ANA_HOFFMAN ANZLIE_JACKO AVERY_HOFFMAN DANIEL_APASSINGOK EVAN_STRASSBURG GAGE_HOFFMAN JACQUELINE_JACKO JOEL_JACKO MARTHA NALU_DANIELLE_APASSINGOK SALLY STEVEN_TIG_STRASSBURG STOSH_HOFFMAN STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Right there is exactly where we seen the sheep last year. Looks pretty sheepy up there. EVAN STRASSBURG Does look sheepy. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG The locals, we have a grandfathered in right to hunt sheep in these mountains. The sheep hunt that we do, it's not an easy hunt. Physically, mentally, everything is draining on this hunt. Take your time, watch your foot now. EVAN STRASSBURG Okay. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Don't wanna roll on one of these, these are all, they're not stable. 'Cause it's extreme, there's nothing flat. As soon as you leave the boat you're climbing. And, and, everything is climbing, everything is vertical. You got a backpack with a lot of weight in it. I'm getting too fat for this. And then on top of that, there's big grizzly bears all over the place, wolves everywhere. These predators up here they're kinda different. They look at us like we're prey when we're up here. We're in their country. Oh, better stay off the rocks. EVAN STRASSBURG Oh, should I go up the side? STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Yeah. Go up the grass. We're a long ways out there. We're ten-twelve hours from any sort of help. You can fall down roll your ankle and you just can't walk back out; you got no way to contract anybody. No one's gonna know where to look for you and that's it. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Wow. EVAN STRASSBURG Whoa. This is a good view. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Oh, amazing place we get to live son. EVAN STRASSBURG Mm-hmm. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG The sheep like walking on these bluffs. So, a lot of times if you're sitting down long enough watching, you might see them pop out of the trees. Sheep hunting, it's a big part of our people. It used to be forty, fifty men that would go up there and they'd hunt until they could fill up a raft and that's how they'd get their sheep meat home. And then they'll get home, and they'll share it with the community. EVAN STRASSBURG I think I can see two sheep dad. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG You sure? EVAN STRASSBURG Yeah. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG All right let me check. Oh hey, yeah it is. Good eye my boy. EVAN STRASSBURG Thank you. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG From here, we gotta get closer. Let's get this party started. AVERY HOFFMAN Looks like we're the first people to leave the harbor this morning. STOSH HOFFMAN Take advantage of this first fishing day. Get our net out, right at seven a clock. GAGE HOFFMAN Yeah. GAGE HOFFMAN We've only been given two fishing opening days for the month. AVERY HOFFMAN Getting a little more choppy out here. Two (60 centimeters) or three (91 centimeters) foot swells. AVERY HOFFMAN These are crazy. GAGE HOFFMAN Typically, we like to fish on dry weathers and less windy days. AVERY HOFFMAN Man, these raindrops are hurting. AVERY HOFFMAN The rain feels like hail. GAGE HOFFMAN But it's vital that we get out there and seize the opportunity and try and get as much fish we can for our family. STOSH HOFFMAN We're gonna fish right here. STOSH HOFFMAN Avery you wanna check the time on your phone. AVERY HOFFMAN Seven a clock. STOSH HOFFMAN Seven a clock? AVERY HOFFMAN Seven a clock. STOSH HOFFMAN Okay guys, let her rip. GAGE HOFFMAN Looks like there's a lot of. AVERY HOFFMAN Lot of snags over there? STOSH HOFFMAN Yeah high water brought all these sticks down. Hopefully we don't catch one. That wouldn't be good. GAGE HOFFMAN We don't want to be scrapping on the bottom, if there's any trees or logs or stumps down there it could really damage our net. Okay, let's watch out for snags here. AVERY HOFFMAN Shifting weight. GAGE HOFFMAN Okay. Mom want's thirty to forty? STOSH HOFFMAN Try to catch thirty, we can go home. AVERY HOFFMAN We used to go fish whenever we want to but now, we have been told when to fish by managers. They pick a date and we're able to go fish for twelve hours. STOSH HOFFMAN You guys see any bobbers yet? AVERY HOFFMAN Not yet. GAGE HOFFMAN No. It's also kind hard to tell since it's so wavy. AVERY HOFFMAN Yeah. How far are we gonna drift down till? STOSH HOFFMAN Probably give it another ten minutes. AVERY HOFFMAN When a fish hits and when they try to swim out of it, the corks will bob down and it's a consistent bobbing. When there's a snag you'll see the corks gradually go down. STOSH HOFFMAN Oh, I see some bobbers. That looks like a big king. GAGE HOFFMAN Yup. Oh yeah, there it is. Woo, finally got our first sign of, uh, of life on the net. STOSH HOFFMAN There it is. AVERY HOFFMAN Right there! Look, look! STOSH HOFFMAN Oh that's a snag. Oh, oh. GAGE HOFFMAN Oh, oh. That's a snag. Okay. Pull. STOSH HOFFMAN Yeah, tug on the, there it is. Is it off? GAGE HOFFMAN No, it's still on. AVERY HOFFMAN You could lose a net like this very fast. You could rip half your net in half. GAGE HOFFMAN It's off. AVERY HOFFMAN It's off, okay good. That means we're back in action and fishing. GAGE HOFFMAN It's gonna be worse 'cause the