AMELIA_STRASSBURG AMIYA_STRASSBURG ANZLIE_JACKO AVERY_HOFFMAN GAGE_HOFFMAN HAZEL_STRASSBURG ISAAC JACQUELINE_JACKO JEANETTA JOEL_JACKO JUSTIN_PHILLIPS LOUISE_MOSES MARVIN_AGNOT STEVEN_TIG_STRASSBURG WESLEY_STRASSBURG GAGE HOFFMAN Booker out to traffic, Cessna 052 taxiing our way two-three for departure towards Takotna, McGrath. We're flying into Takotna before the moose season opens. We're two-hundred twenty nautical miles (250 miles) away from Bethel. We used to have to boat all the way up to Kusko, would take us two days to get here. So, flying direct we can get here in like two and a half hours. It's been a blessing and a blast to be able to fly here and spend more time here to hunt. Having an airplane really has made us more connected with our subsistence way of life. AVERY HOFFMAN It's a nice, smooth, comfortable flight. Like you know what you're doing. GAGE HOFFMAN It'd be bad if I didn't. Man, I'm excited to get to the cabin. We got to get right to work, setting up camp and getting all our moose stuff ready. AVERY HOFFMAN Ready to stretch my legs out. GAGE HOFFMAN Takotna traffic, Cessna 052 two-mile (3 kilometers) final runway two-two fullstop, Takotna. GAGE HOFFMAN Greased 'er! AVERY HOFFMAN What a gorgeous land. I didn't even feel a thing. That was fantastic. GAGE HOFFMAN That was one of my best landings. GAGE HOFFMAN I see the polar. AVERY HOFFMAN Oh yeah, hopefully that baby starts. GAGE HOFFMAN If it doesn't start we'll be walking. AVERY HOFFMAN Awesome man, what a great landing. AVERY HOFFMAN Sweet, home sweet home. GAGE HOFFMAN Sweet home. GAGE HOFFMAN We arrived in Takotna a few days before the moose hunting season started. GAGE HOFFMAN The two days, which gives us plenty of time to do moose hunting prep. AVERY HOFFMAN First pull. GAGE HOFFMAN We need to make sure that our boats are all prepared. Make sure our guns are sighted in. Along with that we check the conditions of the meadows and check to see if it's like a moosey area. If they are we'll mark those areas and come back and check 'em out. AVERY HOFFMAN Right on. GAGE HOFFMAN It's nice to be back. AVERY HOFFMAN Super nice. GAGE HOFFMAN What do we all need to do for the boat? Just battery and gas? AVERY HOFFMAN Battery and gas. GAGE HOFFMAN Yeah. AVERY HOFFMAN Should be good. I'm so happy to be back here. GAGE HOFFMAN My dad grew up hunting these rivers with his dad and there's something magical about this area, we love it. It's a tradition that we continue every fall, the moose hunting. While we're out on the river, we're multitasking and bush chicken hunting. AVERY HOFFMAN Ah, let's see how well that works. GAGE HOFFMAN Ideally, my brother and I would like to get ten or twelve bush chickens while we're out here. That'll give us plenty of meat to subsist off of while we're moose hunting. Hopefully we reach that goal. AVERY HOFFMAN Yep, we're in business now. Nice. MARVIN AGNOT Good day for adventure. MARVIN AGNOT What do you say to that? JUSTIN PHILLIPS Yep. MARVIN AGNOT Yeah, it is. JUSTIN PHILLIPS So far, so good. MARVIN AGNOT We're gonna head up to Olga Bay. It's a good hour, hour and fifteen skiff ride. JUSTIN PHILLIPS It's kinda far where we have to go up here. Still we'll be there for a couple nights. Try camp where we're gonna have the best bet of finding reindeer. JUSTIN PHILLIPS If not, then we got all these mountains here along the way to find deer. MARVIN AGNOT Winters right around the corner. That's always nice to be prepared for. JUSTIN PHILLIPS I remember hearing a lot of people talking about the reindeer growing up. MARVIN AGNOT People from our village owned the reindeer and they had a fire where they were. Fire grew too big so they had to open the pen and let the reindeer go. The reindeer migrated up the west side of the island, far from our village. JUSTIN PHILLIPS I never really did believe that there was even any on the island until I finally seen pictures of guys getting some. So I had to really get out and try to get one. There's some deer tracks in there. There's our spot. MARVIN AGNOT See the water, hear the skiff. JUSTIN PHILLIPS I really love hunting. I was the first one to bring a mountain goat into the village. Filling up the freezer, getting fresh meat. Just a style of life I like to do and if I can get it, I'm gonna get it. MARVIN AGNOT Well now that we got our tent up there Justin, we got a little hill up here we can go and look around. We got a little day light, try to locate 'em. JUSTIN PHILLIPS Yep, think our odds are highest up here. MARVIN AGNOT Couple deer over there, there's a couple deer. No reindeer. No. JUSTIN PHILLIPS Just a couple deer. No bears. MARVIN AGNOT No bear either, huh? Well it's good for us. JUSTIN PHILLIPS Still warm I think, they'll be behind all the mountains where pilots have seen them. Look like it's pretty low ceiling to try and hike up and scout for anything. MARVIN AGNOT Looks like it's coming a little bit. JUSTIN PHILLIPS Wait for this to pass hopefully and see if we can catch a fish to pass time. MARVIN AGNOT Wait for mother nature to takes its course. JOEL JACKO My first plan of business is to move the solar panels. JOEL JACKO So we've actually been talking about putting a root cellar in since before the house even got started. JOEL JACKO Right now we don't have any room in the house cause nothing's finished, there's no shelves anywhere. So basically we need the root cellar, kinda of another refrigerator slash storage. My plan is to dig out underneath the house and all that dirt that is coming out needs to go back up against the building for basically insulation. I gotta get all this done before fall sets in and the ground starts freezing. Once the ground starts freezing, I mean you can't do anything. Ugh. So traditionally the root cellars out here they would be you know on a separate area, usually like on a hillside. Pretty much ready to cut my door out. And then I can kinda start building my, my retaining walls. My big thing, it's like kinda taking the traditional ways and you know and modernizing it and that's why I picked this spot of the house to do it under is cause it is, it is on a slope. Oh, all right. That wasn't too bad. There's so much dirt in here I think I might have to start on the retaining wall. So basically I have somewhere to put the dirt without having to move it twice. You know it's also part of the house so it's not a separate building you have to maintain. Cause I hate dealing with multiple buildings and bears breaking into stuff and this way everything