From Wall street to Montana Streets: Mission man participates in Occupy Missoula demonstration
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MISSOULA —The Occupy Wall Street demonstrations that started in New York City on Sept. 17 spread to cities and communities across the United States and globally by the beginning of October. Montana soon became part of this movement, and people in such cities as Kalispell and Missoula started to demonstrate.
Allen Matt of St. Ignatius was in Missoula in September attending the Hemp Festival when he came across some Occupy Wall Street organizers.
“They were trying to recruit me,” Matt said. “As soon as I said I could set up my teepee, they got really excited.”
Matt set up his teepee on the 11th day of occupation on the lawn of the Missoula courthouse lawn. The occupation began on Oct. 8.
“I met a lot of beautiful people down there,” Matt said, remembering one particular day when a Native American man started singing a round dance song and people started dancing. He said it soon turned into a friendship dance as people started shaking hands. Matt said he also met a few people from the Mission Valley who were volunteering and demonstrating.
“I never saw the freedom and democracy that I fought for,” Matt, 62, a veteran of the Vietnam War, said of his reasons for participating. “People need to pay attention.”
The leaderless movement in Missoula recently adopted a declaration of occupation that encapsulates their message as a whole, but draws on the message of the original occupation in New York. The slogan of the movement is “We are the 99 percent,” and refers to the disparities of income between the top 1 percent, who control 40 percent of the wealth in the U.S., and the rest of the population. The movement also rallies against corporate greed and bailouts among other issues.
There have been some problems that have set back the cause in Missoula. Recently, an 11-year-old boy was found drunk at the encampment. A 27-year-old man camped on the courthouse lawn is being charged with endangering the welfare of the child in connection with the incident that occurred Oct. 22. The number of tents and demonstrators has also dwindled since the beginning of the occupation.
“That threw me off,” Matt said of the incident. “It hurts the movement.”
Originally, Matt only stayed for a couple of days and left his teepee for use by the demonstrators. Before he left, Matt set some guidelines for using his teepee and said there could be no alcohol use inside. But after hearing about the young boy, Matt took down his teepee and brought it home.
“I can’t abandon them, but I had to get my teepee out of there,” Matt said. He is now home in St. Ignatius due to health problems. Matt will attend general assembly meetings when he can.
A meeting was held Oct. 26 so people could comment and discuss the possibility of moving the encampment from the courthouse lawn. The demonstrators were not asked to leave, but there is talk of moving to a different location.
“I don’t think the courthouse is the best place to be,” Matt said. “You have to be respectful to the rest of the community. I have heard a lot of good stories, but I have also heard a lot of bad stories, and I hope that doesn’t deter people.”
Matt said he had concerns about people camping in tents all winter and had suggested to some to buy teepees instead.
“I don’t know if this is going to last all winter or if they are going to go back in the spring,” he said. “(But) you have to pray that your involvement is good for the people.”