tides going out. AVERY HOFFMAN It's caught again, it's caught again, it's caught again. GAGE HOFFMAN Uh oh. We knew it was gonna be snag city. AVERY HOFFMAN Yeah. We're gonna pull in quick. We fish kinda in the shallow, kinda snaggy spot. Kinda high risk, high reward type of deal. STOSH HOFFMAN We got another snag guys, let's go. AVERY HOFFMAN Let's keep going. STOSH HOFFMAN Wind is picking up. AVERY HOFFMAN Yeah. STOSH HOFFMAN We're getting close to where that, where I saw that fish. I hope we didn't come off. GAGE HOFFMAN I see it. It's caught. STOSH HOFFMAN Yay, a king. First king! AVERY HOFFMAN Woo! STOSH HOFFMAN All right. GAGE HOFFMAN Awesome. STOSH HOFFMAN All right, nice one. Ten pounder. AVERY HOFFMAN Woo! GAGE HOFFMAN King salmon. STOSH HOFFMAN Twenty nine more and we can go home. Haha. AVERY HOFFMAN That was a big snag. STOSH HOFFMAN We're gonna fish deeper now so that we don't do that again. GAGE HOFFMAN It's always promising to see one. Especially a king at that. AVERY HOFFMAN Hey, we're on the board. GAGE HOFFMAN Yeah, we're on the board. Fish is our largest food source and our most important food source. Every summer we go out fishing, that's the way I grew up. That's the way my dad grew up. STOSH HOFFMAN Looks like a good set guys! We're a little deeper now. GAGE HOFFMAN I think it gives us a little bit less of a chance to catch the fish but at least we won't get any snags hopefully. Now that there is a lack of fish and lack of opportunity to fish, that cultural practice and that way of life has been impacted and you can feel it throughout the community and also, we can feel it within our family. Yeah, I'm not really seeing any bobbers so far. STOSH HOFFMAN It's looking like it's gonna be a long day. We're gonna be here all twelve hours. It's stressful times for everybody and if we don't catch what we need today, we're gonna have to really figure out what we're gonna do. It's not looking good so far. JOEL JACKO Ah! JACQUELINE JACKO Whoa. JOEL JACKO And we're off! We're going to do a little seagull egg picking. JACQUELINE JACKO And I'm gonna get the most. ANZLIE JACKO No, me. JACQUELINE JACKO No, I'm definitely getting the most. ANZLIE JACKO No, I am. JOEL JACKO We're heading out to the, uh, Flat Islands, see if we can't find some seagull eggs. JOEL JACKO This time of year is when the seagulls show up and start laying eggs but they only lay them on a couple of these islands where the predators can't get to 'em. JACQUELINE JACKO I'm excited. ANZLIE JACKO Yeah. JACQUELINE JACKO They're really big. ANZLIE JACKO This big? JACQUELINE JACKO Yeah. JOEL JACKO The seagull eggs are definitely a little bit of a specialty out here just 'cause you can only get them for like one or two weeks. People do kind of crave it 'cause you're looking forward to this all winter and you grow up eating them too, it's a big deal to get out there and try to harvest some of these guys. Make sure you don't step on the nests. If there's any up here. ANZLIE JACKO How do I know what the nest looks like? JOEL JACKO It just looks like a bird nest. JACQUELINE JACKO I bet there's a nest up here that seagulls. JOEL JACKO Yeah, there's gotta be one. JACQUELINE JACKO Circling us like, leave my babies alone. JOEL JACKO Yeah. ANZLIE JACKO Check over there. JACQUELINE JACKO Oo, did he find one? Sniffing like he smells something. ANZLIE JACKO What did Tracker find? JACQUELINE JACKO Uh, nothing. It's really exciting to bring Anzlie out seagull egg hunting. She's never done it before, and I can tell she's really into it. You haven't seen anything yet? ANZLIE JACKO No. JOEL JACKO I don't know, it looks pretty barren out here. JACQUELINE JACKO Few years ago, Joel and I decided to get our foster license. And we had a home and we had extra rooms and we just felt that it was a calling. Wanna hold my hand? ANZLIE JACKO Yeah. JACQUELINE JACKO Yeah. Joel and I fostered Anzlie, we got her when she was eight months old. She was just over two when we were able to adopt her. As an adoptive mother the love isn't different. She's my baby, we were made for her. She was made for us. JOEL JACKO Where's the eggs at? JACQUELINE JACKO I don't know. JOEL JACKO There might be not anything out here. The seagulls even left. They're probably confused which island they were at. We'll hit up a couple more islands. JACQUELINE JACKO Let's go check it out. DANIEL APASSINGOK You know that big hill over there? NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Mm-hmm. Yeah. DANIEL APASSINGOK Look to the right of it and then on the rock line. DANIEL APASSINGOK Might be a deer but I don't know. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK My dad and I are reindeer hunting. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK I've never gone reindeer hunting during the summer. This is new to me. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Think it's gonna be pretty hard. They blend in really well with the land during the summer. DANIEL APASSINGOK You finally see him? You got a dark bottom and light top. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK I see that. DANIEL APASSINGOK Least we could do is go check on it. DANIEL APASSINGOK [speaking Akuzipik] Aatakqun. Esghaghyaghtuulteggu. