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Read. Follow. Verify.Proposed Protection for Wounded Knee Massacre Site (S. 2088)
Record date · January 1, 2023
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What This Bill Does
The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs held a hearing to discuss S. 2088, a bill that would place 40 acres of land at the Wounded Knee Massacre site into '.' This status would legally enforce a tribal to preserve the land as a sacred memorial, prohibiting commercial development or gaming.
The bill would legally codify a 2022 agreement by the Oglala Sioux and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribes to permanently protect 40 acres of the Wounded Knee Massacre site from commercial use.
Who It Affects
Groups the bill's text affects, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Oglala Sioux Tribe
The tribe is a co-owner of the land and would be subject to the federal restrictions imposed by the bill.
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe
The tribe is a co-owner of the land and would be subject to the federal restrictions imposed by the bill.
Key Facts
- S. 2088 proposes placing 40 acres of land at the Wounded Knee Massacre site into restricted fee status.
- The land is currently owned in fee by the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.
- The tribes purchased the 40-acre site from a private owner in September 2022.
- A 2022 covenant signed by the tribes restricts the land to use as a memorial and sacred site.
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- The covenant explicitly prohibits commercial development and Indian gaming on the property.
- The Wounded Knee Massacre occurred on December 29, 1890, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
- The site is historically significant as the location where hundreds of unarmed Lakota people were killed by the U.S. Army.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 'restricted fee status' mean for this land?
Who owns the land currently?
Will this bill allow for new buildings or businesses on the site?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Discoveries
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Federal Enforcement of Tribal Covenants
The bill represents a mechanism where the federal government uses 'restricted fee status' to provide legal teeth to a private tribal land-use covenant.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.govinfo.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance65How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy10Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz20Current news / social attention level
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