Boroughs: Newark Earthworks and indigenous people
"Restoring land without restoring relationship is an empty exercise. It is relationship that will endure and relationship that will sustain the restored land.” - Robin Wall Kimmerer, Citizen Potawatomi Nation
As we celebrate plans for central Ohio to become home to a UNESCO World Heritage site, including eight Hopewell Earthworks, it seems important to heed the words of Robin Kimmerer, author of the widely celebrated book Braiding Sweetgrass. Kimmerer is a botanist and indigenous woman with deep connections to her ancestral heritage. The wisdom of her people offers lessons the world needs to hear right now: that every part of the Earth is alive and interconnected and as such our planet can be considered a living entity; that we are all in relationship with each other; and that restoring a sense of relationship to the land that sustains us is what will help us to survive.
Its also important to remember the world's indigenous people protect 80% of the world's remaining biodiversity while making up only 5% of the world’s population. When we support indigenous people we in turn help our own collective perception and well being, while engaging with or accessing native tenacity and connection to the earth.
A 2022 survey found less than 10% of Americans believe they are knowledgeable about Native Americans. Here in Ohio only 0.2% of us identify ourselves as indigenous. While one Indian group, the United Remnant Band of the Shawnee Nation, has been given formal recognition by the state of Ohio, there are no federally recognized tribes or federally recognized lands in Ohio. In the mid-1800’s Native people were “removed” from Ohio by the U.S. government, forcibly moved west, mostly to Oklahoma.
I am not a Native person, in fact I was born and lived most of my life in New Zealand, with parents who were emigrants from England. Growing up I didn’t realize I was living in a bicultural society. New Zealand’s parliament established laws redressing early colonial land confiscation, requiring the inclusion of Maori people and their traditions in many aspects of everyday life. Later, as a museum curator and director, I was accustomed to Maori colleagues overseeing the care of Maori objects (taonga,) enacting ceremony whenever their sacred artifacts are moved or displayed.
Coming from a different background it was noticeable to me very few people in Ohio are Native Americans. Fortunately, as a state we are becoming more aware of underrepresented groups among us, and social imbalances such as this are often addressed by building alliances with various groups coming together, working toward commons goals. In the spirit of collaboration a group of allies have founded The Great Circle Alliance, an independent nonprofit organization bringing together Native and non-Native people – local communities, artists, scholars, and archeologists, – generating more in-depth appreciation and engagement with the Hopewell earthworks, connecting ancestral voices with contemporary people. To learn more, visit our website, https://greatcirclealliance.com.
Most Ohioans do not identify as Native or the first people of this land, but Robin Kimmerer’s words remind us that we can all benefit by doing our part and restoring our relationship to the living land. The Newark Earthworks were created for that very purpose, to keep alive a tangible connection between the people and the earth. Ohio’s magnificent indigenous ceremonial sites, soon to have World Heritage status, offer their own embedded wisdom when we choose to listen.
Marcus Boroughs came to Licking County 13 years ago from New Zealand and recently collaborated with others to create the Great Circle Alliance, a local not for profit. He has worked extensively in museums and art galleries and enjoys developing projects in partnership with indigenous communities.