It’s been six months (Really?!? Really) since Portland police pushed occupiers out of their Chapman and Lownsdale headquarters and set up a chain-link fence around both squares.
This morning, city parks staff quietly took down the now-familiar barricade, allowing the public back onto the parks’ once-muddied, now gloriously green turf. By noon, a cautious trickle of curious passersby stopped to soak up the sun, read on the benches and kick a ball around. The mass of tents, vegan pancake lines and water-damaged cardboard signs seemed but a dream.
But! One group decided to commemorate the reopening with a brief occupation of their own. A blend of local Native American tribes came together late this morning at Lownsdale square to bless the freshly repaired land.
“This isn’t a political move, this is about our people healing the land,” said one leader, waving a bunch of sage over her head. “We’re putting our personal opinions aside today to bless the natural world.”
After an opening prayer, members broke off into the neighboring parks to perform blessings of their own. A group of park rangers watched in respect, rather than suspicion, bowing their heads during the prayers. No notable Occupy figures were present.
“What happened here…” paused the prayer leader. “I don’t know if it was good or it was bad. But we must ask Mother Earth to forgive us for the destruction we left.”
Vegan pancake lines are *so* much more than a dream.
We could use a similar ceremony after the suburbanites are done occupying Waterfront Park for Cinco de Mayo/Rose Festival/Blues Festival/Oregon EAT festival/Beer festival, etc.
These events trash the turf so much that the park is cordoned off with barb wire for weeks afterwards.
@2: We do. It’s in the city’s budget, year after year, to resod Waterfront Park after the budgeted-for and anticipated damage from cherished and well-attended civic events. The city employees just don’t pray when they do it.
I was supportive of Occupy, but that “but-but-but the Rose Festival….” canard is a load of horse shit.
“What happened here…” was a bunch of vagrants shit and pissed all over mother earth.
Hey Andy, why don’t you worry about Griffith Park instead? Or are you paying taxes in Portland now?
as a native to this planet I condone their blessing. lets hope it protects the land from future abuse
Well, it’s a good thing ‘occupy’ raised all the needed funds to fix the parks after they trashed them, right?
Paul, do you know the difference between ‘from’ and ‘in’? Obama from Kenya is a lot different than Obama in DC.