Annual Indian Artifact and Relic Show comes through Meridian
Since their creation in 2005, the Magnolia State Archeological Society has hosted an annual Indian Artifact and Relic Show. This is their tenth year to have one right here in Meridian.
“Some of these artifacts go back to 16,000 B.C., so we think it’s important for people to know where the first Americans came from. It kind of gives people an idea of how the first Americans actually migrated to this country. We feel like they came across the Bering straight into Alaska and then eventually down into America,” said President Bill Breidinger.
Collectors from nine states, including Arkansas, Kentucky, and even Missouri gathered here at the Frank Cochran Center to showcase their ancient findings. One collector, Leslie Brown of Purvis, Mississippi, has been finding and collecting arrowheads for six years now.
“I think it’s important for people to come out and look at these artifacts because it shows the difference in the quality of life we have now versus what the Indians had back then. You know, all of the things they had to do to try to survive, where as we can just pull up to McDonald’s to get something to eat, but they had to sit there for hours and hours to work on a tool that may or may not be right,” said Brown.
All of Brown’s findings over the past six years have been in Lamar county on private land which they have permission to search.
“One thing that I find interesting about hunting arrowheads is you can start digging, and you’ll find an arrowhead that could be from the Woodland Period, which is the most recent period,” said Brown. “Then, you can keep digging and find something that is early archaic or mid-archaic. So, you can see that they didn’t move sites—they just lived there.”
For more information on upcoming Mississippi shows, visit their website www.arrowheads.com.
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