SACRED MOUNDS WERE HAND-BUILT BY THE M U S C O G E E P E O P L E W I T H D I R T A N D C L AY. P H O T O C O U R T E S Y O F T H E O P E N S PA C E I N S T I T U T E A N D MAC STONE PHOTOGRAPHY
Georgia’s First National Park? Ocmulgee National Park and Preserve could also become the first national park east of the Mississippi co-created and co-managed by the IIndigenous people who once inhabited the land. BY WILL HARLAN
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n the middle of Georgia, ancient clay to build the sacred mounds. The mounds are the centerpiece of a mounds are surrounded by thousands proposed national park and preserve of other cultural sites that remain largely that could protect one of the oldest unprotected. and most important cultural sites in the Ocmulgee was designated a Eastern United States. national monument by Franklin D. The proposed Ocmulgee Mounds Roosevelt in 1934, but only 700 acres National Park and Preserve is also were protected. In 2019, Ocmulgee part of the original homeland of the was upgraded to National Historic Park Muscogee (Creek) Nation, whose status. Earlier this year, ONPPI and citizens were forcibly removed partners acquired new land and forced to walk over for the park, more than 1,000 miles to Oklahoma. doubling its size to 1,700 What’s Next? Today, the Muscogee acres. The park has widespread (Creek) Nation is the Now, advocates support, and the park feasibility fourth largest tribe and community study will likely recommend park status for Ocmulgee. Now, all that in the country, with leaders are aiming is needed is for Senator Raphael more than 94,000 for full-fledged Warnock and Jon Ossoff to citizens. Many national park status introduce Ocmulgee legislation. return to Ocmulgee and expanding the Representatives Sanford Bishop on pilgrimages, or park to 70,000 acres. and Austin Scott can introduce a companion House bill. homecomings, each The Muscogee (Creek) year, including their Nation has joined all current Chief David Hill. efforts from the beginning “We can honor these sacred of the process to create a park lands with the country’s highest park and aims to have an equal voice with all designation,” says Seth Clark, executive partners in the co-management of the director of the Ocmulgee National Park final park. The Muscogee Nation has and Preserve Initiative (ONPPI)—and also purchased more than 100 acres mayor pro tem of Macon-Bibb County. of land adjacent to the current site that “The forced removal of the people who may soon become part of the national lived here is one of our original sins. park. This park is, in part, an act of atonement. “A lot of healing is happening The Muscogee (Creek) Nation’s voice here,” says Tracie Revis, Muscogee has been missing from conservation citizen and director of advocacy for the in the South for generations. This Ocmulgee National Park and Preserve partnership is an opportunity to finally Initiative. Revis was Chief of Staff for the get it right.” Muscogee (Creek) Nation Principal Chief Ocmulgee is as important to this Hill in Oklahoma. Last year, with Chief country as Yosemite or Yellowstone, Hill’s blessing, she made the difficult says Clark. It is home to 17,000 years of decision to move from Oklahoma to continuous human history. From 900 middle Georgia to focus all of her efforts to 1100, the original inhabitants of this on the Ocmulgee National Park and area maintained a thriving civilization. Preserve. “This is an exciting moment Mounds were sacred sites built by for us. At Ocmulgee, it won’t be just the hand; the Muscogee people hauled at park service talking about artifacts. We least 10 million baskets full of dirt and get to tell our story.”
The National Park Service is slated to finish its three-year feasibility study soon. Congressional leaders in Georgia have already expressed support for Ocmulgee National Park and Preserve. Clark hopes that Georgia’s Congressional leaders will introduce a bill this spring. “This is our moment,” says Revis. “There has never been a better time to make this happen.” Both Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and National Park Service Director Chuck Sams are Native Americans who have expressed support for protecting Indigenous homelands. The Muscogee (Creek) Nation is already deeply committed to the park. Ocmulgee also has widespread support from local leaders and the Macon community. Even nearby Robins Air Force Base supports the park. Ocmulgee National Park and Preserve would be unique: it would consist of a patchwork of 70,000 acres along the Ocmulgee River that would be co-managed by multiple agencies and the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. Other national parks have consulted and included Native Americans as co-managers, but never has a park east of the Mississippi been co-created by a Native American nation or tribe. Ocmulgee would be the first park in the East—and one of the only parks in the country—to be co-created and comanaged by Indigenous people. Ocmulgee National Park and Preserve would include the Bond Swamp, a biological hotspot that is home to endangered species and a rare population of black bears in Middle Georgia. The 70,000-acre mosaic of lands would also protect the Ocmulgee River corridor and some of the best hunting and fishing sites in the South. Its dual designation as a national park
and preserve would enable hunting to continue, which is typically not allowed in national parks. Ocmulgee will ultimately be a hub for hundreds of miles of cultural and recreational trails across Middle Georgia and could eventually connect Ocmulgee with the Altamaha River corridor and public lands along Georgia's coastal plain, providing vital ecological and wildlife connectivity. Plans for Ocmulgee also include a Muscogee Creek Cultural Center that will be owned and operated by the Muscogee people. It will celebrate the traditions, dances, and songs that Muscogee survivors have kept alive for centuries. Revis recalls hearing songs at funerals and a song that her grandmother used to sing to her. Those were songs that were sung by her ancestors on the Trail of Tears. More than 15,000 Indigenous people died along the way. But the survivors held on. “We didn’t cease to exist,” says Revis. “We weren’t erased. We are survivors, and this is a new day for us,” says Revis. “We are returning home.”
Experience It for Yourself Ocmulgee Mounds is already a National Historic Park open to the public. Each September, the park hosts an Ocmulgee Indian Celebration. In 2022, the 30th annual Ocmulgee Indian Celebration will take place on September 17-18, and will include music, dance, crafts, educational programs, and storytelling. •
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