That is sooo true! Also they are unwanted in Cayuga Lake near Ithaca NY.

Amen, brother. The lamprey's almost decimated lake trout and salmon in Lake Michigan. My first thought when I saw this story was, this would be like going to New York and starting a 'save the rats' campaign. No offense, Sondra.

What you have in the Great Lakes is the Sea Lamprey, a totally different species from the Pacific lamprey. In the Great Lakes they are an invasive species, and yes, they are a problem. The Pacific lamrpey along the west coast is an integral part of local fish communitites and serves as a food source for dozens of different species (some of which you would like to catch and eat).

Oh sure Dave, those folks will be happy to head over to the Great Lakes fro Oregon to get their food. I suppose you do your Grocery shopping where? Brazil maybe? (Sarcasm.)

I don't think they are native to the Finger Lakes and Great Lakes region that is why there are efforts to eradicate them. If I remember from correctly they where accidentally introduced in the 70's with some salmon stocking efforts.

Oh do shut up. Not everything is political.

Lamprey Lover
What you have in the Great Lakes is the Sea Lamprey, a totally different species from the Pacific lamprey. In the Great Lakes they are an invasive species, and yes, they are a problem. The Pacific lamrpey along the west coast is an integral part of local fish communitites and serves as a food source for dozens of different species (some of which you would like to catch and eat).

I have never wanted to catch and eat an Indian...

Lucy- as long as they take our money and try to control us - everything is political.

Frankwye- as long as they take YOUR MIND and try to control us - everything is political.

You ain't getting it. The lamprey featured in said article is native to this ecosystem or is biological diversity. If an animal or plant has been introduced, transported from one area of the planet into an ecosystem in which he did not evolve or belong, it then becomes an introduced, invasive specie, an animal or plant weed and a major cause of extinction and ecosystem death. INtroduced, tranported and invasive animals and plants are a planetary death knell.

Conversely, science strives to eradicate both animal and plant, non-native species or animal and plant weeds to protect biological diversity and the EArth's ecosystems or mankind's very own life giving team members and man's life giving and supporting cycles and systems.

so d7852,

I guess you'd be ok if salmon went extinct too, since we can just farm them these days?

Same question here.

To Lee-3014256

Hey, I've got a suggestion.................if the Indian tribes REALLY want to save the lamprey eel, why don't they start by NOT EATING THEM????!!!!!!

Why, so they can be an unsustainable race like you and I? There is a viable reason for it. Learn something from them why don't you

Steph, look up the term unsustainable. You don't know what it means.

Chris why do you think they are unsustainable, it isnt because of the indians its because of the dam.

The dam what Pirate?

Save the lamprey. Eat a goldfish.

for all of you that dont understand unsustainable.....Our national debt is unsustainable.... that means less money in your pocket if you would like to continue spending the way the government does... as for the dam and fish.... the spawning difficulties is what would cause the fish things to "become" unsustainable like our "good eatin" fish of the great lakes!! get with the program chris. sounds like you are one of the people happy to have what you want at the expense of others.

chris, don't think you know what sustainability means, here I'll help you...Sustainability=the capacity to endure.

If you want the salmon and other great lakes fish to survive why dont you quit eating them??? Idiocy doesnt help the matter now does it?

Lee your statement is so utterly stupid as to beggar belief.

Since these people are using the lamprey as a food supply, there's little point and no difference between their not eating them and their being exterminated.

If you ahd actually read the article and had an IQ in three figures you would have seen that the danger to the lamprey is not from the Native population eating them but the Immigrant population (the ones who invaded and stole their land) messing up the environment.

Ooops! I guess I lost you with those 3 and y syllable words. Ask your Mommy to explain it to you.

There is much to be learned from our Native American Brothers and Sisters. Starting with the basics of their beliefs. All for the good of the tribe. I am not a Native American, however I do have the utmost respect for them. Their ways before my ancestors came and took everything away from them, were models of a very productive society. Everyone pitching in and doing their part, all for "The good of the tribe". That just scratches the surface. I have studied their ways, and I am impressed with everything. Modern man would do well to take a few pages from their ways, and implement them into our daily lives somehow. The world would be a much better place. Their respect of our "Mother Earth" would also do well in the lives of mankind today. So much has been lost to the ways of the modern world, and once they are gone, they are gone for good. Much more than the lamprey has been lost over time, and I have to say that the views of today's society on the Native American people, seem to me to have remain unchanged from back when they were considered savages. The ignorance of my (OUR) ancestors almost wiped out their existence, along with all that once thrived and flourished throughout this once great land. It is said that History has a way of repeating itself. In this case, I surely hope not. Peace my Native Brothers and Sisters.

