Tribal fishers appealed to Whatcom County, port and city of Bellingham candidates Monday night for support in the tribe's first-ever forum for struggling fishers. The forum, held at the Wex Li Em community center, drew about 60 people.

http://news.bellinghamherald.com/stories/20011106/LocalState/76401.shtml

These Lummis will not be the first people to look at their current field of occupation and come to the sobering conclusion that it simply will no longer support them and their families. While it is a most unfortunate situation, it is one that eventually must be dealt with if they plan on continuing on.

There are a LOT of educational grants and student loans that can be had for adults who wish to return to college in search of a better field of employment. I suggest that they look into taking advantage of them instead of looking to state and federal agencies to donate money to them while they stay with their current futile situation.

I'm crying over here....no, really
Times change, people need to change with them, or get left behind. Fish runs are overharvested to the point of collapse, and the best argument they can raise is "I'm trying to keep doing what my pappy always did"
With how little money they made in two 16-hr. seasons this year, and sat on their collective asses the other 363 days a year, they'd feel like a millioniare if they just learned this simply little phrase "Would you like fries with that?"

I'm still sobbing......really

Maybe its time to go to school and learn something other than fishing, eh?? I guarantee if engineering was a dying profession I would find something else to pay the bills.

So when the salmon runs are restored what is going to stop them from netting them to death again...

Jonbull & the rest of the board:

Candidate Laurie Caskey-Schrieber is mentioned in the article and she is running for Whatcom County Council. Laurie is my sister, and I'm asking the members of this board who are registered in Whatcom County to support her. She is running against her brother-in-law Al Schrieber (yes, it will be a crazy Thanksgiving this year).

Laurie is for the preservation of farmlands and and against the rezoning of these land for commercial and high density residential usage. She will be doing her best to control growth around pristine Lake Whatcom and improve the water quality of the Lake. Basically, she is a "fish friendly" candidate, however her oponent is not. Al Schrieber is supported heavily by the local gravel & mining industry and is for the proposed Sumas Energy Plant that some say will destroy the natural character of the Sumas Valley. Laurie is against the proposed plant, due to the many environmental concerns and high amount of truck traffic the new power plant will inflict on local roads. Well, I'll get off my soap box now.

Sorry, I didn't mean to get all political here on everybody, but a vote for Laurie Caskey-Schreiber is a vote for fish and salmon recovery!

Thanks!

Thanks for the input Bobber Down.

Stan and Seth, I've got the fingers in the air and headbanging.

LMAO "do you want fries with that?" If that were to happen, we'd probably find out that their pappy's pappy grew potatoes too, therefore they are entitled to half of your fries...of course you don't ever see the fries they give their friends either.

Why work if you're getting paid regardless? Cut the payments, then they get jobs....until they qualify for unemployment.

And I suppose you really feel their pain, Jonny?
Do you agree that they are being wronged?
How many people live in this country, not on a reservation that is supposed to be a soveriegn nation, have lost their jobs in the last three months? HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS....

And I can't recall hearing of a single city council meeting being held to listen to the "pappy" argument for all of these people.

"But I have always input data for IBM, and my dad did before me, and....."

The fact that they have the gall to do this, let alone a city council listening.....

Oh ****!!! I just ran out of Kleenex.....I'll be back.......

Keeping your box of Kleenex near the computer will do that, backlash.

Well my Pappa was a whore chasing, beer drinkin, fish catchin fool.......ummmm.....I'm in the wrong line of work
as for me I guess one out of three aint bad.....which one.......Os


How about......would you like to super-size that meal

Well... we know you cant catch fish...

geee thanks that narrows it down.....wiseass


remember......It's still under construction

Pickeled.....How'd you like the XFL......Os

Backlash2- Take Dave's advice, you should see the stack of keyboards in his burn barrel.

They could raise funds and sell artwork, crafts, etc. People eat that nostalgia **** up on ebay.

They could try billing BPA $26,000 bucks, too

well last month I just lost my job here in longview becouse weyerhauser says its cheaper to just buy mills in canada then rebuild the one that made us millions. my grandfather and father & mother all worked in this paper mill but now I'm on my way back to school . I'm not whinning
my life has just changed so has there's you go on
at least I can fish more..

creekwalker-

<sarcasm>Keep going back to the now-closed plant and apply for state and federal assitance, claiming it is what your family has done for generations. Let's see if it works for you. Refuse to work towards bettering your condition, and instead hold on to whatever shred of your past that is left.</sarcasm>

As creekwalker points out, people have been displaced from their industries for years. It's nothing new. Either you adjust and survive, or fight it and...well...you get the idea.

Oh, and let's cc: gillnetters on this one, too. They tend to use the same excuse...er...reasoning for their continued actions.

Glad that other people see things my way

Why are the Indian's the only society that is not willing to move forward with the rest of the modern world? It’s not like they haven’t been given the chance. I’m not saying that they should leave their heritage behind, but come on, you can’t make it in current times by sticking to past way of living. Moving on is what makes the world go.

[ 11-06-2001: Message edited by: crazy ]

i thought the indians were brought up dealing blackjack, how stupid of me.

OK guys, here we go..... Screw them! Who cares if their fathers and grandfathers netted for generations? Up until a few decades ago, we (White men) made a life out of exploiting and enslaving other races. We destroyed entire cultures, we took peoples land, we killed women and children, we went to far away lands and harvested people to bring back home and use as slave labor. We've done this for about the last two thousand years. Our forefathers did it, in fact you might even say that it is part of our "traditional" way of life. If a bunch of us were to get together and go to court to try to get a judge to allow us to practice our traditional way of life, they'd laugh us right out of court! Times have changed..... So should the indians....There is no reason for them to even net fish anymore.... Screw their heritage

So much hate, I'm sure God will look down on all of you for this. The Duck