CHRISTINE_CLOUD CHRIS_APASSINGOK GLYNDARIL JOEL_JACKO JOHN_PINGAYAK MARCELLA MARVIN_AGNOT NALU_DANIELLE_APASSINGOK PATRICK_MATCHIAN SARAH_THIELE SONNA_BOY TERESA_PINGAYAK NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Ready? CHRIS APASSINGOK All right wait, wait, wait. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK My dad retired from being the captain about a year ago. So, my brother is going to be taking me out to look for hanasaki crab and geese and long necks. And if we're lucky we might see some seals. Boating in the Bering Sea with our skiffs can be very dangerous. Things can change quickly, and you have to be ready for anything. Are we jumping in or do I need to take a walk? CHRIS APASSINGOK Yeah, we just need to jump in. CHRIS APASSINGOK How come you never jumped in? CHRIS APASSINGOK Don't slow down! NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Soaked. CHRIS APASSINGOK You need to go change? NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Yeah. Holy that was scary. CHRIS APASSINGOK Don't slow down when you're going to jump in. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK The boat was going real fast. CHRIS APASSINGOK You just got to jump on. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Oh, my heart's racing. Accidents just happen. Especially being in the Bering Sea. It's like the coldest water and the craziest water. It can be scary. CHRIS APASSINGOK We're going to be heading on to other side and. CHRIS APASSINGOK Looking for some kind of game out there. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK I'm just super grateful that I have the opportunity to do these types of things, especially being a female hunter. CHRIS APASSINGOK See lots of grey heads, Nalu. CHRIS APASSINGOK Lots of grey heads. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK We see some long necks out here. CHRIS APASSINGOK Wait. CHRIS APASSINGOK Too close to the rocks. CHRIS APASSINGOK Right to your left side, Nalu. When they're flying sideways you gotta shoot in front of them a little bit. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Okay. CHRIS APASSINGOK Right there, right there, right there. Right on it. It dropped over there. CHRIS APASSINGOK It's going to come up in front of you. Right there, right there! Ah, you got it. Yay! NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK It was my first cormorant. CHRIS APASSINGOK Thought she'd be hunting with my dad but. CHRIS APASSINGOK She's hunting with me. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Growing up I didn't think that I'd be going out with my brother all the time. I thought it was always gonna be my dad. And as we got older, my dad over worked himself and he had a heart attack. He can't do as much as he used to. Although my brother is not my dad, I feel completely safe with him. CHRIS APASSINGOK Going to go check out the river down the coast. CHRIS APASSINGOK There might be lots of seals. CHRIS APASSINGOK Hopefully we'll see some today. MARVIN AGNOT I was brought up all hands on. We couldn't run down to the store or get parts, you just had to put it together with what you had. MARVIN AGNOT Oh, what's that angle? Oh yeah, perfect 45. MARVIN AGNOT This is exactly how I'm gonna build the one I'm putting. MARVIN AGNOT I'm going to notch these 4x4's and splice them together just plush. The same thing as this thing right here. This is the same kind of cross I'm gonna build. We are Russian Orthodox. Kodiak Island used to be part of Russia. Our church is over 100 years old. And when I was a kid, my dad worked in the church. He was the person that lit the candles. It's been many of years since I've done everything up here in the graves. MARVIN AGNOT I don't really like to go funerals because I've never really dealt with the past very well and, um, to, uh, at least build a cross and a box for my dad's grave. It makes me feel a little more at peace. My dad passed away when I was pretty young. That's the last time that grave was ever built nice. It's already rotten, the cross fell. And I feel that it's about the time to put one together and show a little more respect. Honor the elders that were here before us. All right, I got a good strategy. Something good to follow. Now, I'll put some screws in. Growing up with my dad, working in the church was one of my greatest experiences of becoming what I'm becoming now because all this subsisting is all taught down from my dad. He was a man of all trades and that's where I