Native America, Santa Fe / NM
A quest for stolen bones
Harlyn Geronimo, the great-grandson of the infamous warrior Geronimo, is fighting for the return of what he believes are his famous ancestorÕs bones that are allegedly held by Yale UniversityÕs Skull and Bones club.
By Staci Matlock | The New Mexican
Up against a powerful secret society, the great-grandson of Geronimo fights for return of warriorÕs remains.
Sometime in 1918, a half dozen young U.S. cadets, including possibly the grandfather of President Bush, dug up a grave at Fort Sill, Okla., and stole a skull, femurs and other burial items.
The cadets spirited the remains to a windowless building on the campus of Yale University called The Tomb, where they became part of club lore for the not so well-kept secret society, Skull and Bones.
The bones, so the story goes, belonged to Geronimo, one of the Chiricahua Apache warriors who led fierce campaigns against Mexican and U.S. forces in the late 1800s.
His great-grandson, Harlyn Geronimo, of Mescalero, wants the bones returned so he can prove they belong to his famous ancestor and be buried near GeronimoÕs birthplace in the Gila Wilderness. ÒHe died as a prisoner of war, and he is still a prisoner of war because his remains were not returned to his homeland,Ó Harlyn Geronimo, 59, said. ÒPresently, we are looking for a proper consecrated burial.Ó
If the bones arenÕt his ancestorÕs remains, Harlyn Geronimo is certain they belonged to one of the Apache prisoners of war who died at Fort Sill and should still be returned.
Last year, Harlyn Geronimo sent a letter to Bush, asking his help in recovering the bones. He appealed to the president via CNN and other major media outlets. He figures since the presidentÕs grandfather, Prescott Bush, allegedly helped steal the bones, the grandson would want to help return them to their rightful place. ÒI havenÕt heard a word,Ó Harlyn Geronimo said.
John Fryar, a retired U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs special agent in antiquities recovery and a member of Acoma Pueblo, said if the secret Yale society does have remains, they should be returned to Fort Sill.
ÒTo ignore a request like this for the return of human remains is totally uncalled for. Look at our guys going to Vietnam to recover remains. ItÕs the same thing,Ó he said from his Rio Rancho home. ÒI could care less about their (Skull and Bones) ceremonies frankly. If it involves stealing human remains, no matter whose they are, itÕs wrong.Ó
The White House did not respond to messages asking for comment.
For Harlyn Geronimo, this is the beginning of what he assumes will be a long fight for the return of the stolen bones and all the bones at Fort Sill to their Apache homelands in Arizona and New Mexico. HeÕs not the first to seek their return. San Carlos Apache leaders asked for the remains in the 1980s, according to news accounts.
Harlyn Geronimo, a sculptor and actor, said heÕs preparing the traditional way for this fight. Six months ago, he and a group of fellow medicine men from around the Southwest went to Fort Sill and to the Gila for prayer ceremonies. Before any major endeavor, Harlyn Geronimo said, it is typical to hold Òa prayer session that will guide us in the right direction.Ó
Harlyn Geronimo grew up in Mescalero hearing stories about his great-grandfather and other Apache warriors from his great-grandmother, Kate, one of GeronimoÕs wives. She died in 1954 when he was 7, he said. His grandmother, Lana Geronimo, continued telling him stories.
The warrior GeronimoÕs first wife and three young children were killed by the Mexican army when he was a young man. He was among the Apache warriors who fought relentlessly against the Mexican and the U.S. Armies. After all their women were captured and sent to Florida, Geronimo and 35 warriors finally surrendered to Gen. Nelson A. Miles in Skeleton Canyon near the Arizona-New Mexico border in 1886. He was never able to return to his Gila homeland. Eventually sent to Fort Sill, he died there of pneumonia in 1909.
Prescott BushÕs son, George H.W. Bush, and grandson attended Yale and joined the elite club before becoming American presidents. George BushÕs presidential rival John Kerry also is a Bonesman, as are many other men in powerful government and industry positions. They are sworn to secrecy, one reason they wonÕt say whether the club has GeronimoÕs bones.
ÒThe reason thereÕs all these conspiracy theories around Skull and Bones is because their loyalty to one another goes beyond their public differences,Ó historian Marc Wortman said. ÒSo people like John Kerry and George Bush will not tattle on each other.Ó
Wortman said he once asked a Bonesman about the remains. ÒWe donÕt have them any longer,Ó the Bonesman replied.
Skull and Bones is one of a dozen secret Yale societies, according to Yale University spokeswoman Gila Reinstein. It is a private club, and Òwhat goes on behind those doors, we just donÕt know,Ó Reinstein said. ÒIf itÕs true about the bones, thatÕs disrespectful and disturbing.Ó
The legend was that Skull and Bones members kept GeronimoÕs skull and femurs in a glass case. The society kept mum until 1986 when a photo showing the remains was sent to Ned Anderson, a San Carlos Apache leader. He believed the photo was authentic and requested the group produce the bones. According to news reports at the time, he met with Bonesmen, but Anderson didnÕt believe the bones they showed him were the same ones depicted in the photo.
Last year, Wortman, a former Yale Alumni Magazine editor, discovered a bombshell. Doing research for his book, The Millionaires, in a Yale library file, Wortman discovered a 1918 letter written by one Bonesman to another. ÒThe skull of its worthy Geronimo the Terrible, exhumed from its tomb at Fort Sill by your club and the (Knight) Haffner is now safe inside the Tomb together with his well worn femurs, bit and saddle horn,Ó the letter said in part.
Wortman, speaking from his New Haven, Conn., home, said heÕs sure the letter is authentic. It meshes with an account by Bonesman F.O. Matthiessen in 1923, which excerpts a club log book recounting the Fort Sill grave robbery and names three of the robbers, including Prescott Bush.
The only way to know for sure if any remains housed by the society belong to Geronimo is to have them DNA tested. ÒIÕm willing to compare the DNA from the skull and any bones they have with mine,Ó Harlyn Geronimo said.
Fryar said he heard a rumor once that the bones in question had been returned to Fort Sill and reburied. But he never saw proof. ÒThereÕs no way things could be reburied, and there not be documentation (by the military),Ó he said.
Fort Sill did not return a call seeking comment.
Fryar said under federal law, Fort Sill should be consulting with the tribes about returning all Native American remains at its cemetery.
And as a matter of ethics, the Bonesmen should relinquish whatever remains they have. ÒFor Skull and Bones to hold onto remains, no matter who they belong to, is sick,Ó Fryar said.
©2007, Santa Fe New Mexican