Re: Liveandletlive: Thank You for a truly nice post. I am half Blackfoot and half cajun and reading some of these posts are appalling to me. Some are speaking of why we are using our land to profit from and practice what you preach and all but they have not seen the real world. My grandfather and father were full blooded Blackfoot when growing up the stories I was told gave me nightmares of how our people were treated. In those days everything had to be done on the reservation or we as Native Americans would be belittled , made fun of and treated like dirt. My first day of school in a (white school off the reservation) was horrible. I could not speak my native language was told it was not American. What is a true American anyways? Now I am proud to be a Native American and for all I was shown I hate no one. Taught by my father. Here some posters complain about Obama,Bush, and their government. We as a tribe only kill what we eat and use the whole animal not waste what parts we dont like. So learn from this earth it is the only one we as people are going to have.

Ahh yes...Live&LetLive...the myth of the noble savage. You do realize it is just that...a myth. The Native Americans practiced all of the "evils" attributed to Western/modern civilization well before Columbus ever discovered the Americas...well before the Norseman ever found it as well. They caused the extinction of all the American mega-fauna; waged bloody wars that wiped out entire tribal nations; engaged in wholesale slavery, slaughtered the children, and raped the women akin to what is still seen today throughout Africa; set massive fires to the grasslands of the Great Plains on a regular basis as both a method of steering bison herds and to limit growth of tree saplings which would have limited the grazing area for said bison; and engaged in active forest management in the forests of the Northeast and Northwest through controlled burning and logging to encourage the plant growth of ground shrubs to encourage the growth of the wild ungulate population as a food source. Read some of the ORIGINAL documentation by both the Pilgrims and the Jamestown settlers detailing their incredible surprise not to find a more "civilized" society considering the almost manicured nature of the surrounding woodlands and pathways through the forest that rivalled anything found in properties throughout Europe (Northeastern tribes often would promote single large "game paths" to make hunting easier). Maybe you are right, though, and understand what Native Americans have always understood...Man IS a part of Nature and not apart from it, and as such, has the right to "manage" nature like any other creature.

Unintended- I am well aware of what you're saying. That however, was not the ways of the majority, only the ways of few. The negative always tries to overshadow the positive. While some of these things did happen, and I am well aware of, are not by any means the views nor the actions of most. I know that there were wars waged between tribes, and they were bloody, unfathomable wars. It still pales in comparison to what our White ancestors did to these people. All that you claim were done by the hand of the Natives were done tenfold by the "White Man". All these things you claim about the Native people have been going on way before them. Back to the beginning of mankind. What the Spanish did to them when first coming here and raping the earth looking for their precious gold, and inslaving the Natives to work till death in their gold mines, was atrocious. Wars and battles, rape, kill, pillage and burn, a fact of all men, throughout all time. Why do you just claim it to be done by Native Americans? We could debate this for years, what's the point. My main point was the way we (WE) have treated the Native people as a whole. As for the right to manage nature...........hmm...........in our case don't you mean Mis-manage? Peace to you as well my friend.

Kitty...........My heart goes out to you and yours. I cannot even begin to try to understand how it must have been for your Father and Grandfather, nor even you, for that matter. I have seen the mistreatment of the Native Peoples first hand living here in the desert southwest. The more I read from days gone by, the more sickened I become by the ignorance that seemed to be running rampant at the time of our ancestors towards your People. I remember a saying that I wish I could be sure enough to put a name to it. But I don't dare. out of respect for the author.  I would not forgive myself for getting it wrong. The saying........... "The only way to actually win a war.......is to surrender" That statement, from the very first time I read it, to this day, has me thinking, wondering, wanting to know the full meaning behind it. The Native people to me, are all a proud people. To say this is almost contradictory. I know it came from a very important Chief of a Tribe. But the wisdom in that statement, has kept me in awe. It goes against all the beliefs of the time, but he knew that was the only way to save his people from extinction. It must have been such an incredible burden on him. But in the end, I believe, he made the right decision. The only one he could to preserve their ways and beliefs. To me, he is one of the greatest men of all time. All for the good of the tribe. Mankind today would be served well to heed these words of wisdom. To those who disagree with me........that's okay too. Ignorance is just as rampant today, as it ever has been in history. Kitty...... a few kind words is the least I can do for you and yours. I hope to do more in time. Peace to you Sister. May your remaining days here on our Earth Mother, be the best of your life, till you walk with the elders once again.

Your new friend,
George.

@Jherek Carnelian

Why don't you kiss my ass you dickweed??!!

Did I ask your opinion of my comment? Piss off, you dick!!!