learned a lot of what I'm becoming and I wish I would have done a long time ago. Oh yeah. Now, that this is, uh, done. That's gonna go up on the grave and just put your flowers, whatever's gonna grow inside of it. We're gonna paint it and it's very heavy, put together. Now I'm gonna build a cross. JOHN PINGAYAK The people in the world have to start living in the harmony of nature. We have to start preserving our land, the rivers, and the ocean. JOHN PINGAYAK Yeah. JOHN PINGAYAK All right you guys finally came. PATRICK MATCHIAN We made it! JOHN PINGAYAK We're gonna start building the cabin as soon as we, we can. PATRICK MATCHIAN Okay. JOHN PINGAYAK We have to get started today. At our fish camp, we are building a foundation for our cabin. I have my grandson, Sonna Boy and Patrick to help. JOHN PINGAYAK [speaking Cup'Ik] Thank you both for coming! Here Sonna Boy, here's some of the tools we need. We need to bring some of the stuff here to the tent up there, so we can start building the platform for the cabin. JOHN PINGAYAK [Cup'Ik] Put them on your shoulders. Just do that. Yeah. TERESA PINGAYAK We're building the family cabin. TERESA PINGAYAK We've thought about this for so many years. To have a cabin to come back to, where we could be warm, light the stove. No more being cold out in the frozen tundra. JOHN PINGAYAK 16 feet wide and 20 feet long. That's how big the house is gonna be. Okay? SONNA BOY Yeah. PATRICK MATCHIAN Okay. JOHN PINGAYAK Get that push cart and lets go get the rest. SONNA BOY This cabin, it's an all year around safe haven for our family. We can just open the door, turn on the light, and put a fire on the stove. It's just an instant fortress. JOHN PINGAYAK Lift this and put it right there. TERESA PINGAYAK I am so grateful for Patrick and Sonna Boy for building it and putting it together. I'm really blessed to have those two boys. Coming along really well and I'm happy. I'm happy about it. JOHN PINGAYAK Okay, put it on, on bottom. Yeah. PATRICK MATCHIAN I love helping John. If it helps the family then, I'm all for it. JOHN PINGAYAK One more time. JOHN PINGAYAK [speaking Cup'Ik] Measure-arluku. Yaa. PATRICK MATCHIAN 16 feet . JOHN PINGAYAK Yeah 16 , that's what we need. TERESA PINGAYAK Having a cabin is becoming a reality. And that I can touch it. TERESA PINGAYAK It's taking physical form. JOEL JACKO A hundred years ago, subsistence was 100% way of life. If you couldn't subside then you didn't live. SARAH THIELE Hey Joel. JOEL JACKO Hey. SARAH THIELE Thanks for coming over. JOEL JACKO Oh yeah. JOEL JACKO So, Sarah Thiele is my summertime neighbor. She's kinda like my adopted grandma, is what I like to call her. She's actually like my second or third cousin. She's very knowledgeable about the land and the animals and, and that's kind of why we call her Cheda. JOEL JACKO It's cause she's like, you know, the grandma and like she knows everything. JOEL JACKO She's kinda a big part of my life now and, uh, we're gonna go out and put our net in the water and try to catch a couple salmon for dinner. The salmon just kinda of trickling in right now. SARAH THIELE You got the lead line? JOEL JACKO Yeah. SARAH THIELE Oh crap-o-la, the bear tore into my net. Pulled it up on the beach last year. JOEL JACKO Oh, that was this net? SARAH THIELE I think so. JOEL JACKO Oh. SARAH THIELE Yeah, I think he did. Yep. JOEL JACKO You could probably just hide it for now, cause we're only trying to get a couple fish anyways. SARAH THIELE Yeah, a quick repair, just get some twine. My dad is half Danish and half, um, Dena'ina Indian. Or Dena'ina. My mother is full Dena'ina Indian. I was raised here till I was 10. This is my home soil. Okay Joel, check that out, let's see what you think. JOEL JACKO Oh yeah, it's strong. SARAH THIELE Okie dokie. JOEL JACKO Good. SARAH THIELE Grab that. There we go. JOEL JACKO Ready to go. The main reason that Pedro Bay exists is because there's a huge salmon run. It's a big deal here. SARAH THIELE Finally, gonna set the net. JOEL JACKO Yeah. SARAH THIELE It's kind of rough. JOEL JACKO I know. SARAH THIELE We might have to go on the other side. JOEL JACKO Yeah, we could. SARAH THIELE Oh, look at this gust coming up, I don't like that. JOEL JACKO Okay, you wanna go where it's calm? SARAH THIELE Yeah, because once we get it out, it's gonna blow us all over the place. JOEL JACKO Yeah. SARAH THIELE Let's go around there. JOEL JACKO Okay. SARAH THIELE I've never set a net on this side though. JOEL JACKO The