Does Skull and Bones, a powerful secret society at Yale University, have the remains of the Chiricahua Apache leader Geronimo? The famous warrior’s grandson believes it may, and he wants them returned, according to The New Mexican, a Santa Fe newspaper.

Geronimo died on a military reservation at Fort Sill, Okla., in 1909. In 1918 a group of Bonesmen, possibly including the grandfather of President Bush, is believed to have dug up a grave at the fort and removed a skull, femurs, and other burial items that were taken to the society’s headquarters, on the Yale campus.

The warrior’s great-grandson, Harlyn Geronimo, wants the bones returned “for a proper consecrated burial.” If the bones are not his ancestor’s remains, he believes they belonged to another Apache prisoner and should still be returned. So far, his appeals to President Bush for help have gone unanswered. The president and his father both attended Yale and joined the society, whose members are sworn to secrecy.

Gila Reinstein, a Yale spokeswoman, said university officials don’t know what goes on behind the club’s doors. She added: “If it’s true about the bones, that’s disrespectful and disturbing.” —Charles Huckabee