This 12-episode series provides a perspective on the history of the region we now call Ohio that very few of us learned in school. It puts the experiences of Miami, Shawnee, Wyandotte, and other American Indian people at the center of a refreshed version of the state’s complicated past and undecided future.
This in-depth podcast from WYSO Public Radio is the result of more than a year of reporting, made possible with support from Ohio Humanities.
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The Ohio Country is a new 12-episode podcast series beginning July 2, 2024. -
In our upcoming series, we will provide a perspective on the history of the region we now call Ohio that very few of us learned in school. We'll put the experiences of Miami, Shawnee, Wyandotte, and other American Indian people at the center of a refreshed version of the state’s complicated past and undecided future. -
In this episode, we meet a visionary leader from the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma working to reconnect her community with their homelands. -
From Blue Jacket's adoption to where Tecumseh was born, there's a lot of false mythology about Shawnee history in what we now call southwest Ohio. This episode explores the region’s narrative through a more accurate, inclusive lens. -
In this episode, we talk with three American Indian historical interpreters about the Shawnee lifeway in the Ohio River Valley, walking through each season. -
In this episode, we'll hear about the Shawnee and Miami practice of intentionally burning land. But when the settlers came to the Ohio Country, they did not embrace that practice. Can it come back? -
Shawnee and Myaamia ancestral cultures have been grouped into the Adena, Hopewell and Fort Ancient eras. Fort Ancient era people thrived for 700 years before Europeans arrived. -
The Ohio Country’s population and economy were transformed in the 1700s as the Shawnee, Miami, and others returned to the region, and traders and settlers arrived by the thousands. -
Historic interpreter Talon Silverhorn, of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, spoke about Tecumseh’s legacy and invited Ohioans to rebuild authentic relationships with Shawnee people. -
The Indian Removal Act resulted in the relocation of thousands of people. It was chaotic and deadly for tribal nations. Still, those nations maintain their communities today.
Credits
The Ohio Country is written by Neenah Ellis and Chris Welter.
The series editor of The Ohio Country is Samantha Sommer. The cultural adviser is Dr. John Bickers, assistant professor at Case Western University in Cleveland and a citizen of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma. The digital producers are Mary Evans and Kaitlin Schroeder.
Flawn Williams is the audio mixer and the composer is Evan Miller. Our logo was designed by Lela Troyer, a citizen of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma.
