Return of the Bones

A story of Pueblo, Native-American racism, enslavement, and religious persecution by their Spanish conquerors, and by other white people who followed. An old shaman and his granddaughter take a road trip from New Mexico to Harvard to pick up 2,047 family skeletons stolen from the ghost Pueblo of Pecos. Did you know that there are still about a million Native American bones at museums, still waiting to be identified and repatriated for sacred reburials?The Surgeon General of the United States once paid money to anyone who would bring him the fresh skull of a Native American. Did you know that America has a dark past of private collectors who mounted Native American skulls on fireplace mantles or literally stored their skeletons in closets? Did you know that President George W. Bush's grandfather, Prescott Bush, dug up Geronimo's grave and stole his skull to be used as initiation into the Skull and Bones Society at Yale?The desecration of the Pecos graves was the beginning of American Archaeology. You may know these bones. The Pecos skeletons were the research subjects for, among others, the landmark study which proves exercise prevents osteoporosis. This book tells the story of an extinct, indigenous people who contributed so much to mankind. Return of the Bones is based on a part of NATIVE AMERICAN HISTORY few are familiar with.WINNER NEW MEXICO ARIZONA BOOK AWARDS