Oki, the statement you speak of is close to the one my Grandfather would say "maan'istsoohph' kitoma'tskahtakssoaaiatsi,(ki) 'anniayi 'aakan'isttsooyi am'istsi kitssko' tsiihpoaawaistsi." "the measure you give will be the measure you get back". The treatment of people in general is strange to me, as I walk in the city I hear and see people treating others like they have the plague, no more holding doors for people and they say we as Native Americans want pay back for the treatment of our ancestors but in reality I see and hear how everyone thinks they are owed something. No more working for your tribe(or family) everyone wants a hand out. I work and pay taxes but I do not complain about how others use this welfare system. We had little growing up but never had a handout from any government. Matter of fact My father had to denounce his heritage to become a Texas ranger. So be it he did. but did not stop us to learn ALL MEN were created equal. My time on this beautiful planet has been the greatest for all of my people because we have survived through thick and thin. And to you my new friend keep the faith and you too will be blessed. Nit'anikko wa is Katrina.

Live&LetLive...here is a little something called reading comprehension:

"Why do you just claim it to be done by Native Americans?" (you in post #4.13)

DOES NOT come from

"The Native Americans practiced all of the "evils" attributed to Western/modern civilization well before Columbus ever discovered the Americas...well before the Norseman ever found it as well." (me in post #4.12 bold-italic added for emphasis)

Additionally, since you opened the can of worms...yes, let us talk about the VAST difference in Native American populations in the United States vs. the rest of the American continents. The Native Americans in the United States have CHOSEN not to integrate into the rest of society as a whole. They maintain the "seperate but equal" status (as a sovreign nation within a sovreign nation) that the other "oppressed" race in the United States found to be unacceptable and fought to change. Throughout Canada, the Native American tribes decided they COULD integrate into Canadian society and not lose their cultural heritage, and have done so. Throughout Meso-America and the Carribbean Islands, the Native American tribes integrated so fully with the Spanish conquistadores that they "created" a wholly "new" people, the so-called "Hispanics". Only in ONE nation on TWO continents have the native people decided they are better off maintaining a aloof and seperate nature rather than integrating into the entire society. For nearly a century and a half, Native Americans have not been forced to live on reservations, and even before that, only tribes (or members thereof) unwilling to assimilate were militarily forced onto reservations. African-Americans, in the same time frame, went from being physical property to having legally protected equal rights. Now I don't know about you, but I would think that the effort to move from being a non-human beast of burden to an independent, living, thinking being was a much harder road than simply finding a way to reconcile a previous culture with an emerging culture. It certainly worked throughout the rest of the American continents.

Lastly, who is the "we" that have mistreated the Native Americans? Is it the descendants of all the African-Americans who barely had the right to be humans and not property when forced relocation was ending? Is it the descendants of every family who emigrated to this country after 1877 when the last major reservation was created? Is it the descendants of those who came from countries which lacked any sort of colonizing power in the 16th to 18th century or just the English, Spanish, French, Dutch, and Portuguese who accounted for nearly all the early interaction with the Native Americans? Moreso, do we blame the English of Jamestown who had a much more "turbulant" interaction with the Native Americans more than the Pilgrims who were actually welcomed by the Massasoit Indians and given free reign to the lands previously claimed by a rival tribe who had died due to a plague?

As you so astutely pointed out, the atrocities VISITED UPON AND BY the Native Americans were not without precedent throughout the entire history of man, so what makes THIS case any more heinous than any other? Where is your outrage at the Greeks who pillaged and plundered all the way from Greece to India? Where is you outrage at the Chinese, whose ancestors stormed across the Asian plains all the way to Germany, Italy, and Greece? How about some outrage at Norway/Sweden/Denmark whose Vikings pillaged France, Germany, and England? Should the Germans pay reparations to the Italians for the sacking of Rome by the Visigoths? Maybe the entire "Old World" should expect reparations on the "New World" for exterminating so many species of mega-fauna that the "New World" never developed horses, cattle, pachyderms, or a multitude of other species found throughout Eur-Asia and Africa with common ancestors? Doesn't it say quite a lot about the "connection with nature" that the Native Americans had when the largest land animal in the "New World" to survive the interaction with Native Americans averages only about a ton, while the "Old World" boasts several species weighing in at 4-8 times as much (on average)? See how silly it can become when you start to look at it from a greater perspective?

@Lee who says: "@Jherek Carnelian Why don't you kiss my ass you dickweed??!! Did I ask your opinion of my comment? Piss off, you dick!!!"

Whoa, feeling a little bit testy today aren't we? No you didn't ask for my opinion of you previous post but you got it anyway. Here's my opinion of your last post: Grow up and learn to speak like a civilised, adult human being rather than a petulant, vulgar, little child. I hope that doesn't upset you too much. LOL!

People like you really need to learn that bellowing at a total stranger on the internet is simply not going to upset any rational human being. I personally find people like you very amusing! LOL!

Now I'm going to mark you as "Ignore This Author" because there's no point in reading crude nonsense posted by a clearly irrational person. Please feel free to make a comeback but bear in mind I will never see it.

