Earlier this week two of Jim Thorpe’s sons won a ruling in a federal district court to have Thorpe’s remains moved from Jim Thorpe to Oklahoma. The Sac tribe was also a party to the suit. The judge ruled the body had to be sent back under the 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.
The purpose of the act was to insure that American museums, some of which had hundreds of Indian remains in storage, would return them to their tribes or homelands. Indians in the 19th and early 20th century were treated more like animal specimens than as human beings, and the 1990 Act was meant to rectify that.
I have mixed feelings about the ruling. First of all, Thorpe’s widow agreed that the remains should be transferred to the town in return for the name change from Mauch Chunk to Jim Thorpe. Secondly, this is not some skeleton put on display or stored in a basement drawer, but a respectful tomb with good interpretive signage about Thorpe’s life. When we have visitors, we almost always take them by the tomb. Finally, even though the judge ruled that the town was a “museum,” I don’t think it qualifies. I’ve never seen a museum that charges $10 to park a car.
Nonetheless, the town of Jim Thorpe should not fight the ruling. The actual body is not important to the town, though it may be to his sons and his tribe. The name can stay. The memorial can stay. The respectful tribute will stay, whether the remains rest here or in Oklahoma. The man was truly amazing; let’s not fight over his bones.
I agree, his remains should go back to Oklahoma.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to museum parking fees---the Museum of Science and Industry charges $20. As well as the Shedd Aquarium and Field museum. However, they are all great places to visit. I love them all. Sorry I forgot the Art Insitute is equally great. Visit if you have time.
Since a Judge declared the town a museum they can apply for Grant monies to kept the museum alive and flourishing in the name of Jim Thorpe the athletic.
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