Wounded Knee Massacre Memorial and Sacred Site Act

[119th Congress Public Law 61]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

[[Page 139 STAT. 1977]]

Public Law 119-61
119th Congress

                                 An Act

    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. <<NOTE: Dec. 19, 2025 -  [H.R. 165]>>

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, <<NOTE: Wounded Knee
Massacre Memorial and Sacred Site Act.>>
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

[[Page 139 STAT. 1978]]

        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) <<NOTE: Deadline.>> Action by Secretary.--Not later than 365
days after enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall--
            (1) <<NOTE: Records. Survey.>> 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.).

    Approved December 19, 2025.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--H.R. 165 (S. 105):
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

SENATE REPORTS: Nos. 119-72 and 119-71, accompanying S. 105 (both from
Comm. on Indian Affairs).
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 171 (2025):
            Jan. 21, 22, considered and passed House.
            Dec. 11, considered and passed Senate.

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