In April, the National Endowment for Humanities called for applications from artists to create statues for the National Garden of American Heroes, President Trump’s plan to reflect our nation’s past through statues of historical figures who represent our country’s “heritage.”

There is no designated location yet for this enterprise, but Gov. Larry Rhoden (R-S.D.) offered a location to Trump in the Black Hills of South Dakota, close to Mount Rushmore, to build this National Garden.

On its surface, a National Garden near a National Memorial makes sense. But creating another homage to American history on a land fraught with the consequences of that history would pour salt on open wounds. It would also promote a singular historical narrative emphasizing American excellence that — though a core principle of the Trump administration and the broader conservative movement — inadequately represents the country’s past.

The Black Hills are a stunning 110-mile vertical expanse of towering ponderosa pine and billion-year-old granite. The area is a lush island in a sea of prairie, home to diverse flora and fauna that have been used for food, shelter and medicine by the dozens of Native American tribes that have lived in the area for thousands of years.

The term “Black Hills” comes from the Lakota “He Sapa” (Black Ridge) or “Paha Sapa” (Black Hills). For the Lakota Nation, the Paha Sapa is the cosmological and spiritual........

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