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Mm-hmm. We have to go pretty far distance away from home to find the deer. It's all tundra so it's super bumpy and it's muddy and there's rocks everywhere. You gotta cross rivers and it's just a lot, a lot of traveling, wet and foggy and muddy and tiring. DANIEL APASSINGOK Well, we really can't see anything in this weather. Even on a clear day it's still, still a hard chance to run into them. [inaudible] NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Always foggy. DANIEL APASSINGOK Yeah, fog always, might as well try to head to camp. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Yeah. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Our camp Qenaghaak is seventeen miles (27 kilometers) on the west side of the island. We're planning to stay at camp for a few days to go and look for reindeer. DANIEL APASSINGOK Ay, seal! Seal, seal [speaking Akuzipik] Paan! Right there. DANIEL APASSINGOK [speaking Akuzipik] Uu-uk. DANIEL APASSINGOK Come on! Get ready. Right there. Ahh, it went down. Aye. Watch out for it, it's gonna come up again. Watch out, watch out! [speaking Akuzipik] Esghapaggu. Watch out for it. Watch out for it, it's gonna come. DANIEL APASSINGOK [speaking Akuzipik] Naagu naagu? DANIEL APASSINGOK [speaking Akuzipik] Esgha taanata! Aatakqun! DANIEL APASSINGOK Ooh! [COMMERCIAL BREAK] DANIEL APASSINGOK Shot low. DANIEL APASSINGOK [speaking Akuzipik] Uguumi! NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK My ears. DANIEL APASSINGOK Almost. Right there! Right there! Shooting range, right there! Did it go down? NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Yup. DANIEL APASSINGOK That was right on range too right there. DANIEL APASSINGOK You need to practice shooting it fast. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Mm-hmm. DANIEL APASSINGOK Once you hit it, uh, crosshairs just pull the trigger. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Think I'll have a better chance if we hunt from the house. DANIEL APASSINGOK Might as well go watch at the blind, huh? NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Yup. DANIEL APASSINGOK [speaking Akuzipik] Atakqun! NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK My dad says that reaction time is very important for any kind of hunting. You gotta be quick. The game's not gonna sit there and wait for you to shoot it. DANIEL APASSINGOK Go ahead and go watch, I'll be down. DANIEL APASSINGOK [speaking Akuzipik] Seghleghhalek! Atakqun! NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Oh, it's right there. It's right there. Is that a bird or a seal? It's a bird. Really good for seal hunting right now. The tide is pretty high, the seals will come in close from both ways. DANIEL APASSINGOK Right there. This way, this way right here. Look. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Oh right there. DANIEL APASSINGOK That's a bird. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK That's a bird, I already saw that. Got excited for a sec. Come on seals. Maybe that seal told all its friends, don't go that way. DANIEL APASSINGOK Nalu's over there. Takes a lot of time to learn how to shoot. Gotta make a lot of mistakes and you know improve on fixing those mistakes. Pretty much on each trip. Always about learning. You go look for seals, can't find 'em. You go look for deer, you can't find 'em. When you're not looking for 'em, they come up. Annoying. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Just our luck. DANIEL APASSINGOK Getting dark. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Think we should call, call it a day finally. DANIEL APASSINGOK At least we had a couple minutes excitement. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK That was just a tease dad. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Sheep could be anywhere now. This is called Randy's Bluff. Get up on top of there pretty quick. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG It's always best to try and get above them 'cause whenever they run into any kind of danger, they're gonna run up. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG There's nothing for sure when you're out here hunting sheep, you just gotta get ourself in the best position we can and try as hard as we can. EVAN STRASSBURG Eating some blueberries. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Eat like the sheep, think like the sheep. Wolf in sheep's clothes. It's just an extremely tough animal to hunt. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG The country that they live in is dangerous and on top of that they're defensive players. They have big eyes and big ears and that's how they survive out here is they're listening, they're looking. Gotta be persistent here son, sheep don't come easy. We work so hard to get up to these peaks where they're at and then all of a sudden, they spot you and it's just nothing for them to run to the next peak. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Oh man, look at that view. Oh, we did it. Pretty damn high we are. EVAN STRASSBURG Yup. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Whoosh. Not even close to the edge and I feel like I'm gonna fall off. Haha. Gotta look for sheep though. EVAN STRASSBURG Oh my gosh this is scary. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Look like tracks out there? EVAN STRASSBURG Yeah, kinda does look like tracks. