Chief Caddo

Northwestern State Demons

Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks

Sport| Football
First meeting| November 7, 1924
Louisiana Normal 7, Stephen F. Austin 3
Latest meeting| November 21, 2019
Stephen F. Austin 32, Northwestern State 20
Next meeting| September 16, 2023
Trophy| Chief Caddo (1961–2019)
Statistics
Meetings total| 75
All-time series| Northwestern State leads, 45–27–3
Trophy series| Northwestern State leads, 32–21–1
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)

[Interactive fullscreen map]

Locations of Northwestern State and Stephen F. Austin

Chief Caddo is the name of the statue formerly 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. Northwestern State University stopped participating in the exchange in 2021 after a Student Government Association and Faculty Senate joint resolution recognizing that Caddo Nation officials stated the statue was offensive, acknowledging the statue was inauthentic, and calling for the end to the practice.[1]

Made of solid wood, Chief Caddo was 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[edit]

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) supposedly representing an American Indian "chief" who, in European-American folklore originating in the 1930s, 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).[2] 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.[3]

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. It was named "Chief Caddo," supposedly after the Native nation that first settled the two communities.

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 played for this trophy from 1961 to 2019.[3][4]

Currently, the statue resides at Stephen F. Austin State University after their 2019 32–20 victory against the Demons.[5]

## Importance of the Caddo Nation[edit]

The Caddo Nation are the Native people whose lands included Natchitoches and Nacogdoches at the time of contact.

Nacogdoches and Natchitoches both received their names from Caddo band names. Two apocryphal non-Caddo folk stories exist about how the cities got their names. Both versions of folk story agree that a Caddo 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[edit]

Northwestern State victories| Stephen F. Austin victories| Tie games

|
|

| No.| Date| Location| Winner| Score

|
|
|
|

1|  November 7, 1924 |  Nacogdoches, TX|  Louisiana Normal | 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|  Louisiana Normal | 26–0
5|  November 3, 1928 |  Shreveport, LA|  Louisiana Normal | 26–0
6|  October 26, 1929 |  Natchitoches, LA|  Louisiana Normal | 41–6
7|  November 8, 1930 |  Nacogdoches, TX|  Louisiana Normal | 21–20
8|  November 6, 1931 |  Natchitoches, LA|  Louisiana Normal | 19–0
9|  November 5, 1932 |  Nacogdoches, TX|  Louisiana Normal | 39–0
10|  November 3, 1933 |  Natchitoches, LA|  Louisiana Normal | 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|  Louisiana Normal | 20–7
14|  November 5, 1937 |  Natchitoches, LA|  Stephen F. Austin | 2–0
15|  November 4, 1938 |  Nacogdoches, TX|  Louisiana Normal | 6–0
16|  November 3, 1939 |  Natchitoches, LA|  Louisiana Normal | 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

## See also[edit]

* List of NCAA college football rivalry games

## References[edit]

1. ^ ""To Officially End The Chief Caddo Exchange ..."". Joint Resolution No. SB. S. 2021-2 of 2021. NSULA Student Government Association.
2. ^ "SFA Traditions". Archived from the original on 2008-08-08. Retrieved 2009-03-31.
3. ^ a b Boydstun, Jared. "Chief Caddo". Traditions of Northwestern State University. Retrieved 2022-12-21.
4. ^ "Northwestern State rallies in second half to defeat Stephen F. Austin". shreveporttimes.com. Retrieved 2019-10-04.
5. ^ "Chief Caddo". digital.sfasu.edu. Retrieved 2022-12-28.

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Northwestern State Demons football

Venues|

* Harry Turpin Stadium (1976–present)

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Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks football

Venues|

* Birdwell Field (1923–1941)
* Memorial Stadium (1946–1972)
* Homer Bryce Stadium (1973–present)

Bowls & rivalries|

* Northwestern State: Chief Caddo
* Sam Houston State: Battle of the Piney Woods

People|

* Head coaches
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Seasons|

* 1923
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* v
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Southland Conference football rivalries

Conference|

* Battle of the Border (Lamar–McNeese)
* McNeese–Northwestern State
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* River Bell Classic (Nicholls–Southeastern Louisiana)
* Northwestern State–Southeastern Louisiana

Non-conference|

* Red Beans and Rice Bowl (Central Arkansas–McNeese)
* Sabine Shoe (Lamar–Louisiana)
* Cajun Crown (Louisiana–McNeese)
* Cypress Mug (Louisiana–Southeastern Louisiana)
* Louisiana–Monroe vs. Northwestern State
* Battle for the Paddle (Nicholls–Texas State)
* Chief Caddo (Northwestern State–Stephen F. Austin)

* v
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Western Athletic Conference football rivalries

Non-conference|

* Grand Canyon Rivalry (Northern Arizona–Southern Utah)
* Chief Caddo (Northwestern State–Stephen F. Austin)
* Battle of the Piney Woods (Sam Houston State–Stephen F. Austin)
* Beehive Bowl (Southern Utah–Weber State)

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