Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks Becomes America's 25th World Heritage Site

On Saturday, October 14, more than 600 people gathered at Hopewell Culture National Historical Park in Ohio to celebrate a milestone: the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks had become the 25th World Heritage Site in the United States. They were honoring the creative genius of the American Indian people now known as the Hopewell culture, who built earthen mounds and enclosures along the Scioto River and its tributaries in southern Ohio some 2,000 years ago. Among the guests were members of Tribes that claim kinship with the builders of the eight sites inscribed together on the list.

*Top: Chief of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe, Glenna Wallace, served as the keynote address during the inscription event.
Bottom: NPS Director, Chuck Sams, addressed the crowd of over 600 about the inspiration drawn from the Hopewell Culture. NPS/T ENGBERG.*

Mound City Group, the only fully restored Hopewell earthwork complex: 25 mounds of different sizes inside a low earthen wall (NPS / C. Boehle).

The decision

In September 2023, a delegation of Tribal representatives, National Park Service staff and Ohio History Connection staff traveled to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for the vote of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee. By consensus, the committee found that the earthworks have Outstanding Universal Value — importance that transcends national borders for present and future generations.

The nomination took two decades to complete and review with experts in the United States and abroad. The Department of the Interior submitted it in 2022, with guidance from the Park Service's Office of International Affairs, which runs the U.S. World Heritage Program. It rested on two criteria:

1. the earthworks are masterpieces of human creative genius;
2. they bear unique testimony to the tradition of the Indigenous Hopewell culture of two millennia ago.

Who the Hopewell were

Hopewell culture centered on American Indian religious and ceremonial practices that influenced many people over great distances — from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast, and from the Atlantic seaboard to the Yellowstone valley. In a short 400-year span, they built hundreds of ceremonial sites of earthen mounds and enclosures using specific construction techniques and engineering. Many incorporate complex geometry and alignments with the cycles of the sun and moon, linking ceremony to earth and sky.

The celebration

The October ceremony brought together the site's co-stewards to mark its place alongside world-renowned sites such as Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, Mesa Verde, the Pyramids of Giza and Peru's Nazca Lines. Speakers included Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and Megan Wood, executive director and CEO of the Ohio History Connection. Chief Glenna Wallace gave the keynote, calling the earthworks a place of spectacular creations. National Park Service Director Chuck Sams described the inscription as "an invitation for the world to discover the work of the people who once lived here and to learn and draw inspiration from this masterpiece of human creative genius."

Superintendent Chris Alford recognized the work of two previous superintendents and the many partners who made it happen, and the dignitaries unveiled a likeness of the plaque that will mark the site's World Heritage status. The Park Service's Midwest/Eastern Incident Management Team, led by Dan Morford, and the Midwest Region Special Event Team supported the event.

A representation of the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks World Heritage Site plaque (NPS / T. Engberg).

Sources

• National Park Service, Hopewell Culture National Historical Park: "An event two millennia in the making – Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks becomes the 25th U.S. World Heritage Site." Chief Wallace's remarks are paraphrased here. The article names her tribe as the Eastern Shawnee Tribe in one place and the Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma in another, so neither is stated. Pictures an earlier version of this page left out were restored on 2026-09-26.
• Words on this page from people and organisations outside the federal government are paraphrased; rewritten in hubnx's own words.