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Nothing fresh. This is the very first mountain that I ever climbed and me and my brother, we spent a lot of time up here on top of this mountain. It's call Randy's Bluff, last time I climbed it my late brother was with me. It's amazing to be back up here my boy. I been coming up here for twenty years maybe. EVAN STRASSBURG Jeeze. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG I remember being a kid and stand right on the edges of these. EVAN STRASSBURG Ah. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Looking down, whoa bro, come check it out. Just looking straight down, ah, give me the willys. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Freakin' amazing place though. That was one of the biggest hits I even took in my life right there was losing my brother. It's been like eleven, twelve years and still never really got easier. And so, coming up here to this Randy's Bluff and, uh, just walking the steps that I walked on before with my bro, it sure do mean a lot to me being out there with my son. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Old sheep beds, see it? EVAN STRASSBURG Yeah. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Doesn't look like he's been home for a while. At least we finally got high enough to see sheep beds. Lay down my little sheep. EVAN STRASSBURG Oh, little lamb. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Little lamb, yeah. Lay down little lamb. It was just a special to be up there and hopefully someday my son will bring his son up there and show him that spot and you know it'll keep going. EVAN STRASSBURG Nice mountain this is. Long hike but it's still fun. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Yeah, it's a pretty awesome view up there. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Maybe, we should find a spot around here and camp out. I'm hoping we can get some good rest. We're gonna be able to push up farther in the morning and, uh, be able to spot these sheep and be close enough to shoot. Call it a night my boy, I am beat. AVERY HOFFMAN I'm not seeing any bobbers. GAGE HOFFMAN It seems pretty slow. AVERY HOFFMAN Yeah. AVERY HOFFMAN It looks like we should of caught something by now. GAGE HOFFMAN I know it's kinda, kinda defeating. STOSH HOFFMAN We have two schedule openings this year, this is the first of two. STOSH HOFFMAN The weather isn't, isn't the greatest but we don't have a choice today. There's no way we're catching twenty-nine more. GAGE HOFFMAN We'll be luck to get 10. STOSH HOFFMAN Yeah. STOSH HOFFMAN I've been here lots of times and I've seen, I've always done better right off that sandbar. GAGE HOFFMAN With all those snags? STOSH HOFFMAN Yup. You know if we want to be on this side where there's no fish and no snags or on the side with snags and fish. There's a lot of uncertainties with fishing, it's like goldmining, you never know what you're gonna get. You could get a whole boat load; you could get none. You could get a snag and lose your net. AVERY HOFFMAN Want to go back to the other side? STOSH HOFFMAN Yeah I do. AVERY HOFFMAN Today is insane with the wind blowing about twenty-five (40 kilometers per hour), thirty miles per hour (48 kilometers per hour) and it's just three-to-four-foot (91 centimeters to 1 meter) pounding waves and it's just brutal. STOSH HOFFMAN We're gonna go back on the snags, live on the edge. AVERY HOFFMAN It's more fun like that. I look up to both my older brother and to my dad. My dad is so determined and hardworking, he's non-stop. He's able to continue to work while as tired and efficiently is such an amazing thing. Snag on this side. STOSH HOFFMAN Pull on the line maybe. That looked like a fish. Was it tugging, no? AVERY HOFFMAN Nothing. STOSH HOFFMAN These stressful times when we're not allowed to fish like we used to. It really taxes the people. Especially for the long winters, we don't have access to fresh meat like everyone else does, we're off the road system. Everything's flowing in. Salmon is who we are and we just, we can't live without it. AVERY HOFFMAN Come on baby, couple surprises, come on now. Thought I felt something tugging. STOSH HOFFMAN I hope you did. AVERY HOFFMAN I feel something. STOSH HOFFMAN You do? AVERY HOFFMAN Yeah. I see it. Oh. Hey. Oh! STOSH HOFFMAN Did it come off? [COMMERCIAL BREAK] AVERY HOFFMAN Oh wait, it's still in the water. GAGE HOFFMAN Yeah, it's a big one. STOSH HOFFMAN Looks like a red sockeye. Salmon fishing with the family teaches us teamwork. Teaches us how to respect one another, work with each other and it's just very important to the family dynamic I think it's something we don't get too much anymore. AVERY HOFFMAN Slow day. GAGE HOFFMAN Slow day. AVERY HOFFMAN There's been a lot of over fishing in this river and out in the ocean with trollers. We are at the brunt of not being able to harvest our food for our winter and for our consumption and it's very scary for us. There's just no fish. STOSH HOFFMAN You can't catch fish when there's no fish. AVERY HOFFMAN Every opener it's a challenge and you try to get as many, many fish as you can to help carry you through the winter. GAGE HOFFMAN We respect the closures because we know that ultimately, they're looking out for the salmon population but it's very detrimental to our food source and also our cultural way of life. We've been fishing all