Chief Caddo

Chief Caddo is the name of the statue given to the winner of the annual football game between Southland Conference members Northwestern State University (NSU) of Natchitoches, Louisiana and Stephen F. Austin State University (SFA) of Nacogdoches, Texas.

Chief Caddo

Northwestern State Demons Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks
Sport	Football
First meeting	November 7, 1924 Northwestern State 7, Stephen F. Austin 3
Latest meeting	November 21, 2019 Stephen F. Austin 32, Northwestern State 20
Next meeting	November 19, 2020
Trophy	Chief Caddo
Statistics
Meetings total	75
All-time series	Northwestern State leads, 45–27–3
Trophy series	Northwestern State leads, 31–21–1
Largest victory	Northwestern State, 52–0 (1991)
Longest win streak	Northwestern State, 7 (1927–1933), (1976–1982)
Current win streak	Stephen F. Austin, 1 (2019–present)

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Locations of Northwestern State and Stephen F. Austin

Made of solid wood, Chief Caddo is one of the largest trophies in college football, standing 7.5-foot (2.3 m) and weighing in excess of 330-pound (150 kg).

History

The idea of the statue was created in 1960 when longtime rivals NSU and SFA decided to award the winner of the game a trophy. The two schools settled on a wooden statue (both schools are located in heavily forested areas) of a legendary Indian chief whose tribe (the Caddo) was responsible for settling the locations that became the cities in which university was located (both of which are named for branches of the tribe).[1] Under the agreement, based on the results of the 1961 football game, the losing school would chop down a tree from one of its nearby forests, while the winning school would receive the log and carve the statue from it.

NSU won the 1961 game 35–19; thus, SFA delivered a 2,000-pound black gum log to NSU. Woodcarver Harold Green spent some 230 hours fashioning the statue. He was named Chief Caddo to honor the Indian tribe that not only settled the two communities, but provided safety for the early European settlers in the area.

In June 2010, after years of transportation to and from games had left Chief Caddo in poor condition, the trophy was given a much needed refurbishing. The project, headed by Bill Flynn (Flynn Paint & Decorating of Nacogdoches), undertook the restoration of the trophy. Among the many restorations to the trophy were: the repairing of the base, the construction and replacement of feathers in the headdress, the restaining and repainting of the entire trophy, and intricate detailing.

NSU and SFA have been playing for Chief Caddo since 1961 and NSU has a 31–21–1 advantage in the trophy game.[2]

Currently, Chief Caddo resides at Stephen F. Austin State University after their 2019 32–20 victory against the Demons.

Controversy

Native American sports mascots and imagery such as Chief Caddo are widely seen as racially insensitive. For example, after substantial public pressure, the Washington Redskins football team has recently (2020) agreed to change their name.

Importance of the Caddo Tribe

Historians say had it not been for the Caddo Indians, the Spanish and French colonists who came to the area would not have survived the onslaughts of Apache and Comanche warriors from the west, and the Natchez from the east. In addition, French and Spanish writers of the time said it was certain, wise Caddo chiefs made it possible for the colonists to live as neighbors while their mother countries were at war against each other.

Nacogdoches and Natchitoches both received their names from Caddo place names. In Caddo language "Na" simply means "place of." Nacogdoches is thought to mean "the place of places." Two myths exist about how the cities got their names. Both versions of the myth agree that an Indian chief with two sons sent one east and the other west, and they traveled the same distance and established villages. As for the folklore in question:

One version, as reported by historian Samuel Stewart Mims in "Rio Sabinas", credits the chief of an Adae Indian village on the Sabine River. The village was overpopulated and the chief ordered his two grown sons to report to him precisely at sunrise. He told one son to walk east and the other to walk west until the very moment of sunset. The sons were to establish a village at the place they reached. The son who went west wound up in a grove of persimmon trees, and named his village Nacogdoches, meaning persimmon. The eastbound son reached a grove of papaw trees and named his village Natchitoches, meaning papaw.

Another version says that the chief had twin sons, Nacogdoches and Natchitoches, and could not decide who would lead the tribe following his death. The chief split the tribe between them and sent each in different directions. They traveled for three days, one eastbound and one westbound, and wound up where the cities are located today.

