Crandon Mine Purchase Anniversary Feast – Monday

Monday, October 28th, will be the 16th anniversary of the Crandon Mine purchase.

Tina VanZile, SCC Environmental Director, is hosting a feast in celebration of the momentous occasion from 5:30 to 7:30 pm at the Environmental Building’s conference room.

The feast will be casual, and there may be a short presentation so the younger generation can learn and understand what almost happened here.

“I want the youth to be aware of what the Tribe went through. For the older crowd, I want them to know how thankful we are for everything that was previous to me being involved.” Tina said.

The Crandon zinc and copper mine would have been one of the 10 largest mines in the world, mining around 55 million tons of rock. The particularly harmful part of this mine would have been the extraction process to remove the copper and zinc. The process creates the byproduct sulfuric acid, which would have seeped into the nearby Wolf River. The disastrous effects on the environment are immeasurable.

The Tribe fought against the mine for 28 years, and ended the battle with the purchase of the mine in 2003. Anniversary Feasts were held on the 10th and 15th anniversaries, and Tina now plans to hold one every year.

“I decided why are we only doing this on significant anniversaries? It should be something that we need to be thankful for, and we should just have it every year on the day, no matter what that day falls on.” Tina said.

Anyone interested is invited. Attendees are asked to bring a dish to pass if they can.