by Walt Bresette Lake Superior Chippewa - Red Cliff MOLE LAKE OCCUPATION WILL STRENGTHEN ANTI-EXXON ALLIANCE The horses are out of the barn at Mole Lake. It's time to round them up, repair the barn door, and resume the battle against Exxon and their buddies who wish to turn northern Wisconsin into a mining district. The current struggle at Mole Lake has external factors and implications. All the charges leveled need to be aired and dealt with. It is premature to assign guilt or wrongdoing, but the charges must find a proper venue, not simply denied or covered-up. This unfortunate situation for the Mole Lake community should not blind the anti-Exxon allies from continuing the momentum forward. In the end, the airing of these charges will strengthen the alliance; to ignore them will weaken our resolve. Serious charges which may have compromised the Exxon permit process and the Mole Lake Air Quality permit need to be investigated. Potential undo influence over tribal leaders by the Thompson-Klauser administration needs to be clarified. And Mole Lake's leadership in the alliance needs to be restored. The charges against the Ackley administration, unless properly aired and resolved, contaminates the trust needed in the alliance. What some Mole Lake tribal members have done is express exasperation against what they believe is outside influence, bad internal policy and potential illegal activities. They also say their tribal government has refused to act on these concerns, so they took action themselves. This is not surprising, nor is it new; it happens regularly around Indian Country. What is surprising is that similar action didn't occur at the Wisconsin town of Nashville when Exxon held that building hostage, refusing to allow duly elected town members to take office. What is surprising is that despite Jim Klauser's well-known and documented influence peddling, state citizens have not reclaimed control over their government. So while we shouldn't rush to judgment against the Ackley Administration, let's not find those inside the building guilty either. Reports are surfacing that arrests may soon occur. By turning this simply into a law enforcement action ignores serious concerns. Usually where there is smoke, perhaps there's fire. While in a circle inside the building one (Mole Lake) elder spoke: "We have a short in our attic," he said, using a familiar metaphor. "Unless we find where it's at and repair it now, there will be a fire." I call upon the Mole Lake Tribal Council, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and other appropriate agencies to help find the proper venues for the charges being raised by Mole Lake Members. I also call upon those inside to allow objective observers to document this situation. I ask any trained Witness for Non-Violence members to schedule time at Mole Lake. The stakes are too high for friends and neighbors to be silent; what happened at Madison, Town of Nashville and now Mole Lake and Lac du Flambeau foreshadows other communities in an era of influence peddling by deep-pocketed mining interests.