The story of Ohio's ancient Native complex and its long journey for recognition as a World Heritage site
Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks in Ohio was added to UNESCO’s list of World Heritage sites on Sept. 19, 2023.
- Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks in Ohio was added to UNESCO’s list of World Heritage sites on Sept. 19, 2023.
- The mounds are marvels of Indigenous science and astronomy, which helped Native Americans organize everything from cycles of planting and hunting to their ritual calendar.
- As a historian and ethnographer of the Native American Midwest, I have documented Native peoples’ commitment to their original homelands.
- The long journey toward this recognition tells a larger story about imperiled Native American sacred sites in the eastern half of the United States and the challenges faced by those who wish to protect them.
American settlers and Native peoples
- The policy resulted in the wholesale replacement of Native Americans with settlers in nearly every corner of the eastern half of the United States.
- Three of the Native nations that have helped win the World Heritage designation for the mounds – the Shawnee, Potawatomi and Miami Nation – were subject to removal.
- And in 1846, American settlers forced the Miami Nation out of their homes along the Wabash River, in Indiana.
- The forced expulsion of Native nations from their homelands made it difficult for them to protect their sacred heritage.
Post-removal abuse and neglect
- Over the years, Newark became a military barracks, a fairground, and for the past century it has been leased to the Moundbuilders Country Club.
- At the time, most Americans believed that the Bible was the literal word of God and that white Americans were a superior race.
- Squier argued that the Toltecs built the mounds and then migrated to Mesoamerica, where they built the great monuments of Mexico and Guatemala.
- Unfortunately, some Americans continue to promote false theories about the mounds, casting doubt on the genius of Indigenous science.
Collaboration and hope for the future
- Since 2020, the Ohio History Connection, which took over management of Serpent Mound, has been doing community-engaged archaeology.
- As part of this engagement, staff archaeologists work with the cultural preservation officers of affiliated Native nations to interpret the site.
- Similarly, the staff of the Ohio History Connection and the Newark Earthworks Center regularly consult with tribal leaders regarding the Newark Earthworks.
- The golf club has a century-long lease with the state of Ohio, which the state attempted to terminate through eminent domain.