Sunset at Lac Courte Oreilles near Hayward, Wisconsin. Photo by Tom Kelly
A series of suspicious fires on the Lac Courte Oreilles Reservation in Wisconsin might be finally be solved. Independent journalist Mary Annette Pember has more on the arrest of a tribal member in connection with the July 2012 incidents:
The ongoing mystery behind a series of fires in 2012 targeting the practice of traditional Ojibwe religion on the Lac Courte Oreilles Reservation may finally be on the way to resolution. Christopher A. Grover, 42 a member of the Lac Courte Oreilles tribe in Wisconsin was charged on November 18 with nine felony charges of arson and six felony charges of criminal fire damage in the July 14, 2012 fires that destroyed religious structures, a home and several other structures on the LCO reservation. Grover is currently being held in the Sawyer County jail under a $10,000 cash bond and, scheduled for a preliminary hearing on January 23, 2017. (A preliminary hearing set for November 29 was canceled; Grover has since fired his attorney according to the Wisconsin Department of Justice.) The fires, that clearly targeted religious structures such as the historic Big Drum House, Big Drum Dance Ring, two sweat lodges and the business and home of Paul DeMain a longtime journalist in LCO and follower of traditional spirituality, terrorized the small North Wisconsin community. Set over the span of a few hours in the middle of the night, the fires set members of the reservation on edge.Read More on the Story:
Mary Annette Pember: Mystery of Arson Attacks on Ojibwe Religion Finally Solved? (Indian Country Today 12/1)
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