MDDM Line, Mounds, Native Americans, heaven and earth, no Almond Joy

[Doug Millison]

http://www.newarkadvocate.com/news/stories/20020811/topstories/409718.html

Mounds home to varying opinions
Earthworks the site of a curious dilemma

By JULIE SHAW
Advocate Reporter 



NEWARK -- On this mound, a Native American shaman
might have stood above drums drumming and rattles
rattling and hundreds of people standing in the
earthen circle below, all waiting for the moon to rise
beyond the circle, beyond the adjoining octagonal
mound, ascending above the horizon. 

Evoking this image while standing on the observatory
mound at the Octagon Earthworks in Newark, Bradley
Lepper explained how a line from the mound through the
circle and through the octagon points to the spot
where the moon rises at its most northern point on the
eastern horizon. It's an occurrence that happens once
every 18.6 years. 

The astronomical and architectural achievements of the
Native Americans who built this earthen complex were
tremendous, said the archaeologist from the Ohio
Historical Society in Columbus to a group of visitors.
It was the first Octagon Earthworks open house day,
and Lepper led the group on the public path that
skirts part of the earthen circle, then past the
path's end to the top of the observatory mound. 

Typically, visitors aren't allowed to climb the
observatory mound because the Moundbuilders Country
Club operates a golf course on the Octagon Earthworks.
They're supposed to stop at the end of the public
path. But on this Saturday in April, the club and OHS
agreed to make it a golf-free day and to promote the
site's access to the public. 

The controversy over the public-private privileges of
the Octagon Earthworks site at the country club has
been raised to the forefront of discussions once again
by Barbara Crandell's June 26 visit to the observatory
mound and subsequent arrest by Newark police officers.
A jury trial on this case has been scheduled for Sept.
19. (A trial was originally slated for Aug. 19.) 

[...] 

It is a curious dilemma to say the least. An
archaeological ancient marvel used as a modern-day
18-hole golf course by members of a private country
club. 

[...] 
In its heyday, the Newark Earthworks comprised the
world's largest complex of geometric structures built
from earth and clay covering about four square miles.
The earthworks were built some 2,000 years ago by
Native Americans who were called Hopewell Indians by
archaeologists. 

[...] 
Today, what remains of the Newark Earthworks are three
distinct sites no longer connected by earthen parallel
walls: the Octagon Earthworks, which includes a
50-acre octagon, 20-acre circle and the observatory
mound; the Great Circle Earthworks; and the Wright
State Memorial. 

The rest of the earthworks, including burial mounds,
was bulldozed away with the onset of development. 

The first settlers to the Newark area had destroyed
portions of the earthworks for farmland, roads, canals
and railroads. McDonald's, meat markets, convenience
stores and numerous homes now stand in the area where
those earthworks used to be. 

[...] 
In conversations, archaeologists tend to speak of the
astronomical and architectural wonders of the Octagon
Earthworks and point to evidence or excavations to
support their inferences. Native Americans, meanwhile,
usually speak of the mystical, spiritual qualities of
the earth and nature and the connection to their
people. 

M.C. Hapi, OHS education specialist with the Newark
Earthworks, paints a picture of the Octagon Earthworks
as a symbolic site representing the balance between
heaven and Earth. She grew up learning to respect
nature from stories by her maternal Cherokee
grandfather and her maternal Choctaw grandmother. 

"The landscape and environment are very important to
the Native American belief system. ... The circles
tend to represent the feminine and physical, earth,
creation," said Hapi. 

"The square in nature is hard to find. (It represents)
the spiritual, the greater beyond. At Newark
Earthworks, you see this repeated several times. ...
The octagon is two squares (representing) double
heaven. It's attached to a circle. There's harmony,
the joining of heaven and earth." 

Barry Landeros-Thomas, coordinator of American Indian
student services at Ohio State University's
Multicultural Center in Columbus, sometimes prays
inside the circle at the Octagon Earthworks. He places
a pinch of tobacco on the ground as an offering.
Tobacco is "one of the sacred items," he said. 

Landeros-Thomas says he stays out of the way of
golfers on the greens, and they don't bother him since
he's a big guy. [...] 

Ballengee-Morris describes times when she has gone to
the Octagon Earthworks and has been ridiculed. Golfers
would make "Hollywood whoop noises, make a nuisance of
themselves, aim balls at me or circle around where you
are," she said. Because of this, she prefers to pray
there when fewer golfers are on the course. 

[...] 




=====
<http://www.pynchonoid.blogspot.com/>
<http://www.dougday.blogspot.com/>
<http://www.online-journalist.com/index.html>

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Finance - Get real-time stock quotes
http://finance.yahoo.com