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The right wing in Wisconsin is spreading a video taken in June of a set of anarchists* who came upon some mine workers and swore a lot, walked around the site, and grabbed a phone. I found it downright cringe-worthy.
There is some debate as to whether all of those activists in the video are guided by their politics or whether they are doing things to shine a negative light upon other anti-mine activists in my state. I can’t say. I haven’t met them.
I HAVE met more than a couple of the individuals who are associated with what’s called the LCO Harvest Camp which is near the drill site. I can say that the LCO Harvest camp folks endorse peace and goodwill and are not individuals who are featured in the June video.
In fact, they convey so much goodwill that they fed one of the guards that I have been calling “mercenaries” AND somebody wrote an article about that.
The following comes from “Make Frybread, Not War; Harvest Camp Uses Food to Spread Message”
It was written just before the camo-clad guards hired by Gogebic Taconite left the area due to lack of a state-issued private security license:
“Occupants of the Penokee Harvest Camp are winning hearts and minds of mining supporters by appealing to their stomachs.
One July 8, Felina LaPoint of the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe tribe took a big slow roasted chicken up to the guards at the Gogebic Taconite drill site in the Penokee Hills.
“I felt bad for them out there in the woods just standing around. I thought they could really use a hot cooked meal“, said LaPoint who has been occupying the Harvest Camp along with other mining opponents since March in an effort to help draw pubic attention to GTAC plans to dig a huge open pit iron ore mine in the Penokee Hills. Mining opponents say that the mine would irreparably damage the water, land, wildlife and quality of life in the area.
After roasting the chicken over an open pit in front of her wigwam, she placed it in Tupperware container and presented it to the three-armed guards at the drilling site.
“I tasted it first in front of them to reassure them that the food was ok,” she said. As a self-described Army brat, it is instinct for her to care for men in uniform, she explained. “Plus, it’s the way we (Ojibwe) do things. I invited them to join us in our camp at anytime to feast with us,” she said.
According to LaPointe, there is a construction trailer that the men appear to be occupying at the camp. “They looked so hot and uncomfortable in all that gear. I also invited them for a swim,” she said.”
Learn how to get to the Lac Courte Oreilles Harvest and Education Camp ["LCO Harvest Camp" for short or "LCOHEC"] here. You need to get some of that frybread.
*I don’t even know if the June visitors are really “anarchists”. But I had to use a word.