Sacred Ground

Sacred Ground. Caddo Memorial Plaza. , The ground upon which you are standing right now is sacred ground. In the early 1930s when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service began construction of this hatchery, over 100 Caddo Indian graves were unearthed. At that time, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) was not in effect and many human remains, as well as funerary items, were crushed, stolen, looted, or destroyed. Some remains were transported to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, where they were kept in "The Nation's Attic” at the National Museum of Natural History until 2007. Under authority of the Museum of the American Indian Act, and supported by the Caddo Nation's Tribal Council and Repatriation Committee, the Caddo Nation Cultural Preservation Department began a long journey in 2000 to return these remains to their home - the home of their ancestors - the Caddo Nation. The journey is now complete. , This Memorial Plaza is dedicated to honor the culture of the Caddo Nation and to remind all that spend time here of the proud history they left behind. , March 7, 2008 , May the souls that were disturbed rest in peace.