Page 1 of 2 Regular Session, 2013 ENROLLED SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 98 BY SENATOR LONG A RESOLUTION To commend the Adai Caddo Indian tribe for its cultural contributions to the state of Louisiana. WHEREAS, the Adai Caddo Indian nation is an independent tribe, one of approximately twenty-five different tribes with separate Caddeon names, who occupied a territory of four hundred miles and covered portions of present day states of western Louisiana, eastern Texas, western Arkansas, and north through Oklahoma up to the Canadian border; and WHEREAS, the Adai Indian nation was first part of the nomadic territory of the Pawnee and Wichita territory, and considered one of the largest North American Indian tribes with first European contact; and WHEREAS, as traders situated in an ideal geographical area, the Adai became a resourceful and productive conduit of trade between the Plains Indians west of the Sabine River, and the tribes of the southeast; and WHEREAS, when horses and cattle were introduced by the Spanish, the Adai became excellent horsemen and some of the region's first cowboys, rounding up Mustangs and wild cattle for trade and enhancing their commerce; and WHEREAS, the Adai resided near a principal village, now known as Robeline, Louisiana, in the western part of Natchitoches Parish, formerly part of the Texas territory in 1818, and through Indian trades with the American and Spanish governments, their boundary lines were extended west to the Sabine River, formerly called Rio de Los Adais by the Spaniards and then became part of Louisiana; and WHEREAS, the Adai tribe reservation, a land grant community and on the National Registry of Historic Places, has become a favored and ever-popular tourist spot of visitors from around the world, and a travel attraction by elementary school children, high school and college students, while generating several million dollars in development for the Adai, neighboring parishes, and the entire state of Louisiana; and SR NO. 98 ENROLLED Page 2 of 2 WHEREAS, founded respectively in 1717 and 1721, the Adai has two national landmarks bearing their tribal name, Presidio de Los Adais, and the Catholic Indian Mission Church St. Michael of the Adais. THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby commend the Adai Caddo Indian tribe for their rich cultural contributions to Louisiana. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to Chief Rufus Davis, Jr. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE