we once had huge alligator gar like this in our river systems
|
It wasn’t until I was in my 20’s when I learned that Ohio was once home to wood bison, cougar, wolf, elk, wolverine, fisher, lynx, etc., etc. Along with giant trees, wild clean waterways, and the epic drama of the Native Americans yielding and suffering the European conquest. This drama went way beyond the Daniel Boone TV series stereotypes and featured the ambitious revolutions of Tecumseh and Pontiac, and the largest defeat of an American army by the natives commanded by Little Turtle of the Miamis. In 1791 General Sinclair took 1800 soldiers north from Cincinnati and left 800 dead on the field. All in Ohio. I finally started getting the stories of these the Shawnee, Miami, Huron, Wyandotte, Iroquois, Delaware, Erie, Mingo, etc., etc. It kind of blew me away that we had such a rich heritage that was so obscure. |
Ohio is now the heart of the beast. Our state is abused and scarred. We champion the nation in toxic waste production, importing, and exporting. We feature four high security military nuclear weapon sites that have been operating for decades without the Nuclear Regulatory Agency and Environmental Protection Agency oversight that nuclear power plants have. Featured here is the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, one of the largest industrial structures in the world using 2 coal plants to run it. That's enough to run L.A.! We border the most dubious of the Great Lakes to the north, Lake Erie, and the Ohio River isn’t really considered more than an industrial alley and toxic sewer, as are most our waterways. Our most famous river, the Cuyahoga, earned infamy by catching fire and burning for days in the 60’s. We can brag of the smallest and most fragmented National |
Forest in the country, the Wayne. It is timbered, drilled for gas, and routinely strip-mined. I love Ohio. But honestly, this is mostly from the history I’ve learned on my own. I wasn’t taught much of this in school. I suspect this history of the denigrations of the natives and the land might be too subversive to the ever exploitative/consumptive status quo. Suppose we are ever to teach the grand bounty of our original flora, fauna, and human culture that the Europeans first glimpsed in this the “Northwest Territories”. Well, we might suspect something is wrong with a culture that leaves such devastation for the temporary benefit of a few. |
the
graveyard
|
*eastern
wood bison
wolverine wolf linx fisher *eastern elk big-eared bat pine martin cougar snowshoe hare porcupine rice rat |
*indicates extinct |
fish
shovelnose sturgeon alligator gar pugnose shiner longhead darter gilt darter crystal darter *harelip sucker *blue pike butterflies mustard white mitchell's satyr |
mussels
mucket rock pocketbook spectacle case scale shell western sand shell ellipse (extinct) *leaf shell *fork shell *round snuffbox *tubercled blossom *scioto pigtoe |
| The loss of native fauna was extensive, along with the flora and native peoples who lived in truce with their fellow inhabitants. Other species are close to being on this list; the endangered and threatened species, and the reintroduced species. This brings to mind the oxymoronic term wildlife management as how can | something wild be managed? It’s no longer wild then, it is domesticated. Trumpeter Swans are highly managed in Ohio. River Otter jumped on and off the list as it took 5 or 6 tries to reestablish viable populations in Ohio. Black Bear seem to be slowly coming back on their own. We’ve lost with our ancient old growth forest the mighty Chestnut and the American Elm is struggling. | The Missing Animals of Ohio project with the graveyard as a theatrical educational tool is a foundation for ecological thought in our bioregion. Once you understand what you have lost you realize the importance of habitat when you are fighting for an endangered flower or lizard, it’s about the bountiful biota we have already lost. |
Linx ceramic and wood tombstone dedicated by Lindy Kehoe
| It is in this spirit that I try to revive the collaborative Missing Animals of Ohio Graveyard. I coordinated an earlier version about 8 years ago that was presented at various functions and hosted speakers and music. I must say I was pleased at how the presentation pulled together so many schools of thought; environmental, artistic, historic and scientific into a spiritual eulogy of sorts. Being up south for a few years I returned spring of '01 to Ohio and was |
approached to revive the graveyard for Halloween activities at the Eclipse Mining Town in the Plains near Athens. I had a few interesting pieces of wood laying around from spring curb collecting so I put the word out and got some good response in materials and help from some creative volunteers. So we have about 20 or so tombstones up at the Buckeye Forest Council office in the Eclipse |
town but we still have about 10 more to go. I need to explain that these are not extinct animals, at least not all of them. The official designation is extirpated, I just call them the missing of Ohio. Most you might still find in remnant populations in other states. But in Ohio they are relegated to history. As our heritage I want the memory kept alive and taught at an early age that our citizens fully understand what it means to be a buckeye. |
Anyone with a flair who might want to dedicate a tombstone or an altar to a lost animal is appreciated. We can also use interesting wood, old paint, wreaths, candles, bones, etc., etc. I look forward to many opportunities to display the grave yard in the future. Thanx for all the help so far and I'm sure Ohio’s lost denizens are thankful that we are linking our past to hope for our beleaguered future.
|
all contents ©vpackard 2002
|