Wounded Knee Massacre Memorial and Sacred Site Act

Summary

Transfers about 40 acres at the Wounded Knee site into a special "restricted fee" status held for the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, placing the land under federal Indian-country criminal jurisdiction and tribal civil jurisdiction while protecting existing utility rights and easements. It requires the Secretary of the Interior to complete the conversion and assign existing utility/service rights within 365 days, limits future uses to those agreed in a 2022 covenant between the two Tribes, and expressly bars use of the land for Indian gaming.

• About 40 acres at the historic Wounded Knee site are placed into "restricted fee" tribal ownership for the Oglala and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribes.
• The land becomes part of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation for tribal civil/criminal jurisdiction and falls under federal Indian-country criminal jurisdiction.
• State and local taxation on the land is prohibited once converted to restricted fee status.
• The Secretary of the Interior must complete the conversion and assign existing private and municipal utility/service rights within 365 days of enactment.
• Existing easements, rights-of-way, encumbrances, and utility agreements in effect at enactment are preserved.
• Uses of the land are limited to purposes described in the October 21, 2022 covenant between the two Tribes.
• Indian gaming on the land is explicitly banned under the Act.
• The law restricts alienation of the land, maintaining tribal ownership unless Congress and the Tribes consent to transfer.