So, as SFist noted yesterday, Occupy Oakland, under the leadership of veteran tree-sitter and activist Zachary RunningWolf, erected an 8-foot tall teepee under an oak tree in Frank Ogawa Plaza to serve as a symbol reminding the public of "the struggles of the Sioux, and of homeless workers during the Depression, and Resurrection City after Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, and other occupations." The City reached a compromise with Occupy, allowing them a three-day encroachment permit to erect the teepee and then remove it between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. Meanwhile, the City turned on the sprinklers in the plaza to keep any new campers from wanting to pull out their tent poles again.
The Chron is predictably dismissive of the whole thing, not sounding particularly objective as they talk of dwindling numbers of protesters ("On Sunday, the turnout dropped below 100 people"), and quoting city councilman Larry Reid saying, "I wish they would do something more constructive. They're losing supporters day in and day out."
Meanwhile, Salon writer Chris Colin offers up this think-piece about the teepee, by way of a dispatch from his few days spent among the Occupy Oakland brigade, whom he calls "a wily crew." He describes the scene at Monday's 6 p.m. meeting of the occupiers, which was discussing the teepee action as well as a planned second shutdown of the Port Oakland on December 12.
I can no more transcribe what followed than I could the terms and conditions of my iTunes agreement. In the most tediously civil and cogent manner possible, the assembled 20-through-60-somethings spent an hour discussing the logistics of the port blockade. Should it start at 6 a.m.? Could someone get in touch with the truckers tomorrow? Point of information. Point of clarification. Straw poll? Very good, thanks, everyone.
He also describes the entire drama around the erection of the teepee yesterday, and quotes an attorney who's working on behalf of the occupiers as saying (regarding the 10 p.m. daily curfew), "It’s not a victory till it becomes 24 hours."
