This bill directs the Secretary of the Interior to complete whatever administrative and survey actions are necessary so that roughly 40 acres at the Wounded Knee Massacre site on the Pine Ridge Reservation are held by the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe in a specific statutory status called “restricted fee.” The statute defines that status to keep the land owned by the Tribes, make it part of the Pine Ridge Reservation under Oglala civil and criminal jurisdiction, bar state and local taxation, and prohibit transfer without Congress and tribal consent.
The Act preserves any preexisting private or municipal easements, rights-of-way, and utility agreements, requires assignment of applicable utility/service arrangements, and expressly disallows gaming activity on the parcel per a cited intertribal covenant. The Department of the Interior must finish these actions within 365 days of enactment, but the bill supplies no dedicated funding and relies on referenced covenant and maps for use limits and boundaries.
At a Glance
What It Does
The bill requires the Secretary of the Interior to complete documentation, survey corrections, and assignments of utility/service rights so roughly 40 acres at Wounded Knee are held in “restricted fee” by two tribes and integrated into the Pine Ridge Reservation. It also locks in jurisdictional, tax, and transfer rules and preserves existing encumbrances.
Who It Affects
Directly affected parties are the Oglala Sioux Tribe and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, the Department of the Interior (including BIA functions), municipal and private utility/service holders with existing agreements, and any holders of recorded easements or rights-of-way on the parcel.
Why It Matters
The measure creates a hybrid tribal land status that secures tribal ownership and jurisdiction while retaining preexisting encumbrances and blocking gaming—an approach that aims to protect a culturally sensitive site but raises operational, mapping, and authority questions for federal, tribal, and local actors.
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What This Bill Actually Does
The statute identifies an approximately 40-acre portion of the historic Wounded Knee Massacre site on Pine Ridge Reservation and describes it as Tribal land, explicitly including surface, subsurface, mineral estates, improvements, structures, and personal property. It references a specific map (dated October 26, 2022) and a separate intertribal document titled the “Covenant Between the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe” (dated October 21, 2022) to define the site’s intended use and limits.
The core action the bill orders is administrative: the Secretary must finish “all actions,” including documentation and minor survey or legal-description corrections, so that the parcel is held in restricted fee status by the two tribes. The bill also directs the Secretary to assign each applicable private and municipal utility and service right or agreement affecting the land, recognizing that third-party interests already recorded against the parcel will continue to bind the land.The statute spells out what restricted fee status means in practice: the tribes retain ownership; the land becomes part of the Pine Ridge Reservation and is expressly subject to the civil and criminal jurisdiction of the Oglala Sioux Tribe; the land cannot be taxed by state or local governments; the land cannot be transferred without consent from Congress and the Tribes; and the tribes may use the land without needing any Secretary review or approval so long as the use is permitted by the cited Covenant.
The bill also clarifies that the parcel remains subject to Federal laws applicable to Indian country and to the restriction against alienation in 25 U.S.C. 177.Finally, the Act makes two practical limits explicit: any private or municipal encumbrance, right-of-way, restriction, easement of record, or utility-service agreement in effect on enactment remains in place; and the parcel cannot be used for gaming under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, consistent with the referenced Covenant. The Secretary has a defined deadline—365 days—to complete the tasks the statute requires, but the text itself does not allocate money to cover administrative, surveying, or legal costs.
The Five Things You Need to Know
The bill targets an approximately 40-acre portion of the Wounded Knee Massacre site on Pine Ridge Reservation, including surface, subsurface, mineral estates, and improvements.
It defines a new statutory “restricted fee status” that preserves tribal ownership, subjects the land to Oglala civil and criminal jurisdiction, exempts it from state/local taxes, and bars transfer without concurrent congressional and tribal consent.
The Secretary of the Interior must finish necessary documentation, survey corrections, and assignment of applicable private and municipal utility/service rights within 365 days of enactment.
All preexisting recorded encumbrances, rights-of-way, easements, restrictions, and utility agreements remain binding on the land after the change in status.
The parcel is expressly barred from use for gaming under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act pursuant to the cited October 21, 2022 Covenant between the two tribes.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
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Short title — 'Wounded Knee Massacre Memorial and Sacred Site Act'
This opening section provides the statute's short title for citation. It has no operational effect but signals the legislative purpose: to memorialize and protect a culturally and historically sensitive site through a specific land status.
