote the noble aim of reconciliation Congress expressed in 1990,” Semans told key members of Congress. A similar request has been made to the Democratic candidates for U.S. president.

The February letter to Trump came after the president invoked Wounded Knee in a “‘racist” and “disrespectful” manner, tribal leaders asserted at the time. Chairman Harold Frazier of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe said the massacre represented the “extinction of family bloodlines, the mass murder of children and elderly, and the sum of white hatred, bigotry, and racism.”

“But Wounded Knee is also something that he has clearly missed — it is a reminder that we are still here,” Frazier wrote in reference to Trump. “Just as the Takini (survivors) of Wounded Knee did, we continue to fight for our inherit right to live in a world that has rapidly forgotten what it means to be human.”

Lakota veteran Marcella LeBeau, 99, on the trip to Washington, D.C. Photo: Four Directions

The press conference is scheduled to take place at 11am Eastern on Tuesday. The location is the House Triangle, which is the grassy area on the House side of the Capitol’s East Front.

In the event of inclement weather or other circumstances, an alternate location indoors will be announced.

Four Directions plans to broadcast the press conference on Facebook.

 

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