US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has announced that the 20 soldiers awarded the Medal of Honor for their roles in the 1890 Wounded Knee massacre will retain their decorations, a decision that reopens old wounds in one of the darkest chapters of American military history.
A Controversial Decision on a Bloody Past
In a video posted Thursday evening, Hegseth said the medals were “rightfully earned” and “their place in our nation’s history is no longer up for debate.”
The decision reverses momentum built over decades by Native American leaders, historians, and lawmakers who have urged the government to rescind honors tied to a massacre widely seen as a crime against humanity rather than an act of valor.
The massacre took place on December 29, 1890, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation near Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota. U.S. troops of the 7th Cavalry Regiment surrounded a Lakota Sioux camp, where Native fighters had already surrendered.
As soldiers attempted to disarm them, violence erupted. By the end of the day, an estimated 250 Lakota—mostly women, children, and elderly—lay dead.
Medals Born of Blood
Twenty soldiers from the regiment were later awarded the Medal of Honor, the military’s highest award for bravery. Their citations praised acts such as “dislodging Sioux Indians” and rescuing fellow troops.
For generations, those medals have been a symbol of valor within the 7th Cavalry’s traditions, with the regiment’s coat of arms still bearing a Native American chief’s head to commemorate its campaigns.
Yet to Lakota descendants, the medals embody a bitter injustice. Congress itself acknowledged this in 1990, when it passed a resolution apologizing to victims’ families. Still, lawmakers stopped short of revoking the honors.
A Review Halted
In 2024, former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered a review of the medals after Congress included a recommendation in the 2022 defense bill. That move was hailed as progress toward redressing historical wrongs.
But Hegseth, citing the panel’s findings, declared that the soldiers’ medals should remain intact. A Pentagon official later admitted it was unclear whether the review’s full report would ever be made public.
Rewriting History or Preserving It?
Hegseth’s stance reflects a broader ideological push from the Trump administration. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” denouncing what he called attempts to “reinterpret” the nation’s past. Since then, Hegseth has taken steps to restore symbols tied to the Confederacy and contested moments of U.S. history.
Among them:
- Restoring the Confederate-linked names of several Army bases, albeit in honor of different figures.
- Reinstalling a 1914 Confederate memorial at Arlington National Cemetery, which depicts the South as a noble cause while omitting slavery’s brutality.
- Supporting West Point’s decision to return a portrait of Gen. Robert E. Lee in full Confederate regalia to its library, including its disturbing depiction of a Black man leading Lee’s horse.
Critics argue these actions represent a deliberate rollback of efforts to confront America’s legacies of racism and violence, while supporters hail them as defenses of heritage against what they view as historical revisionism.
Native Voices and Historical Reckoning
Native American leaders have long demanded that the Wounded Knee medals be rescinded, framing them as rewards for mass slaughter rather than courage. “This is not about erasing history—it is about recognizing truth,” said activists who have campaigned for decades. They argue that the refusal to revoke the medals undermines reconciliation efforts and perpetuates generational trauma.
Historians also stress that the massacre cannot be seen as a “battle” by any honest measure. The Lakota were disarmed and encircled; the killings of women and children were not collateral but systemic. “This was a massacre, not a clash of equals,” one scholar noted.
By preserving the medals, critics say, the U.S. government risks sending the message that atrocity can still be celebrated as bravery if it aligns with state power.
Looking Ahead
Whether Hegseth’s decision will stand unchallenged remains to be seen. Native groups and allied lawmakers are already signaling renewed efforts to strip the awards through legislative action. But for now, the 20 medals remain intact, a stark reminder of the long and unresolved battle over how America chooses to remember its past.