'Bye!

Unintended- Wow, hehe, I didn't even take the time to read what you seem to be trying to teach. I'm sure you have gone to great lengths to prove your point as you have none! Pointless. Your comparisons are most likely going to be like apples and golf carts. I do not care what you have to try and make me see, nor do I care what you have to say. It's pointless. Our Native American people are going to remain the same as I have always thought of them. With deep respect and admiration. So your words are just words and to me they are pointless. Enough wasted energy already. Negativity.

Oh, and by the way. I care about a lot of different cultures, peoples, places. There are many wrongs throughout history. none have had more of an effect on me personally, as the wrongs against our Native People. I do not care to spell out to you or anyone else what my beliefs or opinions are on so many different things. Don't try to second guess me, or tell me how I should or shouldn't feel about anything or anyone. That is why your words are pointless. I spoke on the subject at hand. I did not try to bring the whole worlds wrongs throughout the history of mankind to the table. Good Grief!

Well Live&Let Live...I find it both amusing and interesting that you will claim...

Ignorance is just as rampant today, as it ever has been in history.

And simultaneously state...

I didn't even take the time to read what you seem to be trying to teach.

So I guess you enjoy ignorance and wallow in it because you CHOOSE not to learn.

I also enjoyed how you belittle the sufferings of billions of others because you do not see it first hand ("...none have had more of an effect on me personally, as the wrongs against our Native People...") Considering how anathema that is to the very core beliefs of certain Native American tribes, including several comments by Kitty ("...but did not stop us to learn ALL MEN were created equal [sic]..."), marks you as not only ignorant, but a hypocrite as well. Perhaps you should really take to heart the lessons of history because the same self-absorbed surety demonstrated by your comments are EXACTLY the same claims Native Americans make against the "all-knowing and infallible" government.

Who is doing the claims against your so called" all-knowing and infallible government"? What a joke all-knowing yeah the money goes in someones pocket not the peoples and two infallible really? is this why they have to scramble to save your governments credit rating? Get a grip and quit trying to start an arguement over the Native Americans treatment long ago. You were never treated in that manner and what a white man wrote in your history books was meant for you anyway. I will believe with what I grew up with first hand knowledge from my great grandfather and grand father and so on. You keep believing in you infallible government.

@ Jherek Carnelian who is a peckerhead........

Sorry that you are so gay, I have heard that homos can be a little testy when they haven't been out of the closet very long. But that's OK, your Mommy still thinks you're special and the girls will still be your BFF. You go on and be the best little faggot you can be.

Kitty -- I understand English may not be your first or strongest language, and so I accept that you may have misunderstood the point being made. Live&LetLive makes claims of surety based only on what he thinks/feels SHOULD be correct without taking the time to actually make sure the claims he makes ARE correct in exactly the same manner that the "all-knowing and infallible" government does. All-knowing and infallible is in quotations because they are being used sarcastically to make the point about making decisions/claims based on what you personally think/feel and not on the facts of the matter...which is exactly the charge most often leveled by Native Americans against the government...that is, the government makes decisions about Native Americans and their way of life without even knowing or understanding them/it. This is precisely what Live&LetLive does by just deciding that since I pointed out errors in his beliefs about Native Americans (as a whole, not any particular tribe), he can just ignore them because they fail to fit into HIS personal belief system, the truth be da**ed.

Additionally, I am APPALLED at your statement about my not understanding your knowledge of firsthand treatment. The corollary of "ALL men are created equal" is "the suffering of one is no greater than the suffering of another". How do you know I am not a Jewish survivor of the concentration camps? How do you know I am not of Asian descent and was thrown into a US internment camp simply because the US was at war with Japan? How do you know I am not African-American who grew up in the deep South in the 1950's? How do you know I am not a black South African who emigrated to the United States in the 1970s or a political refugee from Cuba, China, or the (former) Soviet Union less than 30 years ago? How do you know I am not a Muslim who was incorrectly detained at a US Military prison just because my name is common among Islamic extremists just within the past decade??? As you, yourself claimed (#4.11), you had the opportunity to essentially "hide" on the reservation to get away from the white man. Too bad the Jews didn't have that chance, nor did the African-American...you see, they had to grow thick skins and face the problem head-on because they lacked a "protected zone". It's too bad you don't have any sympathy for those people who had AND STILL HAVE first hand experience WITHIN THE PAST 60 YEARS of being systematically killed by their own government or those who could and were beaten, ridiculed, and sometimes even killed because they didn't have a safe haven to go to where the government protected them, like Native Americans have had with the reservation system for over 150 years (of which they have been free to leave for more than 100 years!!). How do you know I am not a Native American of the Wampanoag tribe of Massachusetts whose family has lived as part of the integrated American culture for approximately 300 years (and can trace lineage back to meetings between Chief Massasoit and William Bradford in 1621) but still maintains my Native ancestry without relying on staying isolated within an area based on a incorrect and antiquated system (hint, hint)?

