{"id":97728,"date":"2025-10-01T14:11:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T18:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=97728"},"modified":"2025-10-01T14:15:54","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T18:15:54","slug":"hegseths-decision-on-wounded-knee-medals-sparks-outrage-in-native-american-communities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/01\/hegseths-decision-on-wounded-knee-medals-sparks-outrage-in-native-american-communities\/","title":{"rendered":"Hegseth&#8217;s decision on Wounded Knee medals sparks outrage in Native American communities"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Graham Lee Brewer Native American communities that had long wanted the removal of military honors for the soldiers involved in the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre had their hopes dashed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in his effort to root out what he calls a \u201cwoke culture\u201d in the armed forces. \u201cThe era of politically correct, overly sensitive, \u2018don\u2019t-hurt-anyone\u2019s-feelings\u2019 leadership ends right now at every level,\u201d Hegseth said Tuesday to hundreds of military officials at a ceremony. The defense secretary announced new directives for troops that include \u201cgender-neutral\u201d or \u201cmale-level\u201d standards for physical fitness and painted a picture of a military that has been hamstrung by \u201cwoke\u201d policies. Hegseth had announced last week in a video on social media that Wounded Knee soldiers will keep their Medals of Honor, part&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2025%2F10%2F01%2Fhegseths-decision-on-wounded-knee-medals-sparks-outrage-in-native-american-communities%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Graham Lee Brewer Native American communities that had long wanted the removal of military honors for the soldiers involved in the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre had their hopes dashed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in his effort to root out what he calls a \u201cwoke culture\u201d in the armed forces. \u201cThe era of politically correct, overly sensitive, \u2018don\u2019t-hurt-anyone\u2019s-feelings\u2019 leadership ends right now at every level,\u201d Hegseth said Tuesday to hundreds of military officials at a ceremony. The defense secretary announced new directives for troops that include \u201cgender-neutral\u201d or \u201cmale-level\u201d standards for physical fitness and painted a picture of a military that has been hamstrung by \u201cwoke\u201d policies. Hegseth had announced last week in a video on social media that Wounded Knee soldiers will keep their Medals of Honor, part... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2025%2F10%2F01%2Fhegseths-decision-on-wounded-knee-medals-sparks-outrage-in-native-american-communities%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Hegseth&#039;s decision on Wounded Knee medals sparks outrage in Native American communities - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/01\/hegseths-decision-on-wounded-knee-medals-sparks-outrage-in-native-american-communities\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hegseth&#039;s decision on Wounded Knee medals sparks outrage in Native American communities - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Graham Lee Brewer Native American communities that had long wanted the removal of military honors for the soldiers involved in the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre had their hopes dashed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in his effort to root out what he calls a \u201cwoke culture\u201d in the armed forces. \u201cThe era of politically correct, overly sensitive, \u2018don\u2019t-hurt-anyone\u2019s-feelings\u2019 leadership ends right now at every level,\u201d Hegseth said Tuesday to hundreds of military officials at a ceremony. The defense secretary announced new directives for troops that include \u201cgender-neutral\u201d or \u201cmale-level\u201d standards for physical fitness and painted a picture of a military that has been hamstrung by \u201cwoke\u201d policies. Hegseth had announced last week in a video on social media that Wounded Knee soldiers will keep their Medals of Honor, part\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/01\/hegseths-decision-on-wounded-knee-medals-sparks-outrage-in-native-american-communities\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-01T18:11:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-01T18:15:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/01\\\/hegseths-decision-on-wounded-knee-medals-sparks-outrage-in-native-american-communities\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/01\\\/hegseths-decision-on-wounded-knee-medals-sparks-outrage-in-native-american-communities\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"Hegseth&#8217;s decision on Wounded Knee medals sparks outrage in Native American communities\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-01T18:11:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-01T18:15:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/01\\\/hegseths-decision-on-wounded-knee-medals-sparks-outrage-in-native-american-communities\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":918,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/01\\\/hegseths-decision-on-wounded-knee-medals-sparks-outrage-in-native-american-communities\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/01\\\/hegseths-decision-on-wounded-knee-medals-sparks-outrage-in-native-american-communities\\\/\",\"name\":\"Hegseth's decision on Wounded Knee medals sparks outrage in Native American communities - 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