The Newark Earthworks is a site of great beauty, religious significance, engineering genius, and scientific accomplishment. It is one of the few works left to us from those who created geometric earthworks two thousand years ago. The Octagon Mound, as part of the Newark Earthworks owned by the Ohio Historical Society, was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964. The site should be approached with awe and treated with reverence and respect. Instead, this world-class sacred site is being leased to a private country club which built its golf course within the Octagon’s sacred enclosure. Public access is severely limited. The Friends of the Mounds are interested members of the public who look forward to the day when the Moundbuilders Country Club relocates, the golf course is gone, and Native people are free to practice their religious beliefs on the public grounds of Octagon State Memorial.