SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – Kristi Noem would like to see what she called a “true memorial” at Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. 

Noem brought up her hopes for the historic site in response to a question about how a bill aimed at “protecting students and employees from Critical Race Theory” would affect teaching history about the massacre at Wounded Knee. 

According to the Library of Congress, soldiers from the Seventh U.S. Cavalry Regiment killed hundreds of Lakota men, women, and children.

The bill under consideration by South Dakota lawmakers focuses heavily on feelings of discomfort, guilt and responsibility of students learning about the history of America. House Bill 1012 states in Section 2 divisive concepts include “An individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on account of the individual’s race, color, religion, ethnicity, or national origin.”

“Wounded Knee was horrific,” Noem said. “Our students should absolutely learn about the atrocities that happened there.” 

Then, Noem said she’s been trying to work with the tribe (Oglala Sioux Tribe) to get a “true memorial built there that attracts people from around the world to come to Wounded Knee and learn about the terrible things that have happened there.” 

As listed on the South Dakota Department of Tourism website, the Wounded Knee Massacre Site is located south of Porcupine on BIA Highway 27.

“I’m hopeful at some point the tribe will come to the table and work with me to do that,” Noem said about the memorial. “I think that’s something the state could partner with them on.”

The issue isn’t new. In 1990, then-U.S. Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota wrote then-U.S. Interior Secretary Manuel Lujan about the need for a memorial there.