Before the Mayflower, before highways and European colonization, stories were written on the Earth. And what is left behind are stories that aren't easily found in text books. 

"Nokee: The Last of the Great Lakes Mound Builders" asks us to listen to a history that was nearly erased. 

Through the fictional character of Nokee, we’re brought face-to-face with a culture that shaped the Great Lakes landscape, long before it had a name on a map.

As one of the last keepers of an ancient tradition, Nokee learns the mounds are not simply monuments of the past. They were living places where ancestors danced, cried, and convened. These massive structures were raised by human hands, often shaped like animals, and aligned with spirit and season. 

Steve Rheaume is the author of "Nokee." He is also a former federal biologist and geo-hydrologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Geological Survey. 

He joined The Metro’s Tia Graham here to discuss memory, loss, and what it means when a civilization survives with a fragmented history.