morning for the last five hours and we got two fish, so I don't know. Trying around, tried the slough, tried the cup bank, we tried the sand bar. I would love to be able to pass this knowledge down to my kids and if there's no fish in the river that's gonna be hard to do. Just take what we have and bring it to Aana to take care of and I think this really puts the pressure on the next opener. So. STOSH HOFFMAN All right, well let's call it a day and see what happens next time. JOEL JACKO Oh, there's some seals out here. Our fresh water seals. ANZLIE JACKO I see one. JOEL JACKO Pretty cool huh? ANZLIE JACKO Mm-hmm. JOEL JACKO You know this is the only lake in America with freshwater seals in it. ANZLIE JACKO Mm-hmm. JOEL JACKO It is. Like the seals are guarding the seagull eggs. ANZLIE JACKO Mm-hmm. JACQUELINE JACKO They're helping. JOEL JACKO Like buddies. ANZLIE JACKO Yeah. JOEL JACKO Let's go get some seagull eggs. Yeah, see the seagulls? JACQUELINE JACKO Yeah, I see it. JOEL JACKO There's a couple nests over there. ANZLIE JACKO Da dah. Da dah dah. JOEL JACKO When I was a child, this time of year you go to like the elders� houses and there always be like seagull eggs on the table. You know it was very, it's really very nostalgic now. So, it's fun to pass on that tradition. ANZLIE JACKO Whoa. JACQUELINE JACKO Are you excited Anzlie? ANZLIE JACKO Yeah. JOEL JACKO Find some eggs. Where you think they'd be? ANZLIE JACKO Oh, over here. JOEL JACKO Down more? ANZLIE JACKO Mm-hmm. JOEL JACKO What's Tracker got? JACQUELINE JACKO Got? JOEL JACKO Well, what is it? Ooh. JACQUELINE JACKO What did he find? ANZLIE JACKO Eggs! JOEL JACKO Oh cool. Ooh, our first eggs. ANZLIE JACKO They're soft. JACQUELINE JACKO Are they warm? ANZLIE JACKO Yeah. JACQUELINE JACKO Wow, they're so warm. JOEL JACKO Anzlie is like at that perfect age where it's like exciting. It's just great to see her so excited about something like this that I used to do and it's kinda living off the land and doing a little subsistence hunting. Do we keep looking for a couple more? ANZLIE JACKO Find more. JACQUELINE JACKO Find more. JOEL JACKO Find more. JACQUELINE JACKO Let's do it. JOEL JACKO Before we start, resort to fighting. JACQUELINE JACKO Okay. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Almost ready dad? DANIEL APASSINGOK [speaking Akuzipik] Haay? Aa-a. DANIEL APASSINGOK Ah, it's starting to clear up, paan? DANIEL APASSINGOK You can see the mountains over there. Hopefully we'll see deer not to far up from there. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Yeah, let's go catch some reindeer. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK I'm very new to hunting but I'm also very competitive. Couple more years of experience and more practice and I'm hoping that I get ten times better. DANIEL APASSINGOK Ah. Oy! NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK You see something? DANIEL APASSINGOK Ah, think I see a deer over there. Right over there by that ridge. DANIEL APASSINGOK Ah, not sure what it is, Panik. Not even moving I don't think. Looks like a rock. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK We've been chasing rocks? DANIEL APASSINGOK All that time it's a rock, huh? Thought I saw a deer, but they were rocks, they weren't moving. It was a little hilarious there for a minute. DANIEL APASSINGOK Ah, let's go to that other ridge by Nayghwaaq huh? NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Okay. DANIEL APASSINGOK Maybe go around a little bit, see if there's anything. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Sounds good. DANIEL APASSINGOK Uuwhiiy? DANIEL APASSINGOK Ah, oh wait. Paan, my rides not running. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Huh? DANIEL APASSINGOK It's not working. Come, see? It's not running. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK What the heck? DANIEL APASSINGOK What are we gonna do now, huh? Man! [COMMERCIAL BREAK] DANIEL APASSINGOK Fuel's not turning on huh? It's not even pumping. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK I don't hear it. DANIEL APASSINGOK Man. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK What do you think it is? DANIEL APASSINGOK I think the fuel pump is out. Fuel pump or the injector. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK I have no idea. DANIEL APASSINGOK Man, we'll have to pull this all the way back. Long ride. Cause we can't start it. Ugh. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK There's always something dad. DANIEL APASSINGOK Ugh, man. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Dang, we're real far from home. DANIEL APASSINGOK Yeah, we got to pull it all the way back if we have to. No choice it's gonna be a long night. Three-hour ride gonna turn into a six, eight-hour ride back home. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Since we're so far away from camp my dad decided it was best to tow the four-wheeler home to Gambell because we don't have any parts or tools to fix the ride at our cabin. I don't feel comfortable driving. DANIEL APASSINGOK Huh? NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK You think I can pull you all the way home? DANIEL APASSINGOK I mean there's only one way to learn, eh? All the boys did it, I did it, your turn. DANIEL APASSINGOK [speaking Akuzipik] Qaa? NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Okay. I think you're crazy. DANIEL APASSINGOK Just go real slow. