🇺🇸 WEEKLY AMERICAN HERITAGE: Hopewell Culture National Historical Park

(Explore the history and landscape of the United States with us as we approach the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution and American Independence. Get out your homeschool atlas and almanac and follow along!)

Ohio is our homeschool state-of-the-week, so why not spend a few minutes today with your students learning about one of Ohio’s most important historic places: Hopewell Culture National Historical Park.

“Long before adventurous travelers from Europe made their way to explore the North American continent, the indigenous people of this land had already explored and shaped the land to their liking. Over a span of about five centuries (200 BC – 300 AD), the people of the Hopewell culture thrived in the now-Ohio Valley as they traded goods, traveled the continent to gather goods, and constructed mounds and works of earth to honor their own and to establish places for gathering.”

The present Hopewell Culture National Historical Park evolved in part from the former Mound City Group National Monument. The national monument was established by a proclamation signed by President Warren G. Harding in 1923 to preserve prehistoric mounds of “great historic and scientific interest.” In 1980 Congress expanded the monument by adding a portion of the nearby Hopeton Earthworks and authorized the investigation of other regional archeological sites to determine their suitability for preservation. The National Park Service recommended four additional sites. Hopewell Culture National Historical Park was thus established in 1992 by a law that renamed Mound City Group National Monument. The law also expanded the existing boundary at Hopeton Earthworks, and it also included the grounds at High Bank Works, Hopewell Mound Group, and Seip Earthworks. Thanks to that 1992 law, the park grew to encompass six sites within the Ross County area.

The park protects the prehistoric remains of a dynamic social and ceremonial phenomenon that flourished in the woodlands of eastern North America between 200 B.C. and A.D. 500. The term Hopewell describes a broad network of economic, political, and spiritual beliefs and practices among different Native American groups. The culture is characterized by the construction of enclosures made of earthen walls, often built in geometric patterns, and mounds of various shapes. The culture is known for a network of contacts with other groups, which stretched from the Atlantic coast to the Rocky Mountains. This network of contacts allowed the Hopewell to amass a collection of materials such as mica, shark’s teeth, obsidian, copper, and marine shells. (nps.gov)

You can find a wealth of additional information about the park’s history, landscape, location(s), and visitor facilities on the website for Hopewell Culture National Historical Park from the National Park Service, and also on the park’s page on Wikipedia.

Explore America’s National Parks, National Historical Parks, National Historic Sites, National Monuments, and more via Wikipedia and via the U.S. National Park Service’s website today.

What historical American treasures will you and your students be exploring in your homeschool this Orion Term? 🇺🇸

❡ The great globe itself: This is one of our regular Homeschool Geography posts featuring important natural and historical sites in the United States. Print your own copy of our River Houses American Heritage Calendar and follow along with us, and add your name to our weekly mailing list to get great homeschool teaching ideas delivered right to your mailbox all through the year. 🌎

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❡ Books in the running brooks: You can always turn to your River Houses atlas and almanac for more information about any of our homeschool states-of-the-week. The almanac has detailed profiles of all the U.S. states and territories, and the endpapers of the atlas are indexes that will show you where all of the individual national and regional maps may be found. 📚

❡ Homeschool calendars: We have a whole collection of free, printable, educational homeschool calendars and planners available on our main River Houses calendar page. They will help you create a light and easy structure for your homeschool year. Give them a try today! 🗓

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