Jeff Gill, Brad Lepper, Dick Shields, Friends of the Mounds, and the Ohio History Connection (OHC) announce the designation of the Newark Earthworks as a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Should be celebrated (UNESCO). This type of effort always requires a lot of effort and is usually thankless work. However, it is certain that this earthwork has as much of a connection to humanity as the lower Omo River basin in Ethiopia.
However, as you can imagine, I have some questions. First, I was convinced that the only way to achieve World Heritage status was to remove the golf course from the Octagon. Moundbuilders Country Club, which has protected earthworks for more than 100 years, is under siege by the OHC, which claims golf is not suitable for UNESCO recognition. Well, after the designation was over, I played golf several times. No UN soldier in a blue helmet would pull me off course. So which one is it?
Something different. What’s so great about being one of 1,300 places specially designated by a United Nations agency? The United Nations is one of the most corrupt organizations on the planet. Not quite on the level of being part of the Biden family, but still. The only reason the United Nations exists is to prevent large countries like Russia from invading small countries like Ukraine. How is it going?
The OHC country club theft process has not yet played out in the legal system. However, while I was trying to play golf, I noticed some counterculture types wandering the course. I’m not one to worry about homeless camps replacing country clubs, but some people do. If OHC succeeds in taking over the club, what will it do to ensure that this does not happen?
Why does OHC continually try to connect Earthwork with Ohio’s historic Native American tribes? As I mentioned earlier, the fact that my grandfather was Swedish does not make it a Viking. However, if the earthworks are Native American constructions, OHC should immediately lobby for the site to be turned over to the remaining Native Americans. Otherwise, it would be disingenuous to continue trying to gain their support.
We have others, too. Why do the above-mentioned learned people continue to refer to the Earthworks as a cathedral where acolytes from what is now the eastern United States gathered to worship the moon? Maybe that’s true, but maybe they came to watch sports. It is more likely that Anyone with no preconceptions about this structure can see that it is more likely a sports complex than a church.
And then there’s the question of how it was built. According to the official story, the Hopewell family volunteered their free time after a busy day of hunting and gathering to move millions of cubic feet of earth using small handmade baskets. That’s it. Not likely. There were certainly hierarchical groups that figured out how to organize the masses into years of forced labor. Surely the workers aren’t paid union wages, right?
Finally, this is a warning to OHC, of which I am a paying member. The Octagon is cursed. I read somewhere that historical Native Americans stayed away from Earthworks. They were considered bad karma. Even if OHC succeeds in occupying the property, it will not go well. You know I’m right.
Don R. Haven is a retired naval officer and former high school teacher who divides his time between Granville and South Carolina. Contact him at 740-5048793 and donrichardhaven@gmail.com.