Defines 'restricted fee status,' Tribal land, Secretary, and Tribes
This section lays the legal foundations. It describes restricted fee status in five discrete bullets—ownership retained by the Tribes; inclusion in Pine Ridge under Oglala civil/criminal jurisdiction; prohibition on transfer without consent of Congress and the Tribes; exemption from state/local taxation; and a carve-out removing Secretary review/approval for Tribal uses that conform with the referenced Covenant. It also defines the parcel precisely (40 acres, surface and subsurface, mineral estate, improvements) and identifies the two tribes as signatories to the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty, which anchors the provision in treaty history.
Secretary must complete documentation, surveys, and assign utility/service rights
This actionable clause imposes a 365-day deadline for the Secretary to finish the administrative work needed to establish restricted fee status, including minor corrections to surveys and legal descriptions. It also requires the Secretary to “appropriately assign” private and municipal utility and service rights and agreements that apply to the parcel—an acknowledgment that third-party contractual relationships exist and must be transitioned or recorded against the new status.
Conditions: applicability of federal Indian laws, permitted uses, encumbrances, and gaming prohibition
The statute makes the land subject to federal laws relating to Indian country (18 U.S.C. 1151) and preserves the protection against alienation from 25 U.S.C. 177, while also requiring the land be used only for purposes allowed by the October 21, 2022 Covenant. It leaves any existing recorded encumbrance, right-of-way, easement, or utility agreement in place and explicitly prohibits gaming under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act on the parcel. Together, these provisions lock in both tribal control and several limits designed to protect third-party interests and keep the site non-gaming in perpetuity.
Statute relies on an external map and a Tribal covenant to define use and boundaries
Rather than embedding detailed use rules or boundaries in the statute, the bill references a map titled “Wounded Knee Sacred Site and Memorial Land” (October 26, 2022) and a Covenant (October 21, 2022). That delegation means practical interpretation of permitted uses and precise boundary lines will depend on those external documents, raising implementation reliance on non-statutory materials.
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Explore Indigenous Affairs in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Oglala Sioux Tribe — Gains clear statutory recognition of ownership and criminal/civil jurisdiction over the parcel, tax exemption, and a prohibition on transfers that safeguards control over memorial stewardship.
- Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe — Secures co-ownership and a statutory role tied to the intertribal Covenant that governs use, reinforcing the tribe's claim and participation in memorial management.
- Descendants, cultural preservation groups, and memorial caretakers — Benefit from a legal framework that prioritizes memorial preservation, prevents gaming, and maintains tribal authority over site use and interpretation.
- National and international heritage stakeholders — Gain a stable, tribe-controlled status for a historically significant site, which can facilitate culturally appropriate preservation planning and potential grant eligibility tied to protected-status land.
Who Bears the Cost
- Department of the Interior (including BIA) — Must complete surveys, documentation, and assignments within 365 days without allocated funding in the statute, creating an unfunded administrative obligation.
- Municipalities and local tax authorities in Oglala Lakota County — Lose the ability to tax the parcel and may face reduced local tax base or service-cost allocation complexities tied to the land's tax-exempt status.
- Private utility and service providers — Face contractual or recordation work to transfer or reassign service rights to reflect the land's new status and to ensure continuity of service under the encumbrances that remain.
- Holders of recorded easements or rights-of-way — Continue to be bound to the property but may encounter operational or legal friction if future tribal uses under the Covenant conflict with existing rights.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The central dilemma is between securing tribal control and protection of a culturally sacred massacre site—by minimizing external review and locking in tribal jurisdiction—and preserving the rights and practical expectations of existing private, municipal, and federal stakeholders; the statute advances preservation and sovereignty but does so in a way that leaves open procedural, mapping, and rights-management conflicts with no immediate funding or dispute-resolution framework.
The bill creates a hybrid legal posture—tribal ownership plus federal Indian-country rules—while simultaneously removing some layers of Interior oversight for uses consistent with an external Covenant. That mix raises immediate implementation questions: which Federal approvals still apply, how broadly the “no Secretary review” carve-out applies, and whether the referenced Covenant can itself be litigated or modified without statutory amendment.
Because the text relies on an external map and covenant to define permitted uses and boundaries, disputes over interpretation or updates to those documents could produce litigation or administrative gridlock.
Another tension concerns existing third-party interests. The statute preserves recorded encumbrances and requires assignment of utility/service rights, but it does not prioritize how conflicts between memorial uses and private easements will be resolved.
Mineral estates are included in the transfer, yet the bill does not address outstanding mineral leases or the process for reconciling subsurface rights. Finally, the 365-day deadline is administratively tight, and the law does not provide funding; the Interior Department will need to absorb the workload or seek appropriations, which could delay transfers or produce piecemeal implementation that undermines the preservation goals.
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