Sons of legendary sportsman Jim Thorpe seek to have their fathers remains moved from Pennsylvania. The body was originally to be interred in Thorpe’s native Oklahoma but when the state balked at building a memorial to the athlete, his widow found two small towns in Pennsylvania that would. The sons are trying to use a federal law that allows for repatriation of Native American bodies that were denied access to traditional burial grounds. However, an appeals court has ruled the law does not apply in this case since the body was buried in accordance with the wishes of the then next of kin rather than against the will of the family. No word on if an appeal is planned by the children.
See David H. Lenok, Ancient Indian Burial Grounds and America’s Greatest Athlete, Wealth Management, June 4, 2015.
Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse for bringing this article to my attention.
