Wasn't he disowned from his family/tribe when his medals were stripped away initially and then only accepted again when the medals were reinstated. I couldn't find any evidence of this online, but I vaguely remember hearing that story at some point.
GJ said about 4 hours later
I don't know--I know little of the Jim Thorpe saga myself. Just stumbled across this story online and had to share, given our recent stay down there. What you say would definitely fit with the story as I've read it so far, however. Be interesting to know the truth.