Controversy Brews Over South Dakota’s National Garden of American Heroes

Is South Dakota still going to be the home of the National Garden of American Heroes?

If President Trump and others have their way, yes; however, there is strong opposition to the idea from others, most prominently several Indigenous groups who see the proposed areas of land where the garden might be built as sacred.

Dakota News Now is reporting that a mining company called Lien & Sons has offered to donate 40 acres of land less than a mile from Mount Rushmore as one of the proposed sites where the Garden of American Heroes could be constructed. They are working with the theme park designer group known as Storyland Studios to build the proposed attraction on land near the sacred Lakota site of Pe’ Sla.

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Several Indigenous groups in that area are not in favor of the project.

According to Dakota News Now, Taylor Gunhammer, an organizer with the Indigenous advocacy group NDN Collective, says, “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. They are the ones erasing and paving over history, not preserving it.”

As Dakota News Now reports, Josie Harms, the press secretary for South Dakota Governor Larry Rhoden, says the particular tract of land in question “Will have no disruption to either state or tribal land because the land is owned by Chuck Lien, owner of Lien & Sons, and his family."

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The vision for the National Garden of America Heroes is to feature 250 life-size statues of America's greatest heroes throughout history.

President Trump had hoped such a garden could be constructed in time for the 250th birthday of the United States, coming up on July 4, 2026. However, the administration now realizes that it will no longer be possible to hit that deadline.

Dakota News Now reports the U.S. House has already green-lighted funding for the garden project, but the Senate has yet to follow suit.  While the U.S. Department of Interior views the revived garden project as still in the “planning and discussion phase,” and declined to say which of the proposed sites it is considering.

Should the National Garden of American Heroes come to fruition, what historic figures might we see inside it?

President Trump, during his first term, envisioned prominent figures, like Amelia Earhart, Muhammad Ali, and Steve Jobs. Along with more controversial ones like Christopher Columbus and President Andrew Jackson.

Regardless of its location and the figures that might ultimately reside inside the garden, the concept for the National Garden of American Heroes remains a very sensitive subject. One that will surely be debated in the weeks, months, and years to come by both sides.

Stay tuned.

Source: Dakota News Now