Survey Director Tom Green welcomes meeting participants.

The first major activity following notification of the NEH grant award was a project initiation meeting held at the Arkansas Archeological Survey Coordinating Office in Fayetteville, Arkansas on October 27 - 28, 2009. The meeting was attended by project participants from the Survey, the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, the Osage Nation, and the Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma. Individuals participating included:


Dr. Ann Early (State Archeologist), Michael Evans, Dr. Thomas Green (Director, AAS), Jerry Hilliard, Aden Jenkins, Dr. Jami J. Lockhart (Co-Principal Investigator), Duncan McKinnon, Jared Pebworth, Larry Porter, Deborah Sabo, Dr. George Sabo III (Co-Principal Investigator), John Samuelsen, Dr. Leslie C. Stewart-Abernathy (WRI Station Archeologist), Leslie Walker, Deborah Weddle, Rebecca Wiewel

Caddo Nation of Oklahoma

Mary Botone, Robert Cast (Tribal Historic Preservation Officer), Doyle Edge, Bobby Gonzalez (NAGPRA Coordinator), Madeline Hamilton, Lyman Kionute, Marilyn Threlkeld, LaRisha Wabaunasee, Lucy Wabaunasee

Osage Nation

Anita Fields, Dr. Andrea Hunter (Tribal Historic Preservation Officer and Co-Principal Investigator), Kathryn Redcorn

Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma

Jean Ann Lambert, Ardina Moore

Meeting Agenda

Tuesday, October 27

Welcome and Introductions: Tom Green, AAS Director

Financial Administration Q&A: Betty Grant, AAS Assistant Director for Fiscal Affairs

Project overview: George Sabo III

Ceramic Vessel Documentation: Ann Early and Leslie Walker

Group discussion and tour of University Museum collection

Lunch Break

Archaeogeophysical Surveying: Jami Lockhart

Excavation procedures: Jerry Hilliard, Mike Evans, and Jared Pebworth

2009 Excavations at Carden Bottoms: Skip Stewart-Abernathy and Larry Porter

Group discussion

Wednesday, October 28

Project website: John Samuelsen and Deborah Weddle

Publications: Deborah Sabo

Caddo, Osage, and Quapaw Summaries

Meeting Results

All of the participants agreed that the project represented a unique and worthwhile opportunity to expand our understanding of Caddo, Osage, and Quapaw history in Arkansas and to increase collaboration between tribal members and archeologists in the pursuit of historical knowledge. All four entities participating in this project pledged to work cooperatively and to the best of their ability to complete project tasks according to the projected schedule.

To work toward that goal in a manner sensitive to Caddo, Osage, and Quapaw concerns regarding the sanctity of buried human remains, the participants recommended the creation of a Memorandum of Understanding to clarify procedures to be followed in the event that human remains are unearthed during any project investigations. In response to this suggestion, Sabo drafted and circulated a memorandum based on Arkansas’s current State Plan Guidelines for Archeological Fieldwork and Report Writing. The State Plan establishes policy for the conduct of archeological work reviewed by the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program of the Department of Arkansas Heritage. The Survey received comments and suggestions from several project participants and these were incorporated into subsequent drafts. Following additional procedural guidance from the Arkansas State Historic Preservation Office, the Advisory Council for Historic Preservation, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, the final Memorandum was signed by Thomas Green (Survey Director), Brenda Shemayme Edwards (Caddo Nation Chairperson), Jim Gray (Osage Nation Principle Chief), and John Berrey (Quapaw Tribal Business Committee Chairman). A copy of the memorandum is provided on the next page of this website.