WASHINGTON, DC – The North Dakota congressional delegation has introduced legislation to change the name of “Sullys Hill” on the Spirit Lake Indian Reservation to its traditional Dakota name “White Horse Hill.”
The federal government named the national game preserve in 1931 after General Alfred Sully, the commander of cavalry troops who killed hundreds of Native Americans, including ancestors of the Spirit Lake Nation. Because the name was made by an act of Congress, it takes another act to change it.
Sen. Kevin Cramer introduced the legislation in the U.S. Senate. Rep. Kelly Armstrong introduced an identical bill in the U.S. House.
Cramer says the Spirit Lake Tribe does not need a name within their land that reminds them of the atrocities committed against their ancestors.