seasons and the weather really dictates what you do day to day and even hour to hour. It's good just kinda notice what's going on around you. Excited to have some fish. SARAH THIELE Hope I don't get too many at once. JOEL JACKO Now we just need enough fish for dinner. SARAH THIELE They're starting to come in now, but when they are here, you have to really watch your net or you might get way too many fish. What do you think here, Joel? See how deep it is right here? JOEL JACKO Yeah, that's pretty shallow, ish, shallowish. SARAH THIELE Okay, so you think this will work? JOEL JACKO Yeah. SARAH THIELE Okay. JOEL JACKO If it's too deep your whole net will just sink. SARAH THIELE Yeah, the anchor will pull it down. Tie that to a rock or a tree. We want a lot of lead line, Joel. JOEL JACKO Yeah. SARAH THIELE To actually have some net in the water. JOEL JACKO Yeah, I'll just tie it right here, we'll have plenty of nets. JOEL JACKO I do enjoy helping Cheda out. JOEL JACKO She's kinda getting up there in age and stuff so, you know, I don't mind going to help her, you know, pick fish and catching fish. You know, I like helping out my elders. SARAH THIELE Okay, ready? JOEL JACKO Yeah. SARAH THIELE I'll put it in reverse. JOEL JACKO Okay. SARAH THIELE Okay, here we go. Kinda let the net kinda drag out to get some tension in it. Okay, go ahead and throw the anchor. JOEL JACKO That's definitely the dinner net. Some people set the dinner table, we set the dinner net. MARVIN AGNOT Still the same as when I was growing up and to see a lot of kids still here and families, very big. I'm very happy for this place. MARVIN AGNOT Got a plan to build a cross. MARVIN AGNOT I'm gonna make a cross for my dad's grave up there in the graveyard. MARVIN AGNOT There's only a few graves that, are still standing from people that passed away and we're trying to at least get some markings and have a place where your relatives are at. Now, I'm going to notch this board here. My dad, he taught me a lot of good things that I'm finally putting to use. And that is how we�ve gotta help each other out here. He'd be pretty happy of how far I've come, my parents would be, and me too. I say that, is very big. Not bad. Well, that should work. Taking this little ridging out, so I take out this knife. I don't have a chisel. Three pieces I'm putting on this cross. Two on top and then the third one is gonna be at an angle. It's even better than a chisel. This is the symbol of what we believe and which is the Russian Orthodox religion. Russian's migrated over here and there was a monk that lived on the island who was Saint Herman of Alaska and, uh, the younger generation probably know more about it than I, but you know, I just go with what I was taught and it seems to be working. There it is. Final project. I'm gonna paint it after this lumber dries up and I'll put in there where the other frame is. Every little bit like this to put towards the community, I'm all for that. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK What we catch on this land, we give to the community. We're providers and we're going to continue to do so. CHRIS APASSINGOK There should be some seals up at the mountain. CHRIS APASSINGOK The weather is perfect for seal hunting right now. My dad retired of going boating. Pretty much I'm the captain now and being captain is bigger of a job than being just the front man. You have to be worried about the weather conditions. Have to watch the waves. You have to be aware of the wind changing all the time. You know, it feels different now a days without my dad on the boat and it's never gonna be the same now. Everything pretty much changing out there. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK This is a really great learning experience for me. And it's a lot of fun too. There's a seal. CHRIS APASSINGOK Oh I see it! CHRIS APASSINGOK We just saw a spotted seal. CHRIS APASSINGOK Trying to see if it'll come up close again. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK You think we lost him? CHRIS APASSINGOK I don't know. You know, the seal's moving, bobbing up in the waves. CHRIS APASSINGOK Left side. Comes up for only half a second, disappears right away. On top of that, you yourself is moving inside the boat. So, it's that hard to shoot those seals. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Ugh. CHRIS APASSINGOK Yeah, they never came back up. