Over 200 Ohio fifth graders and teachers visited the Great Circle Earthworks and Dr. John N. Low provided them with traditional stories and songs and spoke to them about the Newark Earthworks. The morning was warm, sunny, blue sky against fall foliage and the children asked many questions of Dr. Low.
The Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks is an inscribed UNESCO World Heritage site as of September 19, 2023! The inscription recognizes the identification, protection and preservation of cultural and natural heritage considered of outstanding value for all of humanity. For more information, visit our News page. Aerial view of the Hopeton Earthworks, part of the Hopewell Culture National Historical Park, Chillicothe Ohio. First Capital Aerial Media, Tim Anderson Jr.
"The Fertile Earth and the Ordered Cosmos: Reflections on the Newark Earthworks and World Heritage." Edited by Elizabeth Weiser, Timothy Jordan, and Richard Shiels. The Ohio State University Press. Available for purchase June 2023! $24.95 in Paperback and PDF EBook editions. All proceeds from the sale of this book go to support the Ohio History Connection and the Newark Earthworks Center in their efforts to manage and interpret the site for the world. For more information, visit: https://ohiostatepress.org/books/titles/9780814258705.html
Dr. John Low (Pokagon Band of Potawatomi) beginning a tour at the Octagon State Memorial, Newark Earthworks. The Octagon State Memorial is open to the public from dawn to dusk four days a year. More details about the 2024 dates are coming soon! Part of the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks UNESCO World Heritage sites.
The Newark Earthworks Center exists today as an academic research center on the Newark campus of The Ohio State University.
Our primary focus is to promote research, support faculty, contribute to student experiences, support appreciation of the ancestral sites and peoples, and contribute to a campus and university environment of diversity, equity and inclusion.
Our value and relevancy are centered on respect, recognition, preservation, celebration and promotion of Indigenous peoples and their achievements, past, present and future.
Our mission-driven uniqueness has guided the organization since its formation. And it is that mission that has been so powerfully effective for over fifteen years in attracting faculty, students, constituents, stakeholders and the public to become united with our efforts.
"When a group of Pokagon Potawatomi elders came to visit the Newark Earthworks in 2014, One elder, Majel DeMarsh, reminded me of what I have been taught all my life; that "these sites are not sacred because of what was built here. These structures were built to acknowledge the sacredness that preexisted humans. These sites only confirm and celebrate the power that is already here."
-Director Dr. John Low (Pokagon Band of Potawatomi), Newark Earthworks Center.
"Tribal participation in the interpretation and management of the ancient and historical landscape is vital to the Indigenous legacy of Ohio. The tribes who lived in the Ohio Valley during the historical era were the most recent Indigenous caretakers of the earthworks. They lived among the earthen complexes, the effigies, and the grave mounds. They knew earthworks existed, understood they were made by their ancestors, and did not disturb them."
-Associate Director Marti Chaatsmith (Comanche Nation, descendant of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma), Newark Earthworks Center.
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November is Indigenous Peoples’ Month, providing a time to celebrate the rich history and cultures of our nation’s first people. We invite all members of the Buckeye community to recognize the many meaningful contributions of the Indigenous peoples of our community and our country. We are thankful we have multiple programs and events to mark the importance of Indigenous peoples, including the College of Education and Human Ecology’s screening last month of the documentary “Blood Memory: A Story of Removal and Return” and the current display in Bricker Hall of hand-crafted Pokagon Potawatomi black ash baskets.
We are shaping our work one basketful at a time, just as the Ohio River Valley's monumental earthworks were built.
We respect, recognize, preserve, celebrate and promote Indigenous peoples and their achievements, past, present and future.
Our work endeavors to reflect our mission and values of ourselves and The Ohio State University with excellence and impact, diversity and innovation, inclusion and equity, care and compassion, and integrity and respect.
