Bill Details
S.105 - 119th Congress
Status
Latest action
2025-10-02 - Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 176.
Introduced Date
2025-01-15
Policy Area
Native Americans
Committees
View committees (1)
Sponsors
Cosponsors
View cosponsors (1)
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AI Summary This summary was generated by AI from the bill text. AI can get information wrong.
This bill would require the Secretary of the Interior to finish the steps needed to place about 40 acres at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, into a special ownership status for the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. The land would still belong to the tribes, remain part of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, and be protected from state or local taxes and from being sold without the approval of both the tribes and Congress. The bill also says the land must be used only for the purposes agreed to by the tribes in their 2022 covenant, must keep any existing rights-of-way or utility agreements, and cannot be used for gaming.
- The Interior Secretary would have up to 365 days after the law takes effect to complete the required paperwork and any small survey corrections needed for the land status change.
- The land would be treated like Indian country under federal law and would fall under the civil and criminal authority of the Oglala Sioux Tribe.
- The land would stay subject to any existing private or municipal easements, restrictions, and utility service agreements already in place.
- The bill makes clear that no gaming activities would be allowed on the land under federal Indian gaming law.
Official Summaries
Wounded Knee Massacre Memorial and Sacred Site Act
This bill directs the Department of the Interior to complete all actions necessary to place approximately 40 acres of land in Oglala Lakota County, South Dakota, into restricted fee status for the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. Restricted fee status refers to land that is owned by a tribe or tribal member but is subject to restrictions by the United States against alienation (i.e., sale or transfer) or encumbrance (e.g., liens, leases, or rights-of-way) by operation of law.
The bill requires the land to be held and maintained as a memorial and sacred site, as outlined by the document titled Covenant Between the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and dated October 21, 2022. Further, it prohibits commercial development and gaming activity on the land.
Current Full Text
[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 105 Reported in Senate (RS)]
<DOC>
Calendar No. 176
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 105
[Report No. 119-71]
To direct the Secretary of the Interior to complete all actions
necessary for certain land to be held in restricted fee status by the
Oglala Sioux Tribe and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January 15, 2025
Mr. Rounds (for himself and Mr. Thune) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs
October 2, 2025
Reported by Ms. Murkowski, without amendment
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of the Interior to complete all actions
necessary for certain land to be held in restricted fee status by the
Oglala Sioux Tribe and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Wounded Knee Massacre Memorial and
Sacred Site Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Restricted fee status.--The term ``restricted fee
status'' means a status in which the Tribal land--
(A) shall continue to be owned by the Tribes;
(B) shall be part of the Pine Ridge Indian
Reservation and expressly made subject to the civil and
criminal jurisdiction of the Oglala Sioux Tribe;
(C) shall not be transferred without the consent of
Congress and the Tribes;
(D) shall not be subject to taxation by a State or
local government; and
(E) shall not be subject to any provision of law
providing for the review or approval by the Secretary
of the Interior before the Tribes may use the land for
any purpose as allowed by the document titled
``Covenant Between the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe'' and dated October 21,
2022, directly, or through agreement with another
party.
(2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of the Interior.
(3) Tribal land.--The term ``Tribal land'' means the
approximately 40 acres (including the surface and subsurface
estate, and mineral estate, and any and all improvements,
structures, and personal property on those acres) on the Pine
Ridge Indian Reservation in Oglala Lakota County, at Rural
County Road 4, Wounded Knee, South Dakota, and generally
depicted as ``Area of Interest'' on the map entitled ``Wounded
Knee Sacred Site and Memorial Land'' and dated October 26,
2022, which is a segment of the December 29, 1890, Wounded Knee
Massacre site.
(4) Tribes.--The term ``Tribes'' means the Oglala Sioux
Tribe and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of the Cheyenne River
Reservation, both tribes being among the constituent tribes of
the Great Sioux Nation and signatories to the Fort Laramie
Treaty of 1868 between the United States of America and the
Great Sioux Nation, 15 Stat. 635.
SEC. 3. LAND HELD IN RESTRICTED FEE STATUS BY THE TRIBES.
(a) Action by Secretary.--Not later than 365 days after enactment
of this Act, the Secretary shall--
(1) complete all actions, including documentation and minor
corrections to the survey and legal description of Tribal land,
necessary for the Tribal land to be held by the Tribes in
restricted fee status; and
(2) appropriately assign each applicable private and
municipal utility and service right or agreement with regard to
the Tribal land.
(b) Conditions.--
(1) Federal laws relating to indian land.--Except as
otherwise provided in this Act, the Tribal land shall be
subject to Federal laws relating to Indian country, as defined
by section 1151 of title 18, United States Code and protected
by the restriction against alienation in section 177 of title
25, United States Code.
(2) Use of land.--The Tribal land shall be used for the
purposes allowed by the document titled ``Covenant Between the
Oglala Sioux Tribe and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe'' and
dated October 21, 2022.
(3) Encumbrances and agreements.--The Tribal land shall
remain subject to any private or municipal encumbrance, right-
of-way, restriction, easement of record, or utility service
agreement in effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.
(4) Gaming.--Pursuant to the document titled ``Covenant
Between the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the Cheyenne River Sioux
Tribe'' and dated October 21, 2022, the Tribal land shall not
be used for gaming activity under the Indian Gaming Regulatory
Act (25 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.).
Calendar No. 176
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 105
[Report No. 119-71]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of the Interior to complete all actions
necessary for certain land to be held in restricted fee status by the
Oglala Sioux Tribe and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
October 2, 2025
Reported without amendment