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK It was right there. We didn't get close enough to put a shot on it. Sometimes we see them and we'll lose them. CHRIS APASSINGOK There's a seal, Nalu. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK All the way up a head. CHRIS APASSINGOK Make sure your scope is on six. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK It's on six. CHRIS APASSINGOK Right there, right there in front of you. I do this right there! NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Damn, I just missed that seal. I think we lost him, huh? CHRIS APASSINGOK Yeah, usually after the first shot of a shooting spotted seals they run away already. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK It's hard for me to shoot when we're bouncing up and down in the water. CHRIS APASSINGOK You need to practice shooting standing up. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK I'm still learning and my dad and my brother are willing to teach. And the only way I'm gonna get better is if I keep doing it. My mom growing up tried to make me go berry picking with her and doing what they say is for the women. And I just didn't want to. I was just more into the hunting. I prefer being in the Bering Sea than being on the land. CHRIS APASSINGOK Wanna look for some crabs, eh? There's a lot of stuff we can do out boating. We could ride along the coast and look for birds and look for crab along the coast of the mountain. This is the place where we get hanasaki. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Normally, it, it's easy to spot them, they're bright red in the water. It's a little too wavy for catching hanasaki crab. CHRIS APASSINGOK Yeah. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK We use these hooks to go down and grab them. And it'd be really hard for us to catch them in the waves. CHRIS APASSINGOK She's a little bit wavy all right. That's a lot of birds right there. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK I can't even tell. CHRIS APASSINGOK The ones with grey heads. Wait for it to come real close. Right there, go ahead. Yeah. Right there, right side. You keep shooting high. Gotta grab it on the left side. Oh, there's one right there, two of em'. Look, right there, the birds. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Where? Which ones? CHRIS APASSINGOK It's on the left. All right, my favorite. Right there, left side, left side. Don't aim at the body, aim at the head. Grab that bird. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK My brother, he's a really good hunter. My dad taught him really well. Hopefully I can learn more from him and today was really good experience with him. CHRIS APASSINGOK We got a meal today. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK At least we caught something. We get to, not only come hunt for seals but we can fish and catch birds. Our ocean and the land provides so much for us. JOEL JACKO Pretty much have to be self-reliant on everything. If you can't fix it, it's just not gonna get fixed. You're just gonna have broke stuff the rest of your life. SARAH THIELE Let's try this spot because I've had some luck up here before. SARAH THIELE But this is a little treacherous with these rocks. JOEL JACKO Yeah, it's super slick. SARAH THIELE Be careful. JOEL JACKO Give it a couple hours, we'll check the net. Hopefully there's fish in there. JOEL JACKO So my Cheda, Sarah or my adopted grandma. She knows a lot about the plants and stuff here and what they're used for. Like for medicinal use and everything. Which I don't really know anything about. We're gonna go, try to do a little foraging. It is a cool concept and I am looking forward to learning a little more from her. SARAH THIELE I want to show you these here. This is too big. The stinging nettle is too big. JOEL JACKO Oh, okay. SARAH THIELE You can't really eat that right now but see the smaller one here. JOEL JACKO Yeah. SARAH THIELE That's a perfect size. That's what you want to find. We'll go ahead and try to find enough for dinner. It's loaded with iron and calcium and all kinds of good stuff in it. It's a whole another world out there in nature amongst the plants. And I want to teach him about that. Cause he doesn't know a lot about greens and what's growing in the woods. I just saw some monkshoods over there. JOEL JACKO Oh, really? SARAH THIELE Yeah, very poisonous. JOEL JACKO Oh. SARAH THIELE Yeah, and it looks like a hood. That's why they call it, monkshood. JOEL JACKO Oh. SARAH THIELE The hunters long ago would take the, the