President Donald Trump has signed the Wounded Knee Massacre Memorial and Sacred Site Act into law. The legislation, introduced by Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), ensures that 40 acres at the site of the Wounded Knee Massacre will be held in restricted fee status by both the Oglala Sioux and Cheyenne River Sioux tribes.
“President Trump has officially signed the Wounded Knee Massacre Memorial and Sacred Site Act into law,” said Rounds. “The land at this symbolic and sacred site will now be held in possession of both the Oglala Sioux and Cheyenne River Sioux tribes to be preserved for future generations. I’m pleased that our work on this legislation over the past three years has paid off. We will continue to tell the story of Wounded Knee and the events that occurred at this location 135 years ago this month.”
The bill was first introduced by Rounds in June 2023. Leaders from both tribes, including Ryman LeBeau, Chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, and Frank Star Comes Out, President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, provided testimony during a Senate Committee on Indian Affairs hearing. Although it initially passed committee unanimously, it did not advance through the full Senate at that time.
Rounds reintroduced the measure in January 2025 to the 119th Congress. The act again received unanimous approval from both the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in March 2025 and later from the full Senate on December 11, 2025. Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) cosponsored the bill, while Representative Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) introduced similar legislation in the House.
The new law is intended to protect and preserve land significant to Native American history for future generations.