Archaeology Society Calls for Halt to Auction of Human Remains

UPDATE: Christie's auction house removes skull from auction

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/

NEW YORK (January 21, 2010) -- Christie's auction house in New York said a skull ballot box from the Skull and Bones Society has been withdrawn from an auction that began today. A spokesperson said the skull was removed due to a title dispute of ownership.
The Society for American Archaeology joined the World Archaelogical Congress and called for a halt to a planned auction of human remains, which could violate the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. The Society also refers to the theft of Geronimo's remains. (See letter below.) The sale began today, Jan. 21, and continues through Jan. 25.
In a separate interview with San Carlos Apache Councilman Raleigh Thompson, Thompson said the Skull and Bones Society attempted to give back a skull to a delegation from San Carlos. The Apache delegation attempted to retrieve the skull, which they were told belonged to Geronimo. Thompson was at the meetings in New York in the 1980s with Skull and Bones' attorney and Jonathan Bush. Thompson said the skull that Skull and Bones attempted to give them was not that of Geronimo, but was that of a child.
Skull and Bones attempted to silence the San Carlos delegation, comprised of San Carlos councilmen, the chairman and attorney. Geronimo had requested to be buried in the mountains of San Carlos in southern Arizona. (The interview was conducted by Brenda Norrell on Mount Graham during the Sacred Run.)
A logbook of Skull and Bones, a Yale secret society comprised of the Bush presidents and others who seek world domination, revealed that it was Grandfather Prescott Bush who led the army soldiers that robbed Geronimo's grave at Fort Sill, Okla.

World Archaeological Congress calls on Christies to halt sale of human remains used by Yale Skull and Bones Society.
The World Archaeological Congress calls upon Christie’s auction house to withdraw from sale a human cranium and two femora offered for sale as items once used by the Yale Skull and Bones Society. The Skull and Bones Society has long been accused of having the remains of the celebrated Apache chief, Geronimo, and WAC is concerned about the cultural origin of the remains being offered for sale, as well as the affront to human dignity resulting from the sale of human body parts.



"WAC asks Christie’s to cease trafficking in human remains and requests that all possible measures be taken to discover the cultural origin of this individual," stated WAC President Claire Smith. "We cannot overlook the possibility that it may be a skull of a American Indian, and the sale should be stopped in order to determine if federal laws apply." 



WAC also requests that US law enforcement investigate this proposed sale. If these remains are found to be Native American, then WAC urges Christie’s to comply with the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act and/or applicable state laws. Regardless of the origin of the remains, WAC urges Christie’s to act in accordance with standards of human decency and withdraw these remains from the auction. 



The World Archaeological Congress bases its objection to this sale on the WAC Code of Ethics, which includes the Vermillion Accord on Human Remains and the Tamaki Makau-rau Accord on the Display of Human Remains and Sacred Objects. 



Dr. Smith noted that the first principle of the Vermillion Accord declares "Respect for the mortal remains of the dead shall be accorded to all, irrespective of origin, race, religion, nationality, custom and tradition." She stated "The buying and selling of human remains can not be considered respectful treatment. And the transforming of human remains into a ballot box is poor taste, as well as unethical."

Yale skull and bones to auction in New York
(AFP) – Jan 7, 2010

NEW YORK — Grisly trophies from Yale University's mysterious Skull and Bones society, whose members include former president George W. Bush, are to go on auction in New York this month.

The human skull and two large bones are estimated to sell for between 10,000 and 20,000 dollars on January 22 at Christie's.

The auction house said the human remains were used as a ballot box by the secret society. The skull includes a specially cut lid in the top -- apparently for ballots -- and one of the bones is inscribed "THOR."

The auction lot also comes with a black book listing names of Skull and Bones members back in 1831-1877.

"The ballot box and documents offer a rare glimpse into an organization in which membership has evolved into a closely guarded secret," Christie's said.

Members, dubbed "Bonesmen," have included Bush and his father, who also served as president, Senator John Kerry, the late conservative writer William F. Buckley, Jr, and a number of major businessmen such as Averell Harriman and H.J. Heinz II.

The society, joined by leading students at the university and which is said to maintain bizarre initiation rites, was founded at Yale in 1832. Women were admitted for the first time in the 1990s.

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