IIB 

119TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 165 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 23, 2025 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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HR 165 RFS

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Wounded Knee Mas3 sacre Memorial and Sacred Site Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

6 (1) RESTRICTED FEE STATUS.—The term ‘‘re7 stricted fee status’’ means a status in which the 

8 Tribal land— 

9 (A) shall continue to be owned by the 

10 Tribes; 

11 (B) shall be part of the Pine Ridge Indian 

12 Reservation and expressly made subject to the 

13 civil and criminal jurisdiction of the Oglala 

14 Sioux Tribe; 

15 (C) shall not be transferred without the 

16 consent of Congress and the Tribes; 

17 (D) shall not be subject to taxation by a 

18 State or local government; and 

19 (E) shall not be subject to any provision of 

20 law providing for the review or approval by the 

21 Secretary of the Interior before the Tribes may 

22 use the land for any purpose as allowed by the 

23 document titled ‘‘Covenant Between the Oglala 

24 Sioux Tribe and the Cheyenne River Sioux 

25 Tribe’’ and dated October 21, 2022, directly, or 

26 through agreement with another party. 


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HR 165 RFS

1 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

2 the Secretary of the Interior. 

3 (3) TRIBAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Tribal land’’ 

4 means the approximately 40 acres (including the 

5 surface and subsurface estate, and mineral estate, 

6 and any and all improvements, structures, and per7 sonal property on those acres) on the Pine Ridge In8 dian Reservation in Oglala Lakota County, at Rural 

9 County Road 4, Wounded Knee, South Dakota, and 

10 generally depicted as ‘‘Area of Interest’’ on the map 

11 entitled ‘‘Wounded Knee Sacred Site and Memorial 

12 Land’’ and dated October 26, 2022, which is a seg13 ment of the December 29, 1890, Wounded Knee 

14 Massacre site. 

15 (4) TRIBES.—The term ‘‘Tribes’’ means the 

16 Oglala Sioux Tribe and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe 

17 of the Cheyenne River Reservation, both tribes being 

18 among the constituent tribes of the Great Sioux Na19 tion and signatories to the Fort Laramie Treaty of 

20 1868 between the United States of America and the 

21 Great Sioux Nation, 15 Stat. 635. 

22 SEC. 3. LAND HELD IN RESTRICTED FEE STATUS BY THE 

23 TRIBES. 

24 (a) ACTION BY SECRETARY.—Not later than 365 

25 days after enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall— 


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HR 165 RFS

1 (1) complete all actions, including documenta2 tion and minor corrections to the survey and legal 

3 description of Tribal land, necessary for the Tribal 

4 land to be held by the Tribes in restricted fee status; 

5 and 

6 (2) appropriately assign each applicable private 

7 and municipal utility and service right or agreement 

8 with regard to the Tribal land. 

9 (b) CONDITIONS.— 

10 (1) FEDERAL LAWS RELATING TO INDIAN

11 LAND.—Except as otherwise provided in this Act, 

12 the Tribal land shall be subject to Federal laws re13 lating to Indian country, as defined by section 1151 

14 of title 18, United States Code and protected by the 

15 restriction against alienation in section 177 of title 

16 25, United States Code. 

17 (2) USE OF LAND.—The Tribal land shall be 

18 used for the purposes allowed by the document titled 

19 ‘‘Covenant Between the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the 

20 Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe’’ and dated October 21, 

21 2022. 

22 (3) ENCUMBRANCES AND AGREEMENTS.—The 

23 Tribal land shall remain subject to any private or 

24 municipal encumbrance, right-of-way, restriction, 


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HR 165 RFS

1 easement of record, or utility service agreement in 

2 effect on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

3 (4) GAMING.—Pursuant to the document titled 

4 ‘‘Covenant Between the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the 

5 Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe’’ and dated October 21, 

6 2022, the Tribal land shall not be used for gaming 

7 activity under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act 

8 (25 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.). 

Passed the House of Representatives January 22, 

2025. 

Attest: KEVIN F. MCCUMBER, 

Clerk. 


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