Hau Mitakuyapi na Mitakolakuyapi, (Hello my relatives and friends)

I want to share with you two recent news articles that discusses an issue we have been heavily involved with for years.

US Senate challenger says Wounded Knee medals ‘should not stand’; incumbent says more info needed

Pete Hegseth’s Wounded Knee Decision Betrays the Meaning of Honor

That issue is the Restore the Honor Act (formally the Remove the Stain Act). It is a call to rescind the 20 medals of honor that were given to soldiers of the 7 th Calvary (Custer’s 7 th Calvary who were soundly defeated at the Battle of the Little Big Horn.) who participated in the murder of almost 300 unarmed Lakota men, women, and children and elders. Four Directions has been leading the charge to have these medals rescinded.

The U.S. Army’s Medal of Honor honors those soldiers who show conspicuous gallantry (noticeable and outstanding bravery) and intrepidity (fearless courage) during combat. A recipient must risk their own life above and beyond the call of duty. What happened at Wounded Knee was not a battle. It was the outright slaughter of unarmed people by a vengeful group of soldiers. The soldiers of the 7 th Calvary certainly did not meet the standards the medal requires. They did not act bravely nor did they act with intrepidity. Quite the opposite. They shot into tipis, chased survivors into ravines, shot and killed children at point blank range and left bodies frozen in the snow. Is this conspicuous gallantry? Is this courage? No. The 7 th Calvary’s actions that day were horrific and they were war crimes.

Indian Country, especially the Lakota people demand the truth about the massacre be acknowledged and accepted by the United States. Our Lakota people are still feeling the physical and psychological effects of those murders. We are still trying to heal from it. But real healing will never take place unless and until those 20 medals are removed and the United States fully accepts and acknowledges publicly responsibility for this

atrocity. I believe Levi Rickert from Native News online sums it up quite well in an

opinion piece he authored back in October of 2025:

“If the United States military cannot distinguish between valor and massacre, between defense and genocide, what message does that send — to our troops, to our country and to the Indigenous peoples who still live under the shadow of these injustices?

Let’s be clear: No one is asking to rewrite history. We are asking the government to tell it truthfully — and to stop decorating perpetrators of war crimes with medals meant for heroes.”

Four Directions Native Vote-Indian Country is committed to continuing this fight to right this tremendous injustice. I hope you will read the articles and consider joining us in this fight to restore the honor to the Medal of Honor to to the healing of the Lakota people.

Tókša akhé (I’ll see you later)

Oliver “OJ” Semans

Executive Director

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