In a press release titled “A Shared Land,” Governor Larry Rhoden wanders rhetorically toward his acknowledgement of Native American Day in South Dakota by cheering the American dictator’s decision to march troops, including South Dakota National Guard propaganda officers, into Washington, D.C. He refers to “our nation’s shared capital city”, then eventually gets around to talking about the nine tribal nations with whom we share South Dakota.
Shared… Rhoden doesn’t actually talk about “sharing” South Dakota, and the Native American tribes whom South Dakota honors with this holiday might deem invasion, destruction of their primary resource, seizure of land, confinement to reservations, and systematic child torture a funny sort of “sharing”. In that regard, Rhoden fails to truly explore the theme he pastes into his title.
Rhoden also misses the chance to develop a theme by comparing the military occupation of the nation’s capital with the military assault on our Native brothers’ and sisters’ homeland in 1890. From Washington to Wounded Knee, Rhoden could have said, America has a long history of misusing troops for political purposes. Picking up garbage and impressing tourists on the National Mall may not be the most efficient use of military resources, Rhoden could have said, but at least our troops aren’t butchering innocent civilians the way they did 135 years ago at Wounded Knee.
But no, Rhoden misses the opportunity to use Native American Day to decry the insult his party has done to the Lakota people with whom he shares this state by celebrating the politically motivated Medals of Honor awarded to Seventh Cavalry soldiers for the Wounded Knee Massacre. Rhoden says he recently visited the Crazy Horse Monument and stood on the arm (which points southeast toward Wounded Knee—Larry! Come on! so many missed rhetorical opportunities!) and has always found the monument “impressive”. He tells South Dakotans to learn more about the tribes and their history (which Defense Secretary Hegseth doggedly whitewashes). And he “invite[s] tribal leaders to reach out with ideas on how we can better support your communities” (one idea—maybe it won’t put food on tables, but maybe stop honoring soldiers who massacred Native people?).
But Governor Rhoden doesn’t say a word about Wounded Knee. He doesn’t say a word about that crucial historical event, dragged back into the headlines by the white supremacist and historical revisionist regime he supports. He does not use Native American Day to counter the national dictator’s dogged anti-Indigenous rhetoric: Our leaders in Washington may try tearing down Indigenous People, but here in South Dakota, we understand that we must build a respectful, sharing relationship with the tribes on a foundation of honest history, on a complete understanding of the crimes our people committed against the Natives to steal this land. Only with that understanding can we come together, not in the blinkered and vindictive spirit of the current regime, but in the spirit of reconciliation of George Mickelson and Tim Giago, true leaders who worked to establish Native American Day as a holiday to unite all of us in this shared land.
Related Reading: Congressman Dusty Johnson also ignores the Wounded Knee Medal of Honor fracas and his Dear Leader’s rejection of celebrating Indigenous people in his note on Native American Day, sandwiching this note into his weekly column between praise for the White House’s efforts to end violence in the Middle East and complaints about the government shutdown:
Monday marks the 35th Native American Day in South Dakota. The holiday was adopted in 1990 as a sign of reconciliation and to honor the culture and contribution of the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota people.
In March, I was named the most effective House member on Native American issues by the Center for Effective Lawmaking. The federal government has trust and treaty obligations to assist our nation’s tribes. That’s why I’ve advocated for additional law enforcement funding for tribes, reforms to the Indian Health Service, funding for tribal colleges and universities, and more. I can’t do it all without the leadership and coordination of tribal leaders in South Dakota. I’m grateful for their partnership [Rep. Dusty Johnson, weekly column, 2025.10.10].