The get-together was organized after Thursday's Eagle Rock arrest of K.B.I.C. members Charlotte Loonsfoot and Chris Chosa
MARQUETTE -- Their original camp at Eagle Rock has been taken down after charges of trespassing last week, but members of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community and Save the Wild U.P. are banding together to protect Eagle Rock as a sacred site.
They held a 'peaceful picnic protest' at Mattson Lower Harbor in Marquette Sunday afternoon. The get-together was organized after Thursday's Eagle Rock arrest of K.B.I.C. members Charlotte Loonsfoot and Chris Chosa. Organizers say it was a way for the group to come together in support of their beliefs, and because they didn't want to feel like it was the end of their fight for fresh water.
"The water is very important to all of us, of all colors and races, and the Native Americans here, that was our life was eating the fish, and we can only eat one a week now, and then after this mine, if it poisons the lake, then we're not going to be able to eat it even once a month," says Loonsfoot.
A team of Kennecott workers, along with Loonsfoot and Chosa, moved the belongings of those who were camping at the site over the past five weeks to a storage facility paid for by Kennecott, but in the name of the camp group.
As for the next step, Loonsfoot says there is no set plan, and they are discussing several things as a group.
She and Chosa are scheduled to be arraigned on Tuesday.
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