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Is it in neutral? DANIEL APASSINGOK Yeah, it's on neutral. Real slow. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK It's not fun towing a four-wheeler in the tundra, but my dad said he's, he's done it a bunch of times and I feel safe with him. I'm never worried when I'm around him. DANIEL APASSINGOK Bringing out my daughter it's been an experience, something to cherish over the years, to experience that time with her. I'm very proud of, uh, my daughter. I enjoy watching her grow I get to see that. I get to see that forever. STOSH HOFFMAN Okay guys we're gonna switch to the fifty-pound (twenty-two kilograms) net because we're gonna go down river Fowler. GAGE HOFFMAN Today is day two of the second and last fish opener, try to get as much fish as we can because there's no opener set for the future this is our only chance. AVERY HOFFMAN Fishing is a big part our culture in the Kuskokwim River and every summer we mainly focus on subsisting for salmon and filling the dry rack so we can have food for the winter. STOSH HOFFMAN We're set guys. Got to make it a good one. AVERY HOFFMAN Yup. This net looks way longer than the first time we went out. STOSH HOFFMAN Yes, it's twice as long as the net we used the first period cause we're below Johnson River. River's wider down here and the fish are more spread out. GAGE HOFFMAN We'll let it soak and hopefully we'll get a few more and, uh, bring home lots to mom. AVERY HOFFMAN Yup. GAGE HOFFMAN All right, we got a splasher! Whoo! That's always a good sign. AVERY HOFFMAN There's another one right here. STOSH HOFFMAN It's good to see. AVERY HOFFMAN Yup. STOSH HOFFMAN Let's hope we get a few more GAGE HOFFMAN Oh, we caught another one right there in the middle look at it bobbing. I think we should pull in. Yup'ik people are salmon people. I am a salmon person. It's the most substantial food source that we have. We live eat and breathe salmon. Oh, look at this king. AVERY HOFFMAN Nice. Oh man, oh dang, look at that. That's brutal. We got another one right here. Yes, look at all these seal marks. STOSH HOFFMAN Oh, nice one. AVERY HOFFMAN Uh-huh. Okay, let's keep going. GAGE HOFFMAN Oh, right here we just got. AVERY HOFFMAN Yup. GAGE HOFFMAN King, don't lose him don't, lose him! Grab him grab him. Good stuff he just got caught. AVERY HOFFMAN Yeah. GAGE HOFFMAN He's not even in there at all he just came right off. STOSH HOFFMAN Nice one. GAGE HOFFMAN Okay. AVERY HOFFMAN Hold on, hold on, hold on. GAGE HOFFMAN What is it, what is it? AVERY HOFFMAN It's a log. GAGE HOFFMAN This thing, oh my God. AVERY HOFFMAN That's quite the snag. GAGE HOFFMAN These nets we use every time we go out and they're not cheap. AVERY HOFFMAN (bleep). STOSH HOFFMAN Beaver or a tree guys? GAGE HOFFMAN So, we try our best to always save the net. STOSH HOFFMAN You hold the log I can rip us free. AVERY HOFFMAN Go! GAGE HOFFMAN Watch the divots. STOSH HOFFMAN I'm gonna try to rip the net free so we can be done with this hold on. GAGE HOFFMAN Let go, let go! AVERY HOFFMAN And it sunk. STOSH HOFFMAN Okay, hold on. AVERY HOFFMAN Far right, far right. You're gonna hit. GAGE HOFFMAN Stop! Stop! AVERY HOFFMAN Let go of the net. GAGE HOFFMAN Jeez! [COMMERCIAL BREAK] STOSH HOFFMAN Let's pull it in again. Right to the log I was hoping to use it as leverage. We're gonna have to cut our losses and just cut the net. We can't spend all day trying to get this log off. It's just, the log is too big. GAGE HOFFMAN Cut it right here? AVERY HOFFMAN Yup, go. STOSH HOFFMAN It's a bad, sad feeling when lose the net. That's supposed to help you feed your family, your friends and your relatives for the winter. AVERY HOFFMAN Yeah, that's pretty wicked that was the first time we've ever cut our, our net. GAGE HOFFMAN Yeah. STOSH HOFFMAN We got the snag, we shook it off. We licked our wounds and we made do with half of it. Okay, let's go fishing. Yeah, make sure the net is, no tangles we need every inch of net we can working in the water. GAGE HOFFMAN Especially now that we're half the size from when we started. Here we're coming up to the end here. It's already smoking, whoa! STOSH HOFFMAN Whoo-hoo! AVERY HOFFMAN I feel good about this spot. STOSH HOFFMAN How long we keep the net in the water it's really not a time thing it's just a feeling thing. GAGE HOFFMAN As soon as we a sign of any sort of snag, let's pull in. AVERY HOFFMAN We gotta be fishing not snagging. STOSH HOFFMAN Are we ready to pull in guys? AVERY HOFFMAN Yup. GAGE HOFFMAN Yup. STOSH HOFFMAN Okay, let's go. Pull it. GAGE HOFFMAN Oh, I feel them, I feel them. AVERY HOFFMAN Feel them tugging. GAGE HOFFMAN Red. AVERY HOFFMAN Nice one. GAGE HOFFMAN There's a king right there. STOSH HOFFMAN Right there, right there. Right there. AVERY HOFFMAN You see one? GAGE HOFFMAN Oh, yeah. They're at the top. AVERY HOFFMAN That's a red. GAGE HOFFMAN Nice one. Nice little feeling. AVERY HOFFMAN Oh, she's moving! GAGE HOFFMAN Pull up. AVERY HOFFMAN Easy. GAGE HOFFMAN Grab him. AVERY HOFFMAN Easy. GAGE HOFFMAN Grab him good. Grab him good. Whoa. Nice one. AVERY HOFFMAN Nice, silver. Holy cow. Huge. Look at that guy. All right look at that Stosh. STOSH HOFFMAN That's a nice one. AVERY HOFFMAN Huge. STOSH