By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports
NATCHITOCHES – Sixty-four years ago, it seemed like a good idea. Monday, it was revived from apparent extinction.
In 1960, Northwestern State and Stephen F. Austin, universities two hours apart in communities with common heritage deeply influenced by Native Americans, commissioned a statue as a prize for the winning team in what became an annual football rivalry contest.
The statue, a huge wood carving of a mythical Native American chief, became a treasured tradition and a prized possession in the NSU-SFA series. But it also drew criticism, including from some members of the Caddo Nation tribe, for its appearance resembling a “cigar store Indian” that hardly resembled the actual native peoples. It was named “Chief Caddo” by the school’s leaders in an effort to pay tribute to the historic roots of their communities.
That six-decade tradition was surprisingly halted last year with a five-sentence press release issued three days before the teams met for the first time since 2019. The decision did not sit well with either school’s alumni, including former players, band members and spirit group participants.
Monday, the schools – notably led by new presidents who have taken over since the end of last basketball season – announced they are resuming a rivalry prize in the football series, which has resumed annual status with the return of SFA to join Northwestern in the Southland Conference following a relatively brief and ill-fated exodus in the now-crumbling Western Athletic Conference.
It’s no longer “Chief Caddo.” But the trophy that will be contested Saturday night when the teams collide commemorates the rivalry, and is tabbed “The Chief.”
Just like the mothballed “Chief Caddo” statue, reportedly sitting in an SFA warehouse, this will be the largest sports prize worldwide. And it might get bigger if plans come to fruition.
Officials are replacing “Chief Caddo” with a new wooden trophy designed by Texas chainsaw artist Della Meredith. The new trophy has the same 7-foot-6, 320-pound dimensions as the original. It is topped with a pitchfork on one end and an axe on the other, with scores from past games adorning the length of the trophy. The winning team will display the trophy with its representative logo facing upward.
Northwestern president Jimmy Genovese, who took over Aug. 5, and SFA’s Dr. Neal Weaver, named to his post March 18, collaborated on a joint announcement issued Monday afternoon heading into game week.
“While the name and the design of the trophy will change, the great tradition endures,” Genovese said. “We have a wonderful relationship and a strong rivalry with our good friends at SFA, and this simply opens a new and exciting chapter to be enjoyed for generations to come.”
“We are excited to renew this rivalry and begin a new tradition with a redesigned traveling trophy,” Weaver said. “For decades, our universities have battled for bragging rights on the football field each fall in a game that we anticipate year-round. It generates not only a sense of pride in the outcome of the game but also pride in our common ground and the outstanding accomplishments of our students, faculty, staff and alumni.”
The announcement said the schools have engaged Caddo Nation leadership regarding plans to add a piece designed by the nation to the trophy. The additional piece will extend the original purpose of the trophy and could make it slightly taller. The Caddo people lived in the locations that later became the English-speaking communities of Natchitoches and Nacogdoches, Texas.
As cited in the Demons’ football media guide for years, “The purpose was to pay tribute to the Native Americans who not only first settled the region but provided safety for the early white settlers in the area. Some historians say that if not for the Caddo tribe, the Spanish and French colonists who came to the region would not have survived onslaughts of Apache and Commanche warriors from the west and the Natchez from the east. Also, French and Spanish writers of the era reported Caddo chiefs were master diplomats who made it possible for the two European colonists to live as neighbors while their mother nations were at war against each other.”
SFA’s football coach, Colby Carthel, and his counterpart at Northwestern, first-year head coach Blaine McCorkle, had reportedly conferred with mutual interest of reviving the rivalry prize in some form. When the teams met last year in Natchitoches in a non-conference contest for the first time in four years, Carthel and the Lumberjacks brought a large pine log to go to the winning team, in concurrence with former NSU coach and Demons’ career passing king Brad Laird. SFA won and the log, unadorned, returned to Nacogdoches.
There was no indication Monday if that was the same pine log that has been used to revive the trophy series. But it is undeniably a stride back toward normalcy and a revival of a prized tradition, said officials from both schools.
Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com