blossom. JOEL JACKO Uh-huh. SARAH THIELE Cook it down. Dip their tips in there. When they're hunting bears, or maybe seals, or whatever, if they didn't get them with the spear, the poison would get em'. JOEL JACKO My Cheda Sarah, she's like this cool bridge between, you know, kinda, the past and like now. And she's got a lot to teach me about the way they used to do stuff. SARAH THIELE I want to look for some of the wild rhubarb leaves. JOEL JACKO I don't know what the rhubarb looks like but. SARAH THIELE Oh, okay. You know, we need to get quite a bit more for dinner. JOEL JACKO Yeah. You know, she is very good at explaining stuff, and she wants to explain stuff to you, and share her wealth of knowledge, and, you know, I am happy to pick it up. SARAH THIELE Oh, it's so beautiful. I think I see some. See that? That's a beauty. JOEL JACKO Oh, it's even got a red skin just like rhubarb. Look at that. SARAH THIELE Yeah. Yeah. Look at that. When nature provides you with food. JOEL JACKO Uh-huh. SARAH THIELE I think you better pick it. JOEL JACKO Yeah. SARAH THIELE You know, and I'm always thanking creator for providing for us. JOEL JACKO Yeah. Think we got enough for dinner? SARAH THIELE Yeah, I think so. I think we're good. JOEL JACKO Should we go check the net? SARAH THIELE Yeah, lets go do it. MARVIN AGNOT Once you got a foundation is where your structure is. If you don't have a good foundation, just a matter of when it's gonna blow away. MARVIN AGNOT We have trail right here we used to walk. MARVIN AGNOT I'm pretty sure this is where my dad's grave was. MARVIN AGNOT This wood that looks very familiar. It looks exactly like what my dad's cross was made of. MARVIN AGNOT So, I'll just cut some grass around and be able to have more access to what I'm doing. Put the frame, and the cross, and be marked for a long time. I'm happy for that. I'll feel at ease again. Very comforting to, at least, find the spot where this box is gonna go. GLYNDARIL Come on John-John. MARVIN AGNOT Well, there's the gang. Hi! GLYNDARIL Hey, Unc, how you doing? MARVIN AGNOT How you guys doing? Think I found grandpa's grave. MARCELLA I remember that name tag. MARVIN AGNOT Yeah, I remember it. MARCELLA Yeah, I remember that too. MARCELLA We're able to find my grandfather's grave which is kind of mixed emotions. It's so damaged and so demolished. GLYNDARIL See all the grass we're gonna have to cut. We're gonna do our part. This is your family, this is your, your past. You gotta take care of it. MARVIN AGNOT We just gotta watch where we step so we don't step into a coffin. GLYNDARIL Oh. MARVIN AGNOT Sound good? I'm pretty sure this is the most attention we've ever put into our grave and I'm very happy that it's starting someplace. And to have Marcella and her family as part of this is very big to see. So, things are slowly coming together. Think I broke mine. GLYNDARIL Huh? MARVIN AGNOT I, um, was cutting the grass with the weed wacker and it just, the sticks stuff broke the band. GLYNDARIL Once you get back up in here, all the bushes get thicker, and stronger, and it just takes more time. MARVIN AGNOT There we go, we're back in em'. Back in business. GLYNDARIL Teaching my kids to embrace their future by learning their past, is a big thing for me. This is their past and got to preserve it. MARVIN AGNOT Well, at least, I got a good spot. It will be easier to have an easy spot to build off of and that's my dad who is the foundation. Although, he was the backbone of our family. MARCELLA It was something that needed to have been done long ago, but it's the fact that, it's somebody's trying to do something good now. That's the only thing that counts. MARVIN AGNOT It's gonna look a lot nicer and I'll feel good. Thanks to Marcella, and Glyn to help, and the kids. TERESA PINGAYAK I love being out on the tundra. I've been out on the tundra since I was a kid. It's my way of life. JOHN PINGAYAK Just mark it down, four feet . JOHN PINGAYAK Measure that one other one too. JOHN PINGAYAK Today we are adding pieces of wood to make the foundation stronger. We're gonna nail down the plywood. We try to pack in all of these supports, so that when we put the plywood on, will make it more stable. Plywood's gonna be nailed on this. In my experience, the hardest part is putting together the foundation, because it has to be stable, even, and solid. This is the main part of the building. When you're building a house you have to be ahead of yourself, otherwise you're gonna make a mistake