Also, I ask you to please explain, as a Native American, to all non-Native Americans, why it is that the Meso-American Native American tribes who were treated much more brutally BY the Spanish and Portuguese than any North American Native American tribe was treated by the US, all managed to integrate with their cruel taskmasters and become the "Hispanic" race which now dominates over 60% of the Americas's landmass? Seems to me like the "forced" integration in Meso-America developed quite an amazing culture combining some of the best of both its Native American and European roots.

First The article was not about the suffering of the Native Americans, nor any other race. It was about the eels. I was commenting to another poster who was interested in the treatment of the Native Americans.Which I happen to have first hand knowledge of my tribes treatment. You commented on his post so you would feel right in telling him what he should know. Then you commented on something I said to him. I am sure you see where I am going on this subject. Maybe if you hadn't tried to belittle others by thinking your smarter and wanting to post your LONG and drawn out statements out of your history books we would have never even conversed. As I said in previous post(4.16)" the treatment of people is strange to me" in general no where did I mention that the treatment of my tribe was worse than anyones elses race. Talk about not understanding what a person said. No I do not know where or what race you are from nor do I care. I do care about how people in general (especially previous postings) they wish to get off the real subject and jump to belittle a race of any kind. It did not say in the article that the Native Americans wanted money to help care for the eels. But then they jump to oh my God the Native Americans want more money, then jump to wanting their land , then jump to have not we given them enough. I was commenting to a poster who actually said something nice and that is all. You had to jump in to tell us how you think ok your opinion is just that. Not worth much to me and I surely do not care what you think of me or my how you say not good english. my opinon is just that so farewell be safe and hope you can see past your ignorance and just get along no one is any better than anyone else no matter what they think.

Kitty, did you actually read the first quite SHORT response to correct Live&LetLive's post? My guess is no, because the correction I made to his statements comes from reports/statements by both the Association of American Indian Affairs and the Assembly of First Nations as well as Native American tribal histories and cultural digs...in other words, sourced from MULTIPLE Native American sources that argue quite strongly against the "noble savage" mythos that Live&LetLive bought into and shared. You were only brought into the discussion to point out how your forefathers wisdom in understanding the equality of all men was the opposite of Live's claims affording a special status to the suffering of the American Indian because he has some knowledge of the trials of some tribes. It was to show the hypocritical stance Live was taking by extolling your virtues but abandoning them when confronted with contradictory evidence.

Next,

...no where did I mention that the treatment of my tribe was worse than anyones elses race. Talk about not understanding what a person said.

Really...then how do you intepret this statement:

You were never treated in that manner and what a white man wrote in your history books was meant for you anyway. I will believe with what I grew up with first hand knowledge from my great grandfather and grand father and so on.

That says that the treatment of your ancestors ("I will believe with what I grew up with first hand knowledge...") was worse than the treatment of my ancestors ("You were never treated in that manner...") despite you having no idea how my ancestors were treated. Since you did not know if my ancestors were being systematically murdered (if I were of Eastern European Jewish descent) while your were being "teased" or "belittled", you must think that such "teasing" is a greater suffering than what was happening to every other race on the planet. So either you were making a patently rascist statement against all white people based on your (incorrect) assumption that I am white, or you actually believe your first hand experiences trump those of all others in terms of suffering...please, take your pick.

Additionally, do you even read your own posts Kitty? You felt justified enough to state:

You were never treated in that manner and what a white man wrote in your history books was meant for you anyway.

Naturally, you are assuming I am white (I see your reading comprehension is as poor as Live's because I even hinted at my origin and you missed it) and am just parroting back a white man's version of history. Too bad you were wrong. Additionally, when combined with a statement like:

...hope you can see past your ignorance...

all you have really done is show YOUR racism and ignorance. I suggest you learn a little more about the history of the hundreds of millions of people with Native American blood throughout both North and South America. Maybe then you will understand that the blanket statements you made about "whites" amounts to no less a racist comment than those made about "reds" or "blacks" or "browns" and has just about as much validity.

BTW, to eliminate any chance of you misunderstanding, I have Native American blood and that portion of my ancestry can be traced back nearly 400 years to the Wampanoag tribe which was among the very first tribes to interact with the "white men" in Massachusetts. So now that I am not just some "white man" preaching from a "white man's" history books to justify a "white man's" response, do you feel a little ashamed at your claims? My guess is no, because you will now just attack my purity of blood or call me a sell-out because I upset both yours and Live's comfortable little apple cart of beliefs..

It depends on which side of the tree you hug.