HOFFMAN Ten more of those and we can go home. GAGE HOFFMAN Man. STOSH HOFFMAN We got lucky. GAGE HOFFMAN Yeah. AVERY HOFFMAN I feel some more. STOSH HOFFMAN Good. AVERY HOFFMAN I like it. GAGE HOFFMAN Pretty good, sweet spot right here. STOSH HOFFMAN That's looking good, guys. That's at least 400 pounds (181 kilograms) a fish. AVERY HOFFMAN Looks like we kind of made up for that pitiful first opener. STOSH HOFFMAN This will fill our fish rack and it's gonna be good food for the winter. JOEL JACKO Seagulls are up there, bet their nest is in that tree. JACQUELINE JACKO In a tree? JOEL JACKO Maybe. I mean I've never seen one in a tree doesn't mean they don't lay in the trees. Only one way to find out. We send Anzlie up there. ANZLIE JACKO Nope! I'm not climbing up the tree. JACQUELINE JACKO You can send daddy up there. ANZLIE JACKO Yeah! JACQUELINE JACKO You want to? ANZLIE JACKO Yup. JACQUELINE JACKO Get serious. JOEL JACKO All right JACQUELINE JACKO You got this honey! Bring us some eggies! JOEL JACKO Ow. Oh, this tree is super thick. Agh. JACQUELINE JACKO Oh, he's already halfway up look at that. ANZLIE JACKO Hi daddy! JOEL JACKO Hey! JACQUELINE JACKO Wow, you're doing great! JOEL JACKO Hey, there's eggs up here! JACQUELINE JACKO Are you gonna throw it to me? ANZLIE JACKO Or throw it in my basket? JACQUELINE JACKO Oh, my God. Look at him. ANZLIE JACKO We have three. Now each of us can have one. JOEL JACKO The eggs can be a little like fishy, almost. I think it's a little bit of an acquired taste. You don't need a whole lot of them to make the meal because usually they're like three times the size of a regular chicken egg which is super cool and I think, I just think picking them is kinda the funnest thing to do. JACQUELINE JACKO It is not in your mouth. Oh, my God. Gross! JOEL JACKO I cracked it a little bit. ANZLIE JACKO It cracked. JACQUELINE JACKO Did you just suck all the poop off of it? JOEL JACKO Yeah. JACQUELINE JACKO Ew, I'm not kissing you! Go wash your mouth. Ew! ANZLIE JACKO I don't, you hold it. JOEL JACKO Anzlie gets that one. We should probably go, go cook this one before it goes bad 'cause now it's gonna go bad quick. See there and right there I like bit down on it. ANZLIE JACKO But why did you not do this. JOEL JACKO I was trying. You put it in your mouth and climb down the tree. All right. JACQUELINE JACKO Great. Should we go cook them up? JOEL JACKO Yeah. JACQUELINE JACKO What are you guys doing? JOEL JACKO Oh, my God. ANZLIE JACKO You did that. You did that. JOEL JACKO All right. Come on. It was defiantly not a typical seagull egg outing, you know, we defiantly had some challenges along the way which made it much more fun. Defiantly, uh, worth trying again next year. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG I think it rained for a bit. Two hours last night. EVAN STRASSBURG Uh-huh. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG You heard it? EVAN STRASSBURG Yeah. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG At least we got some hunting in. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Sure, is a bummer that the weather moved in. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Now, it's too rainy and cloudy to see anything. It was a pretty chilly night, this storm rolled in. It rained through the night. Woke up everything was soaked the mountain where we'd seen the sheep disappeared behind some clouds. This situation just doesn't look good for hiking. I mean there's wet rocks everything's wet out there, slipping and falling is a, is a big issue out here you know I don't wanna get hurt on the top of a mountain. I'm proud of you, you did good up here. It wasn't easy at all, hard hikes, tough days but you handled it good you kept a good, a good spirit. I feel pretty good knowing I raised up a good sheep hunter. Jeez, I gained weight again. Look at that. I gained two inches. Can't help it though. Home, we go. I'm happy that my son gets to go out there and he's able to enjoy these types of things. He's a strong kid he's packing his own weight he's been keeping up with me on these mountains. Fourteen years old and every day when he wakes up, you know, he's another half inch taller he's getting bigger that kid is, you know, surprising me more and more every time I bring him out. I'm seeing a big growth in him and he's coming a long ways, that kid he's gonna be a great hunter someday. (bleep). Ev, come check this out. [COMMERCIAL BREAK] STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG I found a black bear. He's pretty high up there. If he keeps coming down, I might try and take off after him. EVAN STRASSBURG Okay. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Just hope he comes down off of that high place. Let's look at him real quick. See him eating berries. EVAN STRASSBURG Jeez. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Eating berries and what not up there. Man, that's a nice looking bear. Been all over, looking for sheep, if I can get a chance at that guy right there that'd be amazing. Man, he looks good shiny looking fur from here, you know. EVAN STRASSBURG Really shiny. