[Marxism] Apaches tell Yale to give them back Geronimo's bones

[Louis Proyect]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/18/geronimos-descendants-sue_n_168082.html
Geronimo's Descendants Sue Yale's Skull And Bones Over Remains
STEPHANIE REITZ | February 18, 2009 05:36 PM EST | AP

HARTFORD, Conn. — Geronimo's descendants have sued Skull and Bones _ the 
secret society at Yale University linked to presidents and other 
powerful figures _ claiming that its members stole the remains of the 
legendary Apache leader decades ago and have kept them ever since.

The federal lawsuit filed in Washington on Tuesday _ the 100th 
anniversary of Geronimo's death _ also names the university and the 
federal government.

Geronimo's great-grandson Harlyn Geronimo said his family believes Skull 
and Bones members took some of the remains in 1918 from a burial plot in 
Fort Sill, Okla., to keep in its New Haven clubhouse, a crypt. The 
alleged graverobbing is a longstanding legend that gained some validity 
in recent years with the discovery of a letter from a club member that 
described the theft.

"I believe strongly from my heart that his spirit was never released," 
Harlyn Geronimo said.

Both Presidents Bush, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry and many others in 
powerful government and industry positions are members of the society, 
which is not affiliated with the university.

After years of famously fighting the U.S. and Mexican armies, Geronimo 
and 35 warriors surrendered to Gen. Nelson A. Miles near the Arizona-New 
Mexico border in 1886. Geronimo was eventually sent to Fort Sill and 
died at the Army outpost of pneumonia in 1909.

According to lore, members of Skull and Bones _ including former 
President George W. Bush's grandfather, Prescott Bush _ dug up his grave 
when a group of Army volunteers from Yale were stationed at the fort 
during World War I, taking his skull and some of his bones.

Harlyn Geronimo, 61, wants those remains and any held by the federal 
government turned over to the family so they can be reburied near the 
Indian leader's birthplace in southern New Mexico's Gila Wilderness.
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Their lawsuit also names President Barack Obama, Defense Secretary 
Robert Gates and Army Secretary Pete Geren as defendants.

"I want them to understand we mean business," said Harlyn Geronimo, who 
lives in New Mexico. "We're very serious. We're tired of waiting and 
we're coming after them."

Neither members of Skull and Bones, who closely guard their secrecy, nor 
the Russell Trust Association, the organization's business arm for tax 
purposes, could not be reached for comment.

Justice Department spokesman Andrew Ames said the government will 
"review the complaint and respond in court at the appropriate time."

Fort Sill spokeswoman Nancy Elliot declined to discuss the lawsuit, but 
said officials have always maintained there is no evidence supporting 
the descendants' claims.

Yale officials declined to comment Wednesday, saying they had not yet 
seen the lawsuit. Spokesman Tom Conroy noted the Skull and Bones crypt 
is not on Yale property.

Membership into Skull and Bones marks the elite of the elite at the Ivy 
League school. Only 15 Yale seniors are asked to join each year.

Members swear an oath of secrecy about the group and its strange 
rituals, which include devotion to the number "322" and initiation rites 
such as confessing sexual secrets and kissing a skull. The atmosphere 
makes Skull and Bones favorite fodder for conspiracy theorists.

Its most enduring story is the one concerning Geronimo's remains, and in 
2005, Yale historian Marc Wortman discovered a letter written in 1918 
from one Skull and Bones member to another that seemed to lend validity 
to the tale.

The letter, sent to F. Trubee Davison by Winter Mead, said Geronimo's 
skull and other remains were taken from the leader's burial site, along 
with several pieces of tack for a horse.

"The skull of the worthy Geronimo the Terrible, exhumed from its tomb at 
Fort Sill by your club and Knight Haffuer, is now safe inside the T _ 
together with is well worn femurs, bit and saddle horn," Mead wrote.

Wortman, however, has said he is skeptical the bones are actually 
Geronimo's.

Geronimo's descendants say in their lawsuit that they want to uncover 
any information that people know, but have been keeping to themselves.

"To assure that all existing remains of Geronimo and funerary objects 
are recovered by Geronimo's linear descendants, the Order of Skull and 
Bones and Yale University must account for any such articles that are or 
have been in their possession, or on their property, and persons with 
knowledge must provide any facts known to them concerning the claims," 
the descendants' lawsuit says.

If the bones at Yale aren't those of Geronimo, Harlyn Geronimo believes 
they belonged to one of the Apache prisoners who died at Fort Sill. He 
said they should still be returned.

Harlyn Geronimo wrote to President George W. Bush in 2006, seeking his 
help in recovering the bones. He thought that since the president's 
grandfather was allegedly one of those who helped steal the bones, the 
president would want to help return them.