The Medal of Honor is America's highest military decoration.Today, it’s awarded for “gallantry and intrepidity at therisk of life above and beyond the call of duty.” In 1890, it was the sole military medal available, awarded “to officers or enlisted men who have distinguished themselves in action.”
Is this vague criterion enough tojustify the medals awarded during a massacre?
Many non-natives perceive the massacre as merely an unfortunate event in America’s westward expansion and past policies towards native peoples, whereas the Lakota view it as a symbol of colonization and an erasure of indigenous culture, and indigenous people themselves, that must be acknowledged.
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In rescinding the medals, the U.S. government would publicly acknowledge the unjust treatment of the Lakota, and according to them, initiate the healing process.