The Pacific Lamphrey is a "food fish" and is quite good grilled (the only way I have eaten it.) The Sea Lamphrey in the Great Lakes is smaller, but also edible and is actually sold as food in Japan in small amounts.

In the Great Lakes the sea lamprey is a non-native parasite with a sucking mouth that bores into the flesh of the native fish populations they feed on. So the lamprey increased in numbers while the native fish pop. decreased. The lamprey has no natural enemies but got into the Great Lakes when the Welland Canal was built. This not only allowed ships to get around Niagara Falls, but for these sea creatures to become an invasive species in all of the Great Lakes. This was part of the St. Lawrence Seaway project which was great for shipping but not for the fish industry. Now the U.S and Canada have a program to address the problem.

One would think that some way could be found to ensure that the native people of the Northwest will be given greater voice so their way of life can be preserved.

@ L&R Charters

I wish thier was a market for the lamprey but the DEC has put a stop to commercial fishing in the Great Lakes. The DEC says that because of the high levels of PCB's and mercury in the fish of the Great Lakes, they cannot be sold commercially. This is total horsecrap, we measured the mercury and PCB levels in salmon and trout and found that the levels were in parts per billion equal to a drop the size of a pinhead in an olympic size swiming pool, you would have to eat about 50lbs of fish per day to even get near the levels that might cause a problem. The DEC came up with this ban to stop the over fishing of certain species of fish by the native americans in the Great Lakes region. The native americans can take any species of fish with no restrictions as to season, limits, or methods of catching, such as gill nets, multiple lines, ect. The DEC couldn't restrict the Native Americans so they came up with the ban on sales. Fishing for food is one thing, over fishing to the point of extinction for money is another issue entirely.

At 9 a.m., doesn't sound like you have a job, sonwhowontleavehismomsbasement-892599

Wow. Living off the land, being self-sufficient and environmentally responsible is officially out-of-style.

Capitalism and the industrial revolution have completely ruined this world.

and to think you help destroy it by paying for the Internet to spread your BS.

hahaha exactly. Its funny how some people still think like that. "Get a job like everyone else" sounds so dam stupid its not funny. i live on a reservation and EVERYONE i know has a job!!!

Some people with jobs still enjoy traditional foods and it appears that this is a community event. Let these families enjoy their traditions

Mr. SonsofLiberty isn't interested in liberty for others. His name and message are a fine example of talking out of both sides of the mouth.

Maybe some people are trying to scale back on their commercialism and consumerism. Maybe some don't want the McMansion out in the sprawling burbs driving two suburbans with one kid and having 3 boats, 7 t.v.'s, a huge lawn that needs to be hired out to mow each week, all of this so that we can suck the rivers dry. You do know that the colorado river no longer reaches the ocean? It is tapped into so much that it is dry a few hundred miles short.

Reservations don't get any benefits from the same energy sources unless their is a local agreement; but most reservations are in poverty.

nomorefilbert, historically challenged one, do you know when the dams were built? Likely not, you lib's are all the same, you just don't get it....

Quit bragging about what you have filbert. Some of us have to live paycheck to paycheck.

Part of catching the lamprey is also a marking of age. Not all men can get the lamprey.

I wouldn't suggest eating anything out of Lake Michigan.

Everyone who's saying they should just eat the Great Lakes Lamprey -- please be aware that it's a different species. The Great Lakes lamprey is invasive, and quite different from the Pacific lamprey.

You sound like you don't read much

It's not asking so much , considering we are all living on their land and not paying rent.

When you are trying to conserve the Great Lakes I think by saying to any race that OVER FISHING IS DOING DAMAGE...It should not matter especially if you have the commercial market cornered and people whom have lived in the Great Lakes for over 50 yrs cannot find one...Get over we took the land over for decades upon decades many have taken many nations over...It does not give the one nation right to deprive all the rest of natural resources especially when you take it commercial...Sorry my heart does not bleed for someone whom is looking for money not for conserving our natural resources.

Are you talking about the USA commercial fishing or just the tribal fishing because I am sory to say but USA's Commercial fishing is doing just the same if not more damage to sustainability of fish species. You dont actually think that large commercial fisheries would stop fishing without govt intervention do you?

American Indians have a right not to pay taxes. They have a right to make money however they want from hunting, fishing, sewing. Talk about depriving natural resoures, who do you think is doing that? Certainly not the Native Americans. You are thinking of industry, factories and an over poplation of many nations. Don't blame the Native Indians for living on the land that they have lived on. There is preservation in that alone.

And yes, I am at least 3rd generation born here, mostly white, some Irish and some American Indian and this is and always has been my country just as it is theirs.

Actually, eel's travel upstream to spawn, just as the salmon do. When their are dams in the way blocking them, then yes, they cannot travel and mate, so their numbers dramatically perish.

