Mary Pember: Bad River man sneaks up on guards at mine site

The July 12 headline in the Wisconsin State Journal carried the ominous news of “Bizarre and alarming” acts at the Gogebic Taconite drilling sites in the Penokee Hills.

The story was accompanied by a photo provided by security guards from the site of a young man sitting on the ground wearing a plastic garbage bag. Tom Parella, owner of Bulletproof Securities, the company that until recently was guarding the site described the event and the man.

According to Parella, guards watched the man sneak through the woods near the drilling site then lie silently on his back for 30 minutes even as guards spoke to him. Eventually the man departed, and the guards watched as he zigzagged through the trees, Parella said.

Makoons or “Little Bear” of the Bad River Reservation is the man in the black plastic bag and he describes the event a bit differently. He asked that we not use his English name here.