2016 Scenic Ohio Awards

2016 Scenic Ohio Awards Recognize Native American Earthworks

The Scenic Ohio Awards celebration was Friday Sept. 30, 2016 in Chillicothe, Ohio.

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The 2016 Scenic Ohio awards recognized groups and organizations that are working to preserve Ohio’s World Heritage nominated sites.

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Built by ancient American Indians, Ohio’s earthworks are a wonder of the Ancient World. These Ohio treasures are poised to join such cultural icons as the Pyramids of Giza, the Great Wall of China, Stonehenge and the Acropolis as World Heritage Sites through the nomination process of UNESCO --  the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. UNESCO’s World Heritage Program was established to recognize and encourage the protection of the world’s most important cultural and natural treasures. Over 1,000 sites have been inscribed, with only 23 of them in the United States.

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The 2016 Scenic Ohio Awards honor six organizations that manage, preserve and conserve Ohio’s archaeological sites nominated for World Heritage Inscription.  These sites are ancient Native American Earthworks, natural and cultural resources that are unique to Ohio.  The sites include the Newark Earthworks, Great Serpent Mound, Fort Ancient and Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks.  

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Awards recipients include:

• National Park Service

• Ohio History Connection

• Dayton Society of Natural History

• Arc of Appalachia

• Newark Earthworks Center 

• Explore Licking County

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The Awards event guest speakers were: Glenna J. Wallace, Chief, Eastern Shawnee Tribe (Oklahoma) and Kerry Holton, President, Delaware Nation (Oklahoma). These tribal leaders gave their perspective on the importance of Ohio’s Ancient Earthworks and the American Indian cultural heritage.

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Chief Wallace said, “The people who built these mounds were brilliant. Their genius lies in combining complexity and simplicity simultaneously. Their mathematical and astronomical complexities challenge our mental capacity while simultaneously their simplistic structures evoke a calming, soothing and in some instances a spiritual effect. These people have for the most part been overlooked, unrecognized, unappreciated. Today we have an opportunity to change that, and it is our responsibility to do so.”

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Recorded Scenic Ohio Awards Program

The Ohio Channel video recorded the event on the Ohio Channel website.

Click below to be taken to the video.