Amen sister!

Thank you. It's so disgusting to read comments like these. Hard to believe people are so ignorant.

SO VERY TRUE!!!

I'm down with that. These people think that this is a species that doesn't count but don't you get it? They are part of an ecosystem and other species keep dying out due to pollution, chemicals, power plants as well. Guess what folks? Next it will be cows, sheep and pigs (your meat source) that can no longer survive and who relies on these animals for sustenance? If these lamprey don't matter then what is next. I am not in love with a lamprey and have never actually seen one or eaten one, but it is the domino effect! Today the lamprey, tomorrow the salmon and the rainbow trout and the shrimp, see where I'm going with this.

Smartphones - every yahoo with a couple bucks can get access to a global communications network and express their uneducated, myopic, corporate-sponsored opinion which is assigned the same weight as those who spent a lifetime studying a topic . China gave us the access, should be interesting to see what happens when this convenience-driven, market inspired access gets turned off....

lets all just go back to the stone ages that would solve everything...most people wouldnt even be alive right now...you know just give the native americans back their land all you ppl on here that think all our conveniences are so easy to come by give your computers, electricity, running water, homes that you did not build, cars, etc...up and the world will be amazing again........welcome to fairy tale world...cant save everything without killing out our own species especially without any natural enemys left, hell we even beat out sickness

Tiffany - You make a good point, so thanks for keeping the discussion grounded. I'd still like them erradicated from the Great Lakes though, where they are an out of control species. They used to come from the Atlantic no further than the inlet of the St. Lawrence seaway to breed. Since the middle of the 1900's theyve been taking up permanent residence in the freshwater lakes. When a lamprey latches on to a host fish, they stay attached until the host wastes away and dies. Not a pretty thing to see.

your time is comeing white man

I know right!!!! It's disgusting!!!

i guess you consider ignorance a bliss...

Really? I guess you own NOTHING made in or by Germany, Japan, Russia, Mexico, Spain, France or England. EVERYBODY America beat in war got easy access to our markets, even exclusive in the case of Japan. Alas, China and Vietnam didn't NEED to lose to become our Most Favored Nations... that was a Republicant snowjob...

maybe if you're soooo disgusting that you would call it a DEFEAT...

What was done to the Natives was a massacre... a pillage... and a theft. That wasn't a defeat.

jroc... I was being sarc (when I said, "I know right") I really fed up with peoples ignorance and bigotry

Yeah, but no other group in human history has carried those traits quite like you. Theft, murder, imperialism...that's the legacy. But God see's all and allows such things but only for a season. Probably why this country is about to fall apart at the seams...and Europe is floundering too.

All races flock to the greatest country in the world, America, the land of freedom, what country did you create and what is YOUR legacy?

Yep, the only animals worth saving are the cute, tasty or fashionable ones - kinda leaves us out tho...

Before spouting your political ideals of tree hugging liberals, research Native American tribes of the northwest. Lampreys are important. Native Americans are the group that gets the LEAST amount of respect and aid and in most cases are the biggest group suffering in the US even though they have respected this country far longer. They couldn't even participate in the Lacrosse games last year because they were held in Britain. Lacrosse was created by Native Americans.

Good thing we don't have communists. The lampreys would be called Lamp Rays because of the radioactive glow.

Because those tax breaks, residuals and blah blah blah are totally supposed to make it right for what was done to them and their people?? Their ancient liberties were stripped from them. We'll never be able to give them what is rightfully theirs

Steph ...War is War...It happens but you do not go back decades to say gee I am sorry...Do you see the jewish getting paid back from the egyptians for building their pyrmids...I do not see letting the Indian tribes get away with netting Walleye Pike for commercial sale...It is a complete decline of the species...Oh I guess that is ok ...Fish have NO feeling when they are extinct!

No - but they DID get reparations from Germany, as did France, the US et al. I always thought it a pity that no one was around to arm the Natives the way the USA supplied insurrections in Afghanistan, Central America, Africa, South America & Southeast Asia. Just imagine if Native Americans had Samurai steel & Chinese rockets...

