Stop the Tribe NOW!!!!!!

[Walleye Seeker]

WAKE UP PEOPLE!!!!!

It sounds like the Mille Lacs Tribe will soon be going to court to curtail the "White Man's" over harvest of the sacred walleye. I am completely sick of their stunts. We need to take aggressive action if and when this goes to court. Let me remind you if they take the issue of over harvest to court they will win. The courts could shut down Mille Lacs until the State (D.N.R.)(Don't kNOw Resources) My new name for them. Stops the white man from the over harvest of walleyes. The only way is to close fishing to all non band members to keep the harvest level down. They already said they want this years over harvest to count agianst next years allocation. My proposal would be to shut 169 down by the reservation line both north and south bound. If people want to go to the casino or travel onto the reservation. Tell them they are entering a "seperate nation" and they need their passport and $100.00 to enter or leave this "seperate nation". Then I would build a nice big casino in Onamia. Route 169 on the west side of the reservation. This sounds extreme I know, but these people are not being reasonable, why should I? We are in the year 2002 not 1867. I thought we are all AMERICANS. If they want to be a "seperate nation" let's make them a seperate nation. No more tap dancing. We need to completely isolate them. Let them live off the "land" like their ancestors. They pay no taxes, they keep buying more land and removing it from the county tax roles and they receive countless dollars of our tax money. Sounds real fair to me. PEOPLE, its time to WAKE UP. Sorry for the rant, but this whole walleye issue really has me p _ _ _ ed.

Seeker.

[Skeets]

I agree, the so called white man has kept the casinos open for far too long.
I donated $25 to the casino about 5 years ago,
and haven't been back there since.

[Grabs]

I am with ya brother, tell me where and when and I will be there armed with whatever your calling for!

Come on people lets finally band together and make something happen. Anyone have some suggestions on what can be done and how we should go about pursuing it?

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[This message has been edited by Grabs (edited 08-19-2002).]

[Guest]

As I've said before.... this is no longer an issue about the resources, but an issue about money. The tribes have tasted the green, and now they want it any way they can get it. Whether that means taking the state to court.

I'm not convinced the bands will win a law suit, because they don't have anything solid in my book. PERM (Proper Economic Resource Management) is working hard for the sportsmen and women, and will fight anything like this until it's death.

You want to make a difference..... start by not patronizing ANY of their establishments. I.E. stores, CASINO's, gas stations, etc..... But as someone else said before..... there is a pack of old people that support them, many dropping every last dime into a slot. Any other ideas???

Good Luck,
Rusty

[Guest]

First off let me say I do not agree with the upholding of the 1800's treatys.

Now, after stating that, I'm going to really pi$$ some of you off.

Your aiming in the wrong direction folks. The guy out there pulling nets is not the problem. He, belive it or not, is just taking advantage of what the courts have upheld. He's just bustin his hump for a buck, same as you. Ever pulled nets? It's a lot of work.. period.

Boycotting MLB or any other NA run concerns is not going to buy you anything but more frustration. Pointing fingers at the DNR (deserved in some situations) is not going to increase your satisfation level either. You are not going to hurt the NA casino business, there are just too many people who like to gamble and could give a plug nickel about fishing.

There can only be one remedy for the upheld treatys, and that is the "Pleasure of the President" clause. Putting pressure on the twerps in the House and Senate to bring a Bill before the President is the only option there is. Spend the time you are posting gripes in here, composing a rant free e-mail to the politicos. Pin them down at the State Fair, or any other venue, during their bid for election/re-election. Make it one of the TOP ISSUES in this years debates. CONTINUE to bug the News Media, to get the questions asked, and asked properly.

If you think that it will require too much effort on your part to do this, then ya got no complaints commin. Don't focus your displeasure towards folks that are just doing what OUR OWN GOVERNMENT is allowing them to do.

[huskminn]

Labrat,

You have struck the nail precisely on its head.

[avrg.joe]

Labrat,

I agree with you on all issues except not patronizing their businesses. Every time I drive by the casino, there are at least 10-20 trucks with boats behind them. If only 50 anglers a day spend $50 each, it adds up to 880,000 each year. I suspect anglers blow much more than this each year justin the ML casino (not mentioning other businesses & casinos). One person refusing to spend money won't have any affect, just like only only one person writing thier governor or senator would have no affect. A thousand people doing the same thing would raise some eyebrows.

We're in it together, do the right thing.

GOOD LUCK!!

[This message has been edited by avrg.joe (edited 08-20-2002).]

[Vickie]

Labrat,

You seem quite knowledgable and gung ho on the Mille Lacs Treaty issue and have several great ideas on what WE (all the concerned citizens)can do. I'm not the best with a computer - - but is there some way you could start a petition or?? something and have all of us that visit these walleye fishing discussion forums "sign" it via on-line. Then send it to ALL the political officials and candidates so they understand this mess we are in and HOPEFULLY they will do
something about it.

I'm willing to do my part if something like this can be started.

Thanks -- Vickie

[Guest]

Labrat,

You may be right that boycotting the Bands properties will not change anything. But as sportsmen it sure doesn't make ANY sense to support them. And, I for one will not be frustrated by going to a non-indian owned business.

Perhaps I was wrong, it's not entirely about money, they also like the power this gives them. Well, hope to see things change.

Good Luck,
Rusty

[Guest]

Ya I too beleive it's all about power, but ain't it just too coincidental how power and large amounts of money are almost always intimately interconnected?

Yes we should all work to get a political solution which will work well for us. In the mean time if the Band shows up to offer cash to some property owner on the lake, not a single dollar of it should be cash that any of us serious sportsmen voluntarily supplied to them.

[Guest]

Don't get me wrong here, I'm not saying you shouldn't "Vote with your dollar", we all should. But to focus on just a boycott, I think, will only lead to more and bigger dissatisfaction with the situation.

The ML Band takes one of the smaller portions of the fish speared/netted. The larger portions are taken by the Wis. Bands.

Staying away from the ML band properties, while it may give you a feeling of moral superiority, is in the long run not much of a pop to a Band that generates over 1 MILLION DOLLARS a WEEK from slot machines ALONE between the two Casinos.

[avrg.joe]

labrat,

Where does YOUR money go when YOU stop at the casino? Buy land, resorts? Pay for expensive attorneys to sue the state? Pay off polititions?

[weekendjunkie]

curious thought??? maybe someone can lay a solid $figure on my question. What has the state paid to the tribes for each and every acre in the state? The last numbers i saw were in the 10's of thousands of $$'s per acre. Have we(the state) not paid our debt to them(the tribes) yet? I had some land claimed through eminent domain a couple of years ago, should my children receive payment for that same land 20 years from now? my grandchildren in 40? can someone shed some light please?

[Guest]

avrg.joe:

Sorry guy, your barking up the wrong tree on that one. This squirrel found out a long time ago that he has a problem with those Black Jack tables. I don't go to the Casino.... ever. I also don't fish Mille Lacs in the soft water season any longer. Maybe a Perch trip or two in the winter is about it. I got tired of dealing with the Great Ahole Migration, and now fish smaller local lakes where I can take the one or two for the table, without worrying about slot sizes.