Seventeen members of Congress recently wrote a letter to President Joe Biden (D), calling on him to exercise his presidential authority to revoke the Medals of Honor awarded to soldiers who participated in the Wounded Knee Massacre.
"On December 29, 1890, U.S. Army soldiers mercilessly slaughtered hundreds of Lakota men, women and children at Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota during what came to be known as the Wounded Knee Massacre," the members of Congress wrote, according to Native News Online.
The Medal of Honor is awarded in the name of Congress for gallantry beyond the call of duty and is the country's highest military honor.
Native News Online reports that Native Americans have wanted the Medals of Honor to be revoked for decades because the actions of the soldiers against innocent Lakota people should not merit an award to recognize "gallantry."
"My amendment to revoke the Medal of Honor from soldiers who massacred unarmed Lakota men, women and children at Wounded Knee was added to the House-passed NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act). Now, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senator Jeff Merkley and I are urging President Joe Biden to do his part to correct this injustice," U.S. Rep. Kaiali'i Kahele (D-Hilo) wrote in a Nov. 10 Facebook post.
The U.S. House of Representatives included an amendment to the Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2022 that calls for a revocation of the Medals of Honor.