and waste material. It makes you use your mind, and your imagination, and put it all together. TERESA PINGAYAK Gonna make my dough like this, stretch it out. Put however many holes in it to let it cook. TERESA PINGAYAK We refer to bread as mukaaq. If it's baked in the oven or fried like this. Can't do two things at the same time, so I have either choose to be the construction foreman out there or be the baker in the tent. So, I choose to do this. Bread gets going and the grandkids show up and he's right on time. TERESA PINGAYAK Smiling at me. SONNA BOY Can I get one? TERESA PINGAYAK Of course, you know, you can get one. Remember, first one you touch. SONNA BOY First one I touch. TERESA PINGAYAK Yup. SONNA BOY Nice and warm. TERESA PINGAYAK Nice and warm. Not like a cold cracker, huh? SONNA BOY Mm. TERESA PINGAYAK Mm. SONNA BOY I'm going back out there. TERESA PINGAYAK Okay. I'm happy you like it, Sonna Boy. JOHN PINGAYAK It's really good. TERESA PINGAYAK Mm. Mm-hmm. JOHN PINGAYAK It's a little bit off. Make sure these are touching. TERESA PINGAYAK It's gonna be such a relief to have this camp and build here. As we've held off a little too long. JOEL JACKO It's good to take what you need and not just to take to take. I don't need to kill stuff just to kill stuff. SARAH THIELE Thanks Joel for helping me get the greens. JOEL JACKO Oh, yeah. SARAH THIELE I think it's time to go check the net. JOEL JACKO Okay. Yeah, I didn't see anything swimming around. SARAH THIELE Yeah. JOEL JACKO The winds calmed down, but it was blowing when we set it. I'm sure something swam in there. SARAH THIELE I hope so. Hope we get a few. JOEL JACKO Yeah. SARAH THIELE Just a few, not a whole lot right now. JOEL JACKO Just need a couple for dinner. SARAH THIELE Yeah. SARAH THIELE It's a cardinal rule I think anywhere, just to take what you need for your family. If you are not out there when the time is right to catch your fish, to pick your plants, you miss out. JOEL JACKO I don't see any corks sunk on the net. SARAH THIELE You know, too bad we didn't put that net out a little further. JOEL JACKO Yeah. SARAH THIELE That would have put it out here more in the deep water where the salmon are. JOEL JACKO Well, it's hard to catch them when it's calm like this cause they can see the. SARAH THIELE Oh, yeah. JOEL JACKO The net. JOEL JACKO The main reason Pedro Bay is here is because there was a huge salmon run. And if there wasn't I don't even know if there would be a village here. We have moose and stuff too, but you know there's not a whole lot of moose around cause there's so many bears. You kind of drop whatever you're doing in the summer time to put up fish because it is so important. I'll untie the net. SARAH THIELE Okay. JOEL JACKO From the beach, and then I'll just start feeding it back into the boat, and we'll pick the net up. SARAH THIELE Okay. I think I'll shut it off, Joel. JOEL JACKO Yeah, you're good. SARAH THIELE Growing up we, we had to row. My mother rowed the boat, because there was no, she had no engine. So, people would row across the lake when they were after fish. It'd take them a while to get there, but they'd get there. So, you're gonna wanna pull the net, maybe even over the bow, I don't know. JOEL JACKO Yeah. Oh, we caught a rock. Oh, there's a fish in there. SARAH THIELE Oh, wow, look at that. Oh, my God! That's quite a lot. JOEL JACKO Nice. So we got four total, looks like. Good. SARAH THIELE Good job Joel. JOEL JACKO Yeah. SARAH THIELE That net worked ok. JOEL JACKO No, that was perfect, four fish. SARAH THIELE Yeah, this is the beginning of the season. Okay. Let's head back to my place Joel and. JOEL JACKO Clean these guys up. SARAH THIELE Start cleaning those fish and get set up for dinner. JOEL JACKO Sounds good. We don't wanna be over fishing or catching too many fish. And so that's part of being traditional is just taking what you need. SARAH THIELE Oh, look at those fish. JOEL JACKO They look good. SARAH THIELE They look so good. JOEL JACKO Perfect salmon. SARAH THIELE Wow. That's the dinner net after all. JOEL JACKO Yeah, the dinner net. SARAH THIELE It's our new dinner net. JOEL JACKO What a haul. You ready for a fish? SARAH THIELE Yup. Oh, you're gonna head and gut for me. JOEL JACKO Okay. Collars on? SARAH THIELE Yes, please. JOEL JACKO I'm not a big fan of the collars. SARAH THIELE What? That's where the main fat is. Is in the collar. There's eggs. Mm. JOEL JACKO Yeah. SARAH THIELE We're gonna keep the