SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Officials in South Dakota are pushing hard to build President Donald Trump 's proposed National Garden of American Heroes in the Black Hills near Mount Rushmore, but the effort has sparked a backlash from Indigenous groups who see the area as sacred.
A mining company has offered to donate 40 acres (16 hectares) less than a mile from Mount Rushmore, where massive sculptures of four of the nation's most prominent presidents are carved out of granite.
“The Black Hills mark the perfect location to achieve your vision for the National Garden of American Heroes,” Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden wrote in a letter to Trump. “Together, we will make this project happen in a way that honors America’s heroes, takes advantage of South Dakota’s natural beauty, and incorporates the most iconic monument to our greatest leaders: Mount Rushmore National Memorial.”
But the Black Hills have long been the subject of disputes between South Dakota and its tribes. The 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie recognized that the Black Hills belong to the Sioux people, but the U.S. government seized the land less than a decade later to mine for gold. A 1980 Supreme Court decision found that the U.S. violated the treaty, but the tribes refused the $1.3 billion in compensation they were offered and maintained their rights to the land.
The mining company, Pete Lien & Sons, also has had conflicts with Indigenous groups in the area, most recently because of an exploratory drilling project for graphite near the sacred Lakota site of Pe’ Sla. The company also is working with theme park designer Storyland Studios to build an attraction in the Black Hills opposed by some Indigenous groups.
“It’s absurd for Storyland Studios and Gov. Rhoden to claim they care about preserving history while they watch Lien & Sons attempt to destroy Pe’ Sla, and do nothing,” said Taylor Gunhammer, an organizer with the Indigenous advocacy group NDN Collective.
“They are the ones erasing and paving over history, not preserving it,” Gunhammer said.
Rhoden’s press secretary, Josie Harms, wrote in a statement that the garden "will have no disruption to either state or tribal land” because the tract of land is owned by Chuck Lien, owner of Lien & Sons, and his family.
Pete Lien & Sons did not respond to multiple requests from The Associated Press for comment.
Trump signed an executive order earlier this year to build the garden, to feature 250 life-size statues of historical figures in honor of the country's 250th birthday on July 4, 2026. Applications for sculptors are due in early July, though the administration no longer seeks to have it completed by next summer.
The U.S. House has approved $40 million for the project, which is being overseen by the Department of Interior and the National Endowment for the Humanities. The Senate hasn't yet approved the funding.
Trump first announced the project in his first term in a July 3, 2020, speech at Mount Rushmore at a time during the Black Lives Matter movement when some protesters were tearing down statues depicting Confederate generals and others.
“Angry mobs are trying to tear down statues of our Founders, deface our most sacred memorials, and unleash a wave of violent crime in our cities,” Trump said in that speech. “But no, the American people are strong and proud, and they will not allow our country, and all of its values, history, and culture, to be taken from them.”
In a 2021 executive order, Trump called for statues depicting a range of prominent figures, from the likes of Amelia Earhart, Muhammad Ali and Steve Jobs to more controversial ones like Christopher Columbus and President Andrew Jackson. No site was selected, however, and the garden was never funded by Congress.
The Department of Interior said the revived garden project is still in the “planning and discussion phase” and declined to say which sites it is considering.
It's unclear if any other states are seeking to host the statue garden.
When Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was the state's governor, she offered the mining company's 40 acres of land in the Black Hills. Her successor, Rhoden, doubled down on that offer in his letter, emphasizing the site would be “in sight of Mount Rushmore.”
South Dakota Republican U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson also wrote a letter to Trump, and said he will “keep advocating for this iconic landmark to make its home in the Black Hills” in a social media post.
Darren Thompson, director of media relations for the Indigenous nonprofit Sacred Defense Fund, called for more discussions with Indigenous groups in the Black Hills.
“It's a very touchy and sensitive subject that I think requires input by the local Indigenous people who have claim to the land and cultural ties to the land,” Thompson said.
FILE - Then-President Donald Trump stands at Mount Rushmore National Memorial on July 3, 2020, near Keystone, S.D. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
