# Wounded Knee descendants vow to keep fighting medal revocations **Published:** 2026-06-20T09:00:43.000Z **Source:** [Nebraska Examiner](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/06/20/repub/wounded-knee-descendants-vow-to-keep-pressing-for-medal-revocations-as-senate-committee-seeks-info/) **AI-generated:** yes (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) **Canonical:** https://lincolne.news/article/wounded-knee-descendants-vow-to-keep-fighting-medal-revocations Descendants of survivors of the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre said they will continue pushing for the revocation of Medals of Honor awarded to soldiers involved in the massacre, even after the Defense Department decided in September to retain the medals. [According to the Nebraska Examiner](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/06/20/repub/wounded-knee-descendants-vow-to-keep-pressing-for-medal-revocations-as-senate-committee-seeks-info/), the effort received a boost this week when the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee directed the Pentagon to disclose unredacted materials from its recent medals review and provide a briefing to Congress by February 1. "I'm not going to feel like there's any justice until that happens," said Violet Catches, a descendant of survivors and member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, whose great-grandfather was killed at the massacre. "There was nothing honorable about that day." The Senate committee's report noted that the Pentagon "has announced the results of the review but not explained what it did and did not consider as part of the review process." The report said stakeholders, including descendants and tribal members, have expressed concerns about which historical sources, experts and legal standards were examined. U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-South Dakota, said the directive seeks to require the secretary of defense to provide "the full report and unredacted materials" from the department's recent review. The push for medal revocations comes after a 2024 Department of Defense review panel concluded that approximately 20 soldiers did not have disqualifying actions warranting removal of their medals. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the decision in September 2025, characterizing the event as a "battle" and saying the soldiers "deserve those medals." However, historians and tribal leaders widely dispute the characterization. [Investigations and eyewitness accounts established the event as a massacre: the U.S. Army combatants significantly outnumbered the Lakota present, many of whom had already given up their weapons at the Army's demand.](https://www.britannica.com/event/Wounded-Knee-Massacre) On December 29, 1890, approximately 470 soldiers of the 7th Cavalry Regiment surrounded a band of about 370 Lakota people seeking refuge at Wounded Knee Creek in southwestern South Dakota. [During the military's attempt to recover weapons from the imprisoned refugees, a gun was discharged and soldiers opened fire, killing hundreds of Lakota men, women, and children.](https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/immigration/native-american/disaster-at-wounded-knee/) Wizipan Little Elk Garriott, an Interior-appointed panelist and member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, told South Dakota Searchlight that the Pentagon's three panelists "were looking for evidence that individuals committed war crimes, essentially." "The broader question — that this was a massacre in which women and children were killed and therefore not deserving of medals — was simply not part of the conversation," Garriott said. Congress passed a resolution expressing "deep regret" for the massacre in 1990, but the medals have never been rescinded. Advocacy groups, including the [National Congress of American Indians, have called the massacre the "intentional mass killing" of more than 350 unarmed Lakota men, women and children.](https://www.ncai.org/news/ncai-statement-on-pentagon-decision-to-maintain-medals-for-soldiers-at-the-wounded-knee-massacre) OJ Semans, a Rosebud Sioux Tribe member and advocate for medal revocation, said the Senate committee's action provides a path forward. "Until they're able to read about that injustice, or read about those atrocities, there will be no justice," Semans said. ## Sources - [Nebraska Examiner](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/06/20/repub/wounded-knee-descendants-vow-to-keep-pressing-for-medal-revocations-as-senate-committee-seeks-info/) - [Britannica overview of the Wounded Knee Massacre](https://www.britannica.com/event/Wounded-Knee-Massacre) - [Library of Congress educational materials on the Wounded Knee Massacre](https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/immigration/native-american/disaster-at-wounded-knee/) - [National Congress of American Indians statement on Pentagon decision to maintain medals](https://www.ncai.org/news/ncai-statement-on-pentagon-decision-to-maintain-medals-for-soldiers-at-the-wounded-knee-massacre) --- This article was generated by AI (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) based on source material from Nebraska Examiner, enriched with 3 web searches. The original source is available at https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/06/20/repub/wounded-knee-descendants-vow-to-keep-pressing-for-medal-revocations-as-senate-committee-seeks-info/.