eggs. Oh, yum, eggs. JOEL JACKO Grass works surprisingly well. SARAH THIELE Grass, it's not slippery. The fish, kinda, stick right to the grass. JOEL JACKO Yeah, it's impressive how well it keeps them from sliding around. SARAH THIELE My mother was an expert at this. Now that, that's beautiful. JOEL JACKO Pretty good. SARAH THIELE Yeah. JOEL JACKO My Cheda Sarah, she lived back when they had no power and they had no running water and they had, I mean nothing. They were like 100% off the land. They were fishing, and hunting, and gathering plants, and animals to eat. That was a normal way of life. Learning from someone that's lived it is different than learning it from somebody that's just telling you from a book. It makes it, you know, a cooler experience. I am looking forward to learning a little more from her. SARAH THIELE There is nothing like catching your first salmon and to share it with somebody is just like icing on the cake. Okay. We're gonna cook these on the beach. We'll build the fire and get it down to the coals. How does that sound? JOEL JACKO That sounds good, I'll get a fire going then. We can start cooking. SARAH THIELE Yeah, it'll be great. TERESA PINGAYAK Everything is so fresh and so new at camp. You can think of things better out there and it's refreshing. PATRICK MATCHIAN All right, Sonna Boy, let's go give it a go, eh? We'll go get some plywood's across there. JOHN PINGAYAK Sonna Boy. JOHN PINGAYAK [speaking Cup'Ik] Plywood-amun aqumluten! Yeah, there you go. Never been done like that before. TERESA PINGAYAK First for everything. JOHN PINGAYAK But, straight across. Whoa, that's gonna save a lot of time. TERESA PINGAYAK And energy. JOHN PINGAYAK [speaking Cup'Ik] Kapluku! Yeah, there you go. After we build the foundation, plywood will be the floor of the cabin. That's much better. TERESA PINGAYAK I am very grateful for John and the boys to have put in so much time on the foundation. Making sure that it is solid and well made before the full winter sets in. JOHN PINGAYAK We need two more plywood's right there, and that'll be it. TERESA PINGAYAK If it's built solid now it will last for a long time. SONNA BOY When I come back to fish camp and the cabin is fully intact. It's gonna remind me of all the hard work that we put in. JOHN PINGAYAK All right. It looks a lot better than before when we had nothing. Hey look, Sonna Boy, you got a shotgun? TERESA PINGAYAK You better be ready, old boy. TERESA PINGAYAK Go get it, old boy! PATRICK MATCHIAN Nice. SONNA BOY Getting some birds for my family is, is just comforting. TERESA PINGAYAK [speaking Cup'Ik] Okay. Look, oh. Good job, Sonna Boy! SONNA BOY They have a lot more trust in me to get them food. PATRICK MATCHIAN Good shot, Sonna Boy! TERESA PINGAYAK We need to get more of these for the winter. Yes. We're going to have some goose soup tonight. And eat the feathers and all tonight. PATRICK MATCHIAN That looks good. JOHN PINGAYAK [speaking Cup'Ik] Aataq Qilagmi uitalria. JOHN PINGAYAK [speaking Cup'Ik] Quyaamteggen nerqatallemteni ukunen tengmianeng Sonna Boy-am pitallraneng. JOHN PINGAYAK [speaking Cup'Ik] Jesus-am atrakun Amen. SONNA BOY Man, it's been a while since we ate bird soup. JOHN PINGAYAK Mm-hmm. SONNA BOY Fresh bird soup. JOHN PINGAYAK It's really good for the body when we have fresh food from the land. TERESA PINGAYAK I'm so grateful that the foundation is in place for rest of the house to go up. JOHN PINGAYAK Yeah. TERESA PINGAYAK The foundation's done. JOHN PINGAYAK This is celebration. TERESA PINGAYAK Wonderful way to end the day, having this dinner. Mm. I dream of having this cabin a long time ago and it's finally a reality this year. To me, it's just beautiful. MARVIN AGNOT It's gonna look so much nicer with this, once I put it up and, you know, this is gonna be so easy to spot. And the kids will know where the relatives are. My dad's name was Minnie Agnot. And, you know, he was supposed to have a surgery, and he just drank a little too long, and his body was too weak. He had a heart attack. My dad used to work in the church. He'd come up before the church opened up and light up all the candles. Eventually, he let me start taking over doing the candles with him and, after he died, I just slowly drifted away from that, and I do miss my dad very much. He was straight forward and his words carried a lot of meaning. And I still practice 'em to this day. I guess, I done my part anyway, I feel better. Might not be much, but to me, it means quite a bit. