I'm Maggie Smith, and this is The Slowdown.

This year, the United States of America celebrates its 250th birthday.

It's semi-quincennial.

On one hand, it's a big number.

None of us will live to see our 250th birthday.

On the other hand, our country is young, an adolescent,

compared to many other countries around the world.

And though the history of the U.S. is quite short,

human history in this land is not.

People have lived here for thousands of years.

It's easy to romanticize and even lionize, explorers, and pioneers. And it's essential to tell the truth about how we got to

be where we are now, and who was displaced or eradicated, often violently, for others to call this place home.

But even when humans and power today are reluctant to tell the difficult truth, the land reveals it.

This country we call ours is full of history that predates our current national culture,

if we care to see and acknowledge it.

I live in Ohio, where in Adams County is the country's largest serpent mound,

an earthen effigy mound representing a snake with a curled tail.

It's an internationally known national historic landmark

and was likely constructed by the Adina culture, who shared geography

with Ohio.

Nearby are three burial mounds, two created by the Adina culture, which existed from 800 BC to 100 AD, and one by the Fort Ancient Culture, which existed

from 1,000 to 1650 AD. It's incredible to me that less than two hours from my home in the Midwestern suburbs is an enormous ancient earthwork.

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