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Sacred site for sale |
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Posted: May 28, 2007 in
INDIAN COUNTRY TODAY |
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by:
Stephanie
Woodard |
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Photo
Courtesy Nancy Stranahan/Arc of Appalachia
Preserve System -- On June 14, Spruce
Hill Works, a vast ancient hilltop
earthworks enclosure, will go on the auction
block. |
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2,000-year-old hallowed ground to be auctioned off
June 14
CHILLICOTHE, Ohio - Time is running out for one of
ancient Native America's most untouched and unusual
sacred places. On June 14, Spruce Hill Works, a vast
2,000-year-old hilltop earthworks enclosure, goes on
the auction block.
A local coalition - including the Ross County Park
District and two nonprofits, Arc of Appalachia
Preserve System and Wilderness East - is trying to
raise the $600,000 needed to save the 238-acre
property. The tract is home to not just a 150-acre
sacred site, but also rare native birds and fish and
some of the region's densest wildflower displays.
At press time, the coalition had come up with
$175,000, the bulk of it from preservation-minded
individuals, with additional sums from the
Archaeological Conservancy, a national nonprofit,
and the Ohio Archaeological Council, a professional
organization. ''We need a miracle,'' said Nancy
Stranahan, co-director of the 2,500-acre Arc of
Appalachia Preserve System. ''We're praying but also
working very hard.''
''If these groups don't succeed, Spruce Hill Works
will likely be purchased by a timber company or a
developer,'' said Marti Chaatsmith, Comanche/Choctaw
and program coordinator of the Newark Earthworks
Center, an Ohio State University program that
promotes the study and protection of mounds, in
particular a major complex in Newark. ''Many
earthworks have been plowed under or built on, so
this one's near-pristine condition is important,
especially to Native people. It's very hard to find
ancient sacred places that haven't been tampered
with or destroyed.''
In 1992, Congress directed the National Park Service
to explore adding Spruce Hill Works to Hopewell
Culture National Historical Park, in Chillicothe.
The park encompasses seven earthworks that have been
nominated to become World Heritage Sites. Spruce
Hill Works may also be suitable for such a
designation.
All of these artificial hills and earthen-walled
enclosures were constructed by indigenous people who
arrived in the area in about 2,000 years ago and
embarked upon a 500-year building campaign that left
what appears to be a coordinated system of thousands
of earthworks stretching from the Great Lakes to the
Gulf of Mexico. Some are massive, with several
related installations, each of which encompasses
scores of acres. The remains of ceremonial
passageways, outlying shrines and habitations cover
even more acreage, said archaeologists.
Virtuosic architects, engineers, geometers and
astronomers, the ancient mound builders are often
called the Hopewell, after the owner of a farm on
which artifacts were found during the 19th century.
What they called themselves is not known. However,
it is understood that they were a collection of
culturally related hunting, gathering and
agricultural communities rather than a cohesive,
centrally administered tribe, as the term is
understood today, according to Jay Miller, Delaware
and coordinator of OSU's American Indian Studies
program.
The ancients took advantage of the peace and
prosperity of their times to produce not just
earthworks, but exquisitely crafted objects, such as
bird and hand silhouettes cut from translucent
sheets of mica, dresses embroidered with thousands
of freshwater pearls, jewelry, statuary, ritual
items and musical instruments, including diminutive
copper trumpets.
As is the case with Spruce Hill Works, surviving
mounds are at risk. Development continues apace in
Ohio, and if a sacred site does not lie on federal
land, national preservation laws do not apply.
Ohio's state preservation laws do not offer
meaningful protection, according to Chaatsmith.
Public access to earthworks on private land is also
problematic in Ohio. As a result, Native and
non-Native people have drawn together in recent
years to respond to both preservation and access
challenges.
''The elderly couple whose property included Spruce
Hill Works was cooperating patiently with the
cumbersome process of evaluating them and funding
the purchase at the national level,'' Stranahan
said. ''However, they recently passed on at an
advanced age, and the court ordered the auction. No
government agency can move fast enough to buy the
site. That's why we stepped in.'' In the best-case
scenario, she said, the coalition of local groups
will purchase Spruce Hill Works and donate them to
the NPS.
''I applaud their efforts and would like to see more
cooperation of this kind,'' Chaatsmith said. ''It's
a shame, though, that this has to happen so quickly
and under such duress. Going forward, we need to
strengthen Ohio's preservation laws, as we may
become aware of additional vulnerable sacred
places.''
Stranahan has been reaching out to mainstream and
indigenous people for information, as well as
donations. On May 15, she participated in the radio
show ''Native America Calling.''
The presence of an indigenous site on the property
has made her cautious, she said. She and Arc of
Appalachia co-director Larry Henry have great
experience as naturalists, she explained, but none
in dealing with indigenous sacred places. ''We
recognize that our interest is just a start. We have
no expertise or bloodlines to rely on and need
Native partners to do this right.''
Though Ohio has no federally recognized tribes that
can step in, there are communities whose homelands
once encompassed the state. Some were forcibly
removed during the 19th century; others migrated
elsewhere before then.
''We need help from tribes that once lived here,''
Chaatsmith said. ''There's a long list of
potentially interested ones with resources and
knowledgeable tribal preservation officers.''
For more information on Spruce Hill Works, visit
highlandssanctuary.org. |
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