"The National Congress of American Indians has strongly condemned a Pentagon review that decided against revoking medals awarded to US soldiers at the 1890 Battle of Wounded Knee, an event which many historians consider a massacre. Celebrating war crimes is not patriotic. This decision undermines truth-telling, reconciliation, and the healing that Indian Country and the United States still need, Larry Wright Jr, the Congress's executive director, said in a statement issued on Saturday."
"US President Donald Trump's secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, said in a video posted on X late Thursday that a review panel had recommended allowing the soldiers to keep their medals, in a study completed last year, and that he followed that recommendation. We're making it clear that they deserve those medals. This decision is now final, and their place in our nation's history is no longer up for debate, Hegseth said."
"The Battle of Wounded Knee, also known as the Wounded Knee Massacre, took place on December 29, 1890, in South Dakota, when US soldiers killed and wounded more than 300 Lakota Sioux men, women, and children. The events at Wounded Knee marked the end of the Indian Wars, during which Native Americans were coerced into ceding their lands and then forced onto reservations."
The Pentagon decided not to revoke medals awarded to US soldiers for actions at Wounded Knee in 1890 after a review panel recommended retention. The National Congress of American Indians condemned the decision, calling celebrating war crimes unpatriotic and saying it undermines truth-telling, reconciliation, and healing for Indian Country and the United States. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth followed the panel's recommendation and called the decision final, criticizing his predecessor for prioritizing political correctness. The Wounded Knee Massacre killed and wounded more than 300 Lakota Sioux and marked the end of the Indian Wars.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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