Native American Group Plans Protest March into Piedmont Saturday

This article was updated Dec. 17, 2011, to include quotes from John and Toby Nady.

Members of the Elem Tribe plan to march Saturday from the Grand Lake Theatre into Piedmont to protest the building of a vacation home on what they say is the traditional political and religious center of their tribe.

According to tribal leaders, Piedmont resident John Nady has already begun construction of the summer home on Rattlensnake Island in Lake County.

Tribal members and their supporters will gather at Grand Avenue and Lakepark at noon Saturday to begin their march. They plan to march to Nagy's Piedmont home in a protest scheduled to last until 4 p.m.

Piedmont Police Department Capt. Scott Wyatt said the PPD is prepared to "allow the legal expression of people's rights to freedom of expression" while protecting the safety of Piedmont residents.

He declined to say whether the PPD would ask for help from other police departments in monitoring the protest, but added that "it's typical for mutual aid protocols to be in place," with the department then deciding if it's necessary to call on outside aid.

Wyatt said Police Chief John Hunt is on vacation but will return and be on hand during the protest.

A press release from the tribe said, "For more than 150 years the Elem Tribe have struggled to regain their Ancestral Homeland. Using his wealth and influence, he [Nady] has already strong-armed his way through the planning regulations, and has just started laying the foundations on the island."

Piedmont Patch has not yet been able to contact Nady for comment.

However, in the November 2011 documentary The Struggle for Rattlesnake Island, produced by Free Speech Radio News, Nady told an interviewer, "The right of private property in the United States is considered sacred also."

Nady's wife, Toby, said on the same program, "We have absolute respect for that land, even though we are not of Elem ancestry. Whatever we do there will make it no less sacred."

More information on the Elem Tribe and the protest is available at the tribal website, http://elemmodun.org/.