MPR host Gary Eichten talks with MPR reporter Kevin McKiernan about the end of occupation with Gresham abbey occupiers taken to jail by local authorities. 39 people were booked at the jail and charged with criminal trespassing to a dwelling, which is a misdemeanor, however some may be charged with felonies. Immunity from prosecution was not part of the agreement that the Native group reached with Alexian Brothers.
On the last night of occupation, one person compared it to World War III, saying up to 100 vigilantes were firing at the building. The abbey will be turned over on Feb. 22 when the Menomonie tribe is recognized again by the federal government, in act of Congress called Restoration.
Summary of event: On New Year's Day, a group of about 40 to 50 members of the Menominee Warrior Society took over an unused abbey near Gresham Wisconsin; a facility owned by the Alexian Brothers, who are based in Chicago. The abbey had not been used since 1968, and the Indians claimed that since the property originally belonged to the Menominee, it should be returned to them, and made into a hospital. Negotiations with the brothers over this demand were begun, with the religious order at first offering to sell the abbey for 750 thousand dollars. Discussions were at a standstill for a while after the Indians objected to the price. Meantime, pressures in the white community of Shawano County were building. Citizens enraged by what they felt was the lenient handling of the occupation by the Wisconsin National Guard formed groups which penetrated Guard outposts and fired on the abbey from snowmobiles. A contingent of white people went to Madison to demand tougher action from Governor Patrick Lucey. When he did not respond, whites began calling for his impeachment. Tension grew even more toward the end of January when a white snowmobiler was shot in the vicinity of the abbey, and there existed the possibility that area residents might storm the abbey themselves, in an attempt to evict the Indian occupiers. Pressure on the Alexians to avoid bloodshed and loss of life finally caused them to capitulate, to give the abbey to the Indians, so on February 3rd, 34 days after the occupation began it ended.
Transcripts
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SPEAKER: Kevin, I understand that the occupiers have been taken now to jail by local authorities, is that correct?
KEVIN MCKIERNAN: The first arrest came about 11 o'clock last night with a school bus full of 20 individuals. And a second bus came a little bit later with about 19 individuals. And the sheriff here has reported-- made a report about 4:00 this morning, and the district attorney as well, that 39 persons were booked here in the Shawano County Jail. Of that number, 15 are adult male, 15 adult female, and nine persons are juveniles.
So far, the charges are everyone has been charged with criminal trespass to a dwelling, which is a misdemeanor. Some of the individuals, probably those in leadership positions, will be charged with felonies, and we won't know about that until the arraignment. And that could come as early as 11 or 12 o'clock this morning.
SPEAKER: Kevin, do you know if the occupiers were aware that they were going to be arrested when they left the abbey?
KEVIN MCKIERNAN: I think so. I think that they had requested, but not demanded amnesty. Their major concern late this afternoon was safe passage from the abbey to Shawano County Jail, which is about 10 miles away. And that was accomplished quite definitely by the National Guard.
SPEAKER: So immunity from prosecution was not part of the agreement that the Indians reached with the Alexian Brothers, correct?
KEVIN MCKIERNAN: No, it wasn't.
SPEAKER: What happens now?
KEVIN MCKIERNAN: Well, now, there'll be a whole series of trials, as in the case of Wounded Knee, and they won't begin probably for several months. And I think other warrants will be issued for Indians not arrested at the abbey. I think it's safe to say that many escaped through the thick-wooded area around that novitiate.
And so now, it's a wait-and-see posture here in Northeastern Wisconsin. There is an expected backlash from the white community. People were very angry, very angry at the Indians who took over the building, very angry at the National Guard. And last night-- rather Sunday night was a very difficult night here.
And one reporter told me just this evening-- or rather early this morning, that on Sunday night, the last night, really, that Indians remained in the abbey, that it was like World War III out there. He said there were as many as 100 vigilantes firing at the building.
And two of those inside the abbey who came out tonight, Father James Groppi, the Milwaukee civil rights activist, and actor Marlon Brando, said that the firing, in fact, was very heavy. And I think those kinds of tensions, which prompted that kind of firefight on Sunday night will surface later on. And so I think you can expect a backlash here.
SPEAKER: And the Abbey itself, that goes over to the local Indians immediately?
KEVIN MCKIERNAN: No, not until February 22nd, when the Menominee tribe is recognized as an Indian tribe again by the federal government. And that is an act of Congress called restoration. And so you've got a couple of weeks yet, and then the building will go to the Indian tribe. And some good faith bargaining perhaps will happen at that point between the tribe and the Alexian brothers.
No price has been established at this point. In fact, the deed really goes to the tribe for, quote, "$1 and other good and valuable considerations." And so perhaps that will be the end of it. Perhaps some money will be raised, I think, by churches across the country to pay the Alexian something beyond that.