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK So why don't we pluck them? CHRIS APASSINGOK Because we don't pluck seabirds. We only pluck inland birds. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK But why? CHRIS APASSINGOK We don't pluck them because they're too tough. Cut down the back. And try to tear it all. It'll just naturally tear off. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Do you just take the whole thing off? CHRIS APASSINGOK Yeah. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Even the head part? CHRIS APASSINGOK Mm-hmm. Everything soft on this bird is edible. There you go, you got the whole head that came off. Pull the skin off the chest and then you got to cut the tail off. CHRIS APASSINGOK And that's how you cut a cormorant up. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK First time I've watched it. CHRIS APASSINGOK Me and my sister, everything we did today was the first thing she did ever. First time she shot at cormorants and first time she shot at live seals off the boat. Hopefully, she'll learn from what she has done today. CHRIS APASSINGOK [speaking Akuzipik] Maalghuk. Oh. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK It's our tradition to share what we catch. And what we catch on our land, we share to our elders, to the community. Usually, its first come, first serve. So, if there's somebody at the beach we give to them. CHRIS APASSINGOK It's always important to give other people food that, uh, come see the boat, 'cause, uh, not only my family is the ones who wants to eat. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK It's always a good trip going out with my brother. He's willing to teach me, and he has patience with me, and I'll be a better hunter as long as I keep practicing. I am happy to be home, carrying on that tradition. MARVIN AGNOT Very good, Mars. MARVIN AGNOT Oh, I miss this kind of food. Reminds me of my mom or dad growing up. Community's a big thing for me, because we still need each other's help out here. You hungry? Yeah, me too, it's so good. I want to help somebody in front of me, because that's how my dad taught me. You know, he taught me to keep helping cause one day, you may need help. JOEL JACKO Being loyal to people, and, you know, friends, and family is a key to living out in the bush, especially by yourself. JOEL JACKO Tracker wants some. SARAH THIELE No. JOHN PINGAYAK Our elders always tell us to share with other people. JOHN PINGAYAK No matter who they are. Even the strangers that come to our land. JOHN PINGAYAK And if they need help, we help them out. TERESA PINGAYAK Some days. TERESA PINGAYAK You're strong for me. TERESA PINGAYAK And some days. JOHN PINGAYAK Yeah. TERESA PINGAYAK I'm strong for you. JOHN PINGAYAK Yup. And that's why we help each other. TERESA PINGAYAK Yup. JOHN PINGAYAK We have to love one another, and care for one another, and have peace. Peace with one another. SNAP-IN SARAH THIELE I wonder if our ancestors did this, did gourmet work on their fish table. SARAH THIELE Gourmet cooking. I'm just going to go ahead and put this over top, that way when it steams that flavor's gonna steam into the meat. Lay this on top, the wild rhubarb. Oh, this is the stinging nettle that I cooked up right here. JOEL JACKO Oh, wow, it stayed really green. SARAH THIELE Yeah, it stays really green. Okay. So, I'm just gonna fold it up. I am using tin foil, because, you know, our people loved modern things. They adapted to modern things quickly, because it made life easier. There you go, Joel, you can put that on. Oh, I think it's ready. CHRISTINE CLOUD Oh, that looks so good. JOEL JACKO Oh, my God! SARAH THIELE Oh, my God! Look at that. CHRISTINE CLOUD That looks good. SARAH THIELE With no seasoning, just the wild chives and the wild rhubarb. Okay. Are we ready? JOEL JACKO Yeah. SARAH THIELE Okay. Here, here I go. Here I go. CHRISTINE CLOUD Thank you, Sarah. SARAH THIELE Joel, do you like salmon eggs? JOEL JACKO Oh, yeah. SARAH THIELE Oh, good. Here you go, Joel. JOEL JACKO Oh, sweet. SARAH THIELE And you can help yourself to the caviar. JOEL JACKO Okay. CHRISTINE CLOUD Yum. JOEL JACKO Thank you ma'am. SARAH THIELE Mm-hmm. Well, what do you guys think? CHRISTINE CLOUD Wow. That's so good. SARAH THIELE Can you taste the wild rhubarb? CHRISTINE CLOUD Yes. SARAH THIELE Okay. CHRISTINE CLOUD Thank you so much. SARAH THIELE Oh, you're welcome. CHRISTINE CLOUD [speaking Dena'Ina] Chin�an SARAH THIELE Mm-hmm. JOEL JACKO It's good.