If the remains were found to belong to another Apache person — another Fort Sill prisoner who died in captivity — the same repatriation process would apply, and the question of identification might lead to further genealogical research to determine which individual’s remains were taken in 1918.

Either outcome would involve the recognition that whoever died at Fort Sill deserves the same dignity in death that the living dead of all communities deserve: a known resting place, the acknowledgment of their identity, and the presence of their community.

The mystery of Geronimo’s missing skull is, at its most fundamental level, a mystery about dignity.

Whether the specific skull in the Skull and Bones Tomb is Geronimo’s or not, it represents a human being whose remains were taken from their proper place by people who treated them as curiosities.

Modern science has the tools to address this mystery with evidence rather than legend.