Red and Blue... war is NOT war. What happened wasn't A WAR. It was a take over. Ships landed... killed and forced them to move from their native lands on to reservations like herded animals. There are SOME casinos... but most reservations are in poverty. They don't get aid. Many don't benefit from our resources unless a local area agrees to provide them with access. And they are still not internationally viewed as citizens under any government. How is that ANYWHERE near fair?

maybe the native americans should not have helped the "WHITE DEVIL" when they made landfall....just think all the native americans who enjoy the same niceites that we all do...oh and by the way can recieve free college if they get off the lazy ass and go...would be living in nomadic tribes still and we would all be speaking german...pretty sure the nazis would not have stopped with the jews, just sayin so maybe its time to grow up and accept the world as it is and quit being so naieve.

rednblue, I believe in justice, no matter HOW much time passes. Yeah, I do think people should be awarded for what was so selfishly taken from them. I also agree with the reparations for slavery. :)

Draco...This has been going on since the beginning of time...If the Indians are so sacred of land and of wildlife why over fish and sell commercial...Do you think other generations should pay for the debt of Christopher Columbus...I did not even know him nor did my relatives know the Germans that killed my gypsy acestry but should I hold the Germans accountable for the rst of the generations of my family...See how silly that is??

yb... no they don't. Many reservations are in poverty!!! Also they don't receive "free college". There are state by state free colleges but that's for ALL residence of that state (white, black, native, or latino). There are some scholarships that can be rewarded for minority diversity but they don't get free rides. Many of them, because of the poor economic status around reservations, can't receive the same education as those of kids in cities or in districts with more funding. While there are native americans in the middles class, it's A LOT harder to get there... like most minorities. And in the media market such as singing and acting, most have had to document their nationality under Hispanic to get cast in roles. So how about actually researching the hardships that all races face before you spout your ignorant opinion.

Red and Blue... sure it's been going on forever but until a balance has been made... YES. I don't care if it was before our time; but people are people. You would demand the same if it happened to you or if your race had been oppressed for this long. No living human should have to face what they do. Also many of those who capture the lamprey do not do it for commercial usage. Do you have any idea how hard it is to capture a lamprey? It's not for commercial use. It's not like they collect them in nets. They literally have to climb into the waterfall and pull them off. Lamprey cling to the rocks. They haven't been a high influence to the over fishing. The over fishing is caused by us... and it's not the lamprey that are being over fished. Their decrease in number is because of the environment change.

Wow the ignorance is amazing...guess some of you folks are too busy complaining to realize that we natives have programs in place to manage and restock natural resources and that our subsistence hunting/fishing/gathering doesn't deplete any natural resources but rather provide more of them for you useless bigots.

Leah-3844263

It's not the first time they complain. They complain all the time. They complain about EVERY effort, ALL the time, when they are told they must correct the problems THEY cause to the land. They never want to pay for what they use... they just want to use. That's why they demand deregulation, because they don't want to be told they must return the land to its original state and not affect the life of the next man with their carelessness.

You are an idiot...

Yeah, and that poster VOTES and likely has a drivers' license. Scary.

Red and Blue;

Do some research, read a little. This species is not invasive it is actually indigenous and has been in the pacific Northwest for thousands of years. The Sea lamprey is invasive and is only invading the Great Lakes because of the changes man has made to the natural course of the area rivers.

You just described humans. Specifically the invasive European variety that came and wiped out the local species of everything we have touched.

The Indians eat them... They want the federal government to save them.. They want to bitch about their right to eat a lamprey because they are getting harder and harder to find...

Harder to find in their original habitat, where the tribes in question once hunted. Kinda like how the tribes want to slaughter whales because they "once did". Somehow the fact that invaders who now surround their nations once hunted THEM fails to be ironic...

I think you are right. It sounds more like they are saving the river from the dam. There are many environmental groups that do not like dams. To get their point across, they use the story of the Indians and their eels to get sympathy from the rest of the people to help stop the dam project.

Democrat presidents and Congresses killed them off too. It wasn't like it was a partisan ethnic cleansing. Read your history. The real history, not the revisionist history you partake in.

It was US tradition to hunt Natives too, white mans God-given right to slaughter, destroy, exploit & abuse everything in his scope - but WE changed, just a little. why can't they realize they NOW do more harm than good?

Jack you could read your history... the new Tea Party and GOP and even Democrats aren't what they used to be. Republicans at one time were actually the rational... and Democrats actually opposed minority rights. But they both made DRASTIC changes. The Tea Party and the GOP now do represent the thieving bigots that fight for nationalism and ethnic separation.

WOW anothe hater!! should we be surprised?? Tea party GOP? last I heard they ware asking for balance! AGAIN!! get over your race, creed, religion, political view, and food prefernce and learn how to be balanced! Yes we overfish the world commercially regardless of which group you belong to! Yes we have destroyed rivers and lakes in the name of progress! YES our forefathers have opressed other nations no matter whare your culture originates! I am not a "GO GREEN" finatic. I think extremism adds to the problem!!! to be balanced we need to make sure the benefits outweigh the consequences. When we no longer have fish in our lakes and wheat in the fields of this great nation will man then come together for the better of the people? Electricity is a luxury not a necessity. learn to appreciate it. Your forefathers would laugh at the thought that you couldnt survive without more of it being that they had none.

If indian life was so peaceful how come there is a lot of documentation of wars between tribes and even cases of canabalism.