Indigenous Affairs

Senate committee seeks transparency from Defense Department as Wounded Knee medal fight continues

Wounded Knee survivors’ descendants renew calls to revoke soldiers’ Medals of Honor

Trust Mark

Descendants of Wounded Knee survivors say they will continue pressing to revoke Medals of Honor awarded to soldiers present at the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre, despite the Defense Department's decision to uphold them, according to reporting from South Dakota Searchlight. The Senate Armed Services Committee directed the secretary of defense to provide the full report and unredacted materials from the Defense Department's review by Feb. 1, 2027. The committee said that stakeholders raised concerns about the historical sources, experts and legal standards considered during the review.

"We are not going to quit," Violet Catches, a Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe member and descendant of massacre survivors, was quoted as saying. Rosebud Sioux Tribe member OJ Semans said he plans to continue educating lawmakers about the massacre.

References

  1. 1.South Dakota Searchlight.

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