WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) is profoundly troubled by the United States Department of Defense (DoD) decision to maintain the Medals of Honor awarded to U.S. soldiers for their actions at the Wounded Knee Massacre on December 29, 1890. This choice disregards the historical record of the brutal, unprovoked, and wrongful massacre of the Lakota by the United States 7th Cavalry and the moral imperative to confront injustice with honesty and courage.

Wounded Knee was not a “battle.” It was the intentional mass killing of more than 350 unarmed Lakota men, women, and children seeking safety from invading U.S. soldiers at Wounded Knee Creek. Contrary to U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s assertion that the awarding of these medals “in our nation’s history is no longer up for debate,” this act is an atrocity whose horror has been long recognized by historians, Tribal Nations, and even acknowledged by the U.S. Senate in 1990 via Concurrent Resolution 153’s expression of regret. Preserving these medals champions this atrocious massacre and compounds the harm to the victims’ descendants and to all Native peoples.

“Honoring those involved in the Wounded Knee Massacre with the United States’ highest military award is incompatible with the values the Medal of Honor is meant to represent,” said Larry Wright Jr., NCAI Executive Director. “Celebrating war crimes is not patriotic. This decision undermines truth-telling, reconciliation, and the healing that Indian Country and the United States still need.”

Such despicable violence should not have been lauded in the first place. In an effort to right the wrongs of the past, in 2024, the Department of Defense initiated a formal review of these medals; this week’s announcement asserts the medals will remain, despite decades of advocacy from Tribal Nations, historians, and members of Congress to rescind them. NCAI stands with the Lakota Nations, all Tribal communities, and all active Native service members and Native veterans—who serve this country honorably and at higher rates than any other population—who have sought to correct the historical record and align our highest honors with our highest ideals.

NCAI stands with and uplifts the words of Tribal leaders whose communities carry the trauma and structural burdens these acts imposed upon them.

“Secretary Hegseth’s decision is another act of violence against our Lakota people,” said Chairwoman Janet Alkire, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. “The Wounded Knee Massacre was an unprovoked attack on men, women, children and elders who had been rounded up by the military. As Indian people, we know what bravery and sacrifice means. We serve in the military at greater rates than any other group in the United States. I served in the Air Force with men and women who were brave and served with honor. The actions at Wounded Knee were not acts of bravery and valor deserving of the Medal of Honor. There is nothing Hegseth can do to rewrite the truth of that day.”

“The Wounded Knee Massacre was one of the darkest days in U.S. history,” added Chairman Ryman LeBeau, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. “The U.S. Cavalry stopped our people out on the high plains, surrounded them with guns and cannons, disarmed them, opened fire, and murdered them. Women and children were chased down and shot in the back. This is one of America’s darkest days and the medals must be revoked. They tarnish America’s Medals of Honor. There is no honor in murder. Secretary Pete Hegseth made this decision on his own concurrence with no contact or request for consultation to the Tribes.”

We demand that DoD immediately release the report used to make this ahistorical decision, to reverse course, and to immediately meet with NCAI and the leaders of the Great Plains Tribal Chairman's Association. Further, NCAI calls on Congress to honestly and accurately preserve American history through passing the “Remove the Stain Act” so that the nation’s highest honor fulfills its namesake by reflecting courage, not cowardice and cruelty.

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About the National Congress of American Indians:

Founded in 1944, the National Congress of American Indians is the oldest, largest, and most representative American Indian and Alaska Native organization in the country. NCAI advocates on behalf of tribal governments and communities, promoting strong tribal-federal government-to-government policies and a better understanding among the general public regarding American Indian and Alaska Native governments, people, and rights.