{"id":8862,"date":"2019-07-01T22:39:53","date_gmt":"2019-07-02T03:39:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wounded-knee-descendants-want-massacre-medals-revoked\/"},"modified":"2019-07-01T22:39:57","modified_gmt":"2019-07-02T03:39:57","slug":"wounded-knee-descendants-want-massacre-medals-revoked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wounded-knee-descendants-want-massacre-medals-revoked\/","title":{"rendered":"Wounded Knee descendants want massacre medals revoked"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/span><\/div>
\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Wounded Knee Cemetery on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.
Photo: Adam Singer<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

WASHINGTON \u2013 Descendants of the Wounded Knee Massacre<\/a> are in the nation\u2019s capital to discuss efforts to rescind the Medals of Honor awarded to the soldiers<\/a> who participated in the slaughter of their ancestors on December 29, 1890.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cbattle\u201d and awarded the Medal of Honor<\/a> \u2014 its highest commendation \u2014 to 20 men who took part.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe murderers of Wounded Knee committed no gallantry,\u201d O.J. Semans, a veteran from the Rosebud Sioux Tribe<\/a>, wrote in a letter to President Donald Trump<\/a> earlier this year. \u201cThey committed an atrocity that stains the honor of the United States Armed Services to this day.\u201d<\/p>\n

To \u201cremove the stain,\u201d the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre Descendants Society<\/a> and Four Directions<\/a>, 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 \u2014 June 25 is the 143rd anniversary of the Battle of the Greasy Grass<\/a>, also known as Battle of the Little Bighorn, a day of triumph for the Lakota people.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe recognize and honor all the tribes and tribal members that have continually worked for over a 100-plus years to get to this point,\u201d Manny Iron Hawk and Phyllis Hollow Horn, the co-chairs of the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre Descendants Society, said in a letter of support.<\/p>\n

Iron Hawk, a citizen of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe<\/a>, and Hollow Horn, a citizen of the Oglala Sioux Tribe<\/a>, 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>, a 99-year-old citizen of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe who received the Legion of Honour<\/a>, the highest military award in France, for her service during World War II.<\/p>\n

In 1990, Congress expressed \u201cdeep regret\u201d to the Wounded Knee descendants for the massacre of their ancestors and relatives a century prior. S.Con.Res.135<\/a> passed the House and the Senate in October of that year.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Descendants of those who were massacred at Wounded Knee who went to Washington DC this week to ask for the Medals of Honor awarded to members of the 7th Cavelry be rovoked. Included in the group is 99 year old World War II Marcella LeBeau.
Photo Courtesy: Four Directions<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The symbolic resolution reads: \u201cCongress, 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\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

The measure also cites \u201creconciliation efforts\u201d underway to address the legacy of the massacre. Rescinding the Medals of Honor \u2014 through legislation or other means \u2014 is part of the ongoing work of the Wounded Knee descendants and their supporters.<\/p>\n

\u201cTake those medals back and let that action promote the noble aim of reconciliation Congress expressed in 1990,\u201d Semans told key members of Congress<\/a>. A similar request has been made to the Democratic candidates for U.S. president<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The February letter to Trump came after the president invoked Wounded Knee in a \u201c\u2018racist\u201d and \u201cdisrespectful\u201d manner<\/a>, tribal leaders asserted at the time. Chairman Harold Frazier<\/a> of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe said the massacre represented the \u201cextinction of family bloodlines, the mass murder of children and elderly, and the sum of white hatred, bigotry, and racism.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut Wounded Knee is also something that he has clearly missed \u2014 it is a reminder that we are still here,\u201d Frazier wrote<\/a> in reference to Trump. \u201cJust 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lakota veteran Marcella LeBeau, 99, on the trip to Washington, D.C. Photo: Four Directions<\/a><\/p>\n

The press conference is scheduled to take place at 11am Eastern on Tuesday. The location is the House Triangle<\/a>, which is the grassy area on the House side of the Capitol\u2019s East Front.<\/p>\n

In the event of inclement weather or other circumstances, an alternate location indoors will be announced.<\/p>\n

Four Directions plans to broadcast the press conference on Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/div>

Visit Original Source<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<\/span><\/div>

The Wounded Knee Cemetery on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.Photo: Adam Singer WASHINGTON \u2013 Descendants of the Wounded Knee Massacre are in the nation\u2019s capital to discuss efforts to rescind the Medals of Honor awarded to the soldiers who participated in the slaughter of their ancestors on December <\/p>\n

Read More<\/a>
Shared by Native Sun News Today<\/a> July 1, 2019<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/div>","protected":false},"author":1541,"featured_media":8863,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5627],"tags":[10105,3222,6657],"class_list":["post-8862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-resource-directory-blog","tag-archive","tag-news","tag-top-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1541"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8862"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8862\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}