Great Council State Park will be the newest state park in Ohio when it opens on Friday.
Not only is it the newest park, it’s also the only Ohio state park to be constructed and planned in collaboration with the three federally recognized Shawnee nations.
WYSO got a sneak peek into some features of the park, including the two-story Shawnee Cultural Center. The architecture of the center is inspired by an 18th century Shawnee council house.
Great Council is located in a former Shawnee village known as Old Chillicothe – near present-day Xenia.
The Shawnee tribal communities were forcibly removed from Ohio in the 1800s. They now have reservations in Oklahoma.
The center recounts this part of Ohio history and gives a glimpse into the lives of modern tribal citizens.
Talon Silverhorn, Ohio Department of Natural Resources cultural programs manager and Eastern Shawnee citizen, worked closely with the state to develop the center.
He said he’s eager for it to open.
“It's been years in the making up to this point, and it's been through a lot of changes, so it's really nice to finally be in the space and see what's actually coming to be,” Silverhorn said. “I'm excited to get people in here and see their reactions, especially our tribal partners.”
Gov. Mike DeWine and his family also got to see the park early.
DeWine said he looks forward to the knowledge sharing that will emerge from the park.
“We hope that someone might come here as a 10-year-old and they may come back here, after college and see it again in a very, very different light and have more questions,” DeWine said.
Leaders from the Eastern Shawnee, Absentee Shawnee, and the Shawnee tribes of Oklahoma will attend the opening celebration this week.