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Mm-hmm. Healthy. Big belly, eating lots of berries. Oh, there he goes. Well, we did our best. We tried. We didn't have any luck but can't say we didn't try. We got maybe an hour, hour and a half of day light, mountains are closing up it's just about time to head on out and head home. ANA HOFFMAN Pull out the heart. GAGE HOFFMAN Yeah, we did good today, guys. AVERY HOFFMAN Yeah, fifty-four fish tonight. GAGE HOFFMAN That was a good day defiantly up for that low run on the first opener. ANA HOFFMAN We were ready to be happy. Look this one's still beating. AVERY HOFFMAN Oh! GAGE HOFFMAN That's how you know it's fresh. STOSH HOFFMAN You guys ready for salmon heart dessert? AVERY HOFFMAN Sounds great I'm ready to, I'm ready to taste them. We are here because of the salmon and because we are here subsisting off of these salmon that give us life. GAGE HOFFMAN So, you did this when you were a kid? ANA HOFFMAN Uh-huh. When we had them, we'd line up like eight of them. GAGE HOFFMAN Like a kabob. ANA HOFFMAN Uh-huh, like a kabob. And then my uncle would come, and he'd check he'd wanna say, let me check, let me check if they're done and then he'd sit there and eat them off of it. Celebratory heart. GAGE HOFFMAN Yup. AVERY HOFFMAN Cheers. ANA HOFFMAN Cheers. GAGE HOFFMAN To a good day. ANA HOFFMAN So good. GAGE HOFFMAN Reminds me of being a kid. ANA HOFFMAN Mm-hmm. Me too. GAGE HOFFMAN Yeah. JOEL JACKO Who's breaking the egg? ANZLIE JACKO Me. JACQUELINE JACKO Oh, perfect. JOEL JACKO Oh! ANZLIE JACKO Ew! JOEL JACKO Seagull egg hunting, it's kinda cool because I'm like passing on the torch kind of a thing. You gotta, you gotta make it a point to get out and have fun and, you know, just enjoy, enjoy sometime with the family. That was a pretty good day overall, huh? JACQUELINE JACKO Yeah, it was a good adventure. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG A musk ox. EVAN STRASSBURG Holy cow, I thought that was a bear for a second. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Yeah, I thought it was a grizzly for a second too. EVAN STRASSBURG That's cool. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Yeah. He's a long ways from home. EVAN STRASSBURG A long way. Jeez. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG I've seen one before when I was a kid at least twenty years ago since I've seen one. Straight out the ice age that guy. It was pretty special to be able to show my son a musk ox. It's not something that we hunt but, you know, I'm happy that my son gets to go out there and he's able to enjoy these types of things with me. EVAN STRASSBURG That was cool. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Yeah. We honor the land, honor the animals. We just try and live off the land as good as we can and leave it as good as we got it. DANIEL APASSINGOK Here comes a big one, next one look at it. Ee! Here it comes! NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK So happy that we made it home back to the village. Run dad! I've always loved how beautiful it is here. I love the tundra it doesn't matter where. Here in the village or fifty miles (eighty kilometers) out in the water. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK I always feel like I'm at home. AVERY HOFFMAN This is our culture, and this is our land. Gage and I we've decided to deliver salmon to our elders. GAGE HOFFMAN I got some king salmon for you. MARTHA [speaking Yup'ik] Quyana. GAGE HOFFMAN Uh-huh, we just got it today. SALLY Oh, thank you. GAGE HOFFMAN You're welcome. SALLY So nice. I love you. Thank you. AVERY HOFFMAN Love you too. GAGE HOFFMAN This is what my people do and this why we live in the Kuskokwim River, we're salmon people. [SNAP-IN] ANA HOFFMAN So good. GAGE HOFFMAN Reminds me of being a kid. ANA HOFFMAN Mm-hmm. Me too. There's so much satisfaction in eating the fish that we processed as a family. Catching the fish is one part of the process. You have to tend to the fish. Often we refer to it as babysitting the fish. We work to hang the fish, smoke the fish, and put away the fish in a way that will bring us sustenance. It's, it's a lifestyle. It's our lifestyle. AVERY HOFFMAN Whoa, how you doing this? ANA HOFFMAN We'll layer the guts, heads, guts, heads. ANA HOFFMAN We made a Tepeq this year. ANA HOFFMAN We put heads and guts and fins and blood. You use that to help layer and line the hole. And the part that we'll eat are the heads. This is a Yup'ik delicacy. We only have it once a year. AVERY HOFFMAN This gonna take like two weeks. ANA HOFFMAN Mm-hmm. You leave it there and the ground will cook the heads and you'll have fermented fish heads. ANA HOFFMAN Some people, like in the eighties and nineties, they were trying to expedite the Tepeq making process. ANA HOFFMAN And instead of doing it the traditional way, some would line with plastic and a lot of people got botulism. GAGE HOFFMAN The traditional way stood the test of time? ANA HOFFMAN Yeah. GAGE HOFFMAN So, no better way to do it? ANA HOFFMAN No better way to do it. It is unique in how we cook the fish heads, you have to do it in a traditional way. You have grass to cover the top of it? AVERY HOFFMAN Yeah, we have lots of grass. ANA HOFFMAN Okay, go ahead. It's an acquired taste and it's a culmination of all of everybody's efforts and it's a celebration of the food we're gonna enjoy. GAGE HOFFMAN So now we just wait for them to all be done? ANA HOFFMAN Mm-hmm. GAGE HOFFMAN Awesome. ANA HOFFMAN Yup. Good. GAGE HOFFMAN I'm excited to have some when they're done. ANA HOFFMAN Mm-hmm.