Caddo Indian relics were discussed at community college board meeting

By Marlene J. Bohr
mbohr@steelcountrybee.com

John McCullough, vice president for advancement at NTCC, spoke to the board of trustees at the Northeast Texas Community College meeting on Jan. 28. Dr. McCullough showed some of the relics to the board that were located at the college. As Northeast Texas Community College is in the middle of Caddo Indian territory, the site has been chosen as a possible burial ground for the Caddo Indians. Dr. McCullough talked to the board about the Caddo Indian relics that are at the college and said he has been in contact with the Caddo Indians.
“I had a meeting with the Caddo tribe last summer in Oklahoma to follow up on some registration requirement that is a requirement of any state institution that owns Caddo relics,” Dr. McCullough said. “Caddo relics are under a federally-funded institution and because we are a state institution, we are under the guidelines of Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. This means the Caddo and all Native American tribes identify every relic from their tribe. One way of doing is being registered with NAGPRA and we had to get everything authenticated, so every single piece we have has been authenticated and where it came from and how old it is.
“When you are federally funded, you never own a Caddo relic, the Caddo tribe owns it and they told me if they wanted to take a relic from us, legally they could.”
 

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