U.S. Supreme Court rejected the appeal to move Jim Thorpe's body to his native, Oklahoma. (Photo : Reuters)
The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 6, Monday called off the five year long plea over legendary sportsperson Jim Thorpe's body to be returned to Indian tribal territories in Oklahoma. The petition which was eventually dismissed by the justice was initiated by his sons along with two American Indians who intended to have his remnants moved to Oklahoma.
The rejection leaves in place the orders by the appeals court to retain Thorpe's body in the Carbon County neighborhood that renamed itself adopted his name after he was cremated there more than half a century ago.
In a statement obtained by Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the organizer of Thorpe's birthday in the town
Anna Marie Fitzpatrick said, "It means he'll be left alone and he can rest in peace like he has rested there for the last 60 some years."
In the meanwhile, Craig Zurn assured that Thorpe's body will not be departed from the town. He added that now since the community no longer needs to pay for its fight, therefore it does not need to appeal on the removal of the Olympian's body either.
With the final verdict of the U.S. Supreme Court, Thorpe's town can now continue with their duty to celebrate their beloved football pioneer's accomplishments and his essence, which the town welcomed when Oklahoma, his native denied to honor.
The petition was initiated by Thorpe's son Jack who has since died, in association with the Sac and Fox Nation of Oklahoma back in 2010. The suit was thereafter continued by Thrope's two other sons William and Richard who appealed at the Supreme Court in the month of June this year to hear their plea.
In 2014 a federal appeals court reversed the ruling by the United States District Court Judge in Pennsylvania in 2013 which ordered the Thorpe's remains to be returned to the descendants if asked. Thorpe's family and the tribe then appealed to the Supreme Court which was eventually rejected in a decision by the justice on Oct. 6, Monday.
The principal chief of the Sac and Fox Nation in Oklahoma, Kay Rhoads told The New York Times "The denial of Jim Thorpe's stated request to be buried on Indian land within the Sac and Fox Reservation is remembered in our tribe and elsewhere in Indian country as a serious injustice".
It was Thorpe's third wife who initially requested her husband's body to be cremated in a small town in Pennsylvania and to be named after him.
