lamprey

(Runtime 0:59) Fish counters are seeing thousands of lamprey going past the Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River. But tribal biologists say these toothy,…

(Runtime 4:15)On the banks of Oregon’s Willamette River, cooks grilled up food for hundreds of people. It was a summertime barbecue with a twist.The smell…

(Runtime 4:06)Forty years ago, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation’s Department of Natural Resources started with two employees.…

Two Pacific lamprey have made history. The eel-like fish have made it past the Soda Springs Dam on Oregon’s North Umpqua River.

With their tube-like bodies, gaping gill slits, and especially their sucker-like mouths lined with jagged teeth, lampreys aren’t the most aesthetically pleasing creatures. They look like they jumped out of a Ridley Scott sci-fi horror film. But for some Northwest Native tribes, they're a significant part of the culture.