Sponsor
Dustin Johnson
Representative · R-SD
Representative · R-SD
The bill transfers and protects control of a culturally significant ~40-acre site to the Oglala and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribes—strengthening tribal sovereignty and clarifying jurisdiction—while reducing local tax revenue, limiting some federal oversight and future flexibility, and imposing transition costs for local governments and service providers.
Members of the Oglala Sioux and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribes gain federal restricted-fee title and protected control of ~40 acres at Wounded Knee, strengthening tribal sovereignty and preventing transfer or sale without both Congressional and Tribal consent.
The land's restricted-fee status will exempt it from State and local property taxes, reducing tax liability for the Tribes and lowering ongoing cost burdens for tribal landholders.
Tribes gain clearer and faster authority to use the land consistent with the Oct 21, 2022 covenant because the bill removes the requirement for Secretary of the Interior review/approval for Tribal uses covered by that covenant.
Local and tribal-adjacent governments may lose property tax revenue because the land's restricted-fee status exempts it from State and local taxation.
Barring DOI review for Tribal uses allowed by the covenant could reduce federal oversight (including environmental and safety reviews), potentially leaving fewer protections for environmental quality and public safety on the site.
Tying permitted uses and transfer rules tightly to the specific 2022 covenant (and narrowly defining the parcel) limits future flexibility for economic development and could create disputes over allowed activities or require congressional action to change the rules.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Places ~40 acres at the Wounded Knee site into restricted Tribal fee status, affirms Tribal jurisdiction, preserves existing easements, and prohibits gaming.
Places about 40 acres at the Wounded Knee massacre site on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation into a federal "restricted fee" status that preserves Tribal ownership, makes the land part of the reservation, and recognizes Tribal civil and criminal jurisdiction. The measure requires the Department of the Interior to complete the transfer and related administrative steps within 365 days, preserves existing easements and utility agreements, limits permissible uses to those in a specified 2022 covenant, and bars gaming on the property. The law also defines the land, the tribes involved (Oglala Sioux and Cheyenne River Sioux), and key terms; exempts the land from state and local taxation; and protects the land from alienation except by mutual Congressional and Tribal consent.
Official title: 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.
Introduced January 3, 2025 by Dustin Johnson · Last progress December 19, 2025