Caddo tribe controls & protects the use of their name

[Moma_porcupine]

Saw this on another message board .

http://www.caddonation-nsn.gov/gov/message.html

"The following is a letter sent to Mr. Davis regarding the use of the name "Caddo" in any respect to his state recognized tribe.


November 5, 2007

Mr. Rufus Davis
4500 Hwy. 485
Robeline, Louisiana 71469

Re: Use of the name “Caddo??? in any respect to your state recognized tribe

Mr. Davis:

You are hereby notified by the Caddo Nation Tribal Council (representatives of the federally recognized tribal government) that you should immediately cease and desist use of the federally recognized name “Caddo??? in any and all of your media communications, including, Internet websites, advertising and marketing correspondences or other communicative correspondences to further the recognition of the Adai at either state or federal levels and as such, you shall from this time forward stop using the name “Caddo??? in any further correspondence in regard to the “Adai Caddo Indians of Louisiana??? (See attached brochure).

Please also find attached a copy of a resolution passed in 2001 by the federally recognized Caddo Nation of Oklahoma tribal council “TO PROTECT FOR THE CADDO NATION THE PROPRIETARY OWNERSHIP OF ITS NAME, ITS CULTURAL/TRIBAL HISTORY AND TO PROTECT THE TRIBE FROM ILLEGAL OR UNAUTHORIZED USAGE OR SALE OF ANY WRITTEN COMPOSITIONS, BOOKS OR PRODUCTS THAT HAVE BEEN DERIVED FROM ANY ASSOCIATION, BOTH KNOWN OR UNKNOWN, WITH THE CADDO NATION, ITS TRIBAL PROGRAMS OR ITS TRIBAL MEMBERSHIP.
Your Louisiana state recognition is based in part in that you and your tribe believe you are also “Caddo. The Caddo Nation of Oklahoma (currently recognized through the Bureau of Indian Affairs as the Caddo Nation) has a distinct, culture, language, and tradition set apart from other tribal groups. The Caddo Nation consists of a number of smaller bands (Nabedache, Nasoni, Hainai) of the Caddo Indians under the leadership of a larger group such as, the Hasinai, the Natchitoches, and the Kadohadacho for example, but all with a common language. The Adai were not part of these groups. In 1835, the Caddo Nation signed a land cession agreement with the United States government to cede over land in both Arkansas and Louisiana. Your group was not a part of this land cession or ever recognized as a part of the Caddo Nation proper. Neither you nor your tribal members have ever been recognized as being affiFliated with the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma whose members can historically trace their ancestry to and from Caddo Indians whose families held allotments of land in Oklahoma and were part of the original Wichita, Caddo, and Delaware Reservational District in Oklahoma. These Caddo Nation members came from both the Brazos Reserve in Texas in 1859 and from the state of Louisiana moving to Oklahoma prior to and following the land cession of 1835. As to date, no Adai indian has ever been ancestrally linked to the members of the Caddo Nation.

Should you continue using the name CADDO, a federally recognized name used only by the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, we will have no choice but to pursue legal remedies to the fullest extent available to us.

Sincerely,

LaRue Parker
Chairwoman Caddo Nation"

( and then there is a list of people at the bottom )

[frederica]

I read this the past few days, glad you jogged my memory, as I forgot. But anyway I remember somewhere that Nations cannot copyright their name. It would be I guess intelluctual property. It would solve a lot of proplems if they could. But I think the Caddo statement is an internal Tribal Council protection. It will be interesting if the other gives it up. It may be in one of Vine DeLoria's books. Will have to check.

[debbieredbear]

I wish they had an email contact for him. I would send him the link for the local fraud who claims that he is a hereditary Caddo shaman.

[frederica]

Caddo Nation Oklahoma PO Box  487, Binger OK    email Public Relations:   vpickering@caddonation.k12.ok.us

[debbieredbear]

Thanks, I missed that! I will email them on my weekend, which is thurs and friday.

[PaxMan]

Good for them, but they have a snowball's chance. Because the offenders are not using the entire name: "Caddo Nation" and so it will be a futile fight. The same way you can say "Sacramento oranges" but you can't say "City of Sacramento Oranges."
It all depends on two factors: 1. How the Caddo Nation is 'recognized' (don't you just hate that term - that our existence hinges on the occupying government's 'recognition' of us?) and 2. if, and then how, they are incorporated.  They have legal right to protect their corporate name, not (merely) one word of it. It has to be an EXACT and TOTAL infringement. They could file for a trademark and (another snowball's chance - but maybe the trademark clerk would be off his game that day) and AFTER they got a legal trademark approved, THEN they could start lopping off the list of offenders. But last time I checked trademark law (last year) I am pretty sure they would not be able to meet all the requirements. That should NOT keep them from trying though.