Game results

Northwestern State victories

Stephen F. Austin victories

Tie games

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 November 7, 1924 Nacogdoches, TX Northwestern State 7–3 2 November 6, 1925 Natchitoches, LA Stephen F. Austin 7–6 3 November 6, 1926 Nacogdoches, TX Stephen F. Austin 28–0 4 November 5, 1927 Nacogdoches, TX Northwestern State 26–0 5 November 3, 1928 Shreveport, LA Northwestern State 26–0 6 October 26, 1929 Natchitoches, LA Northwestern State 41–6 7 November 8, 1930 Nacogdoches, TX Northwestern State 21–20 8 November 6, 1931 Natchitoches, LA Northwestern State 19–0 9 November 5, 1932 Nacogdoches, TX Northwestern State 39–0 10 November 3, 1933 Natchitoches, LA Northwestern State 39–0 11 November 2, 1934 Nacogdoches, TX Tie 0–0 12 November 8, 1935 Natchitoches, LA Stephen F. Austin 13–6 13 November 6, 1936 Nacogdoches, TX Northwestern State 20–7 14 November 5, 1937 Natchitoches, LA Stephen F. Austin 2–0 15 November 4, 1938 Nacogdoches, TX Northwestern State 6–0 16 November 3, 1939 Natchitoches, LA Northwestern State 20–6 17 November 2, 1940 Nacogdoches, TX Stephen F. Austin 14–7 18 November 29, 1946 Natchitoches, LA Northwestern State 27–6 19 September 15, 1956 Shreveport, LA Stephen F. Austin 14–12 20 September 14, 1957 Shreveport, LA Northwestern State 20–7 21 September 12, 1959 Shreveport, LA Tie 14–14 22 September 17, 1960 Shreveport, LA Northwestern State 14–0 23 September 16, 1961 Shreveport, LA Northwestern State 35–19 24 September 15, 1962 Shreveport, LA Northwestern State 23–6 25 September 14, 1963 Shreveport, LA Stephen F. Austin 10–0 26 September 19, 1964 Shreveport, LA Northwestern State 34–14 27 September 19, 1970 Nacogdoches, TX Northwestern State 9–7 28 September 18, 1971 Nacogdoches, TX Northwestern State 18–7 29 September 16, 1972 Natchitoches, LA Northwestern State 20–7 30 September 21, 1974 Natchitoches, LA Stephen F. Austin 14–13 31 September 20, 1975 Nacogdoches, TX Stephen F. Austin 17–13 32 September 18, 1976 Natchitoches, LA Northwestern State 47–0 33 September 24, 1977 Nacogdoches, TX Northwestern State 20–6 34 September 16, 1978 Nacogdoches, TX Northwestern State 21–14 35 September 15, 1979 Natchitoches, LA Northwestern State 27–21 36 September 20, 1980 Nacogdoches, TX Northwestern State 22–3 37 September 19, 1981 Natchitoches, LA Northwestern State 42–13 38 September 18, 1982 Nacogdoches, TX Northwestern State 28–14 No. Date Location Winner Score 39 October 1, 1983 Natchitoches, LA Stephen F. Austin 27–25 40 November 17, 1984 Nacogdoches, TX Stephen F. Austin 22–18 41 November 23, 1985 Natchitoches, LA Stephen F. Austin 19–10 42 November 22, 1986 Nacogdoches, TX Stephen F. Austin 28–14 43 November 21, 1987 Natchitoches, LA Northwestern State 33–21 44 November 19, 1988 Nacogdoches, TX Northwestern State 20–17 45 September 18, 1989 Natchitoches, LA Tie 17–17 46 November 17, 1990 Natchitoches, LA Northwestern State 20–3 47 November 23, 1991 Natchitoches, LA Northwestern State 52–0 48 November 21, 1992 Nacogdoches, TX Northwestern State 24–10 49 November 20, 1993 Natchitoches, LA Stephen F. Austin 51–20 50 November 19, 1994 Nacogdoches, TX Stephen F. Austin 34–13 51 November 16, 1995 Natchitoches, LA Stephen F. Austin 25–20 52 November 23, 1996 Nacogdoches, TX Northwestern State 17–10 53 November 20, 1997 Natchitoches, LA Northwestern State 38–24 54 November 21, 1998 Nacogdoches, TX Northwestern State 35–21 55 November 20, 1999 Natchitoches, LA Stephen F. Austin 29–14 56 November 18, 2000 Nacogdoches, TX Stephen F. Austin 17–3 57 November 17, 2001 Natchitoches, LA Northwestern State 31–17 58 November 23, 2002 Nacogdoches, TX Northwestern State 42–35 59 November 22, 2003 Natchitoches, LA Stephen F. Austin 44–14 60 November 20, 2004 Nacogdoches, TX Northwestern State 37–16 61 November 17, 2005 Natchitoches, LA Northwestern State 41–21 62 November 16, 2006 Nacogdoches, TX Stephen F. Austin 20–11 63 November 17, 2007 Natchitoches, LA Northwestern State 31–12 64 November 22, 2008 Nacogdoches, TX Northwestern State 34–24 65 November 21, 2009 Natchitoches, LA Stephen F. Austin 19–10 66 November 20, 2010 Nacogdoches, TX Stephen F. Austin 36–13 67 November 19, 2011 Natchitoches, LA Stephen F. Austin 33–0 68 November 17, 2012 Nacogdoches, TX Stephen F. Austin 34–17 69 November 23, 2013 Natchitoches, LA Northwestern State 40–27 70 November 22, 2014 Nacogdoches, TX Stephen F. Austin 27–24 71 November 21, 2015 Natchitoches, LA Northwestern State 33–17 72 November 19, 2016 Nacogdoches, TX Stephen F. Austin 45–31 73 November 18, 2017 Natchitoches, LA Northwestern State 38–21 74 November 15, 2018 Nacogdoches, TX Northwestern State 35–23 75 November 21, 2019 Natchitoches, LA Stephen F. Austin 32–20 Series: Northwestern State leads 45–27–3

References

1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-08-08. Retrieved 2009-03-31.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
2. "Northwestern State rallies in second half to defeat Stephen F. Austin". shreveporttimes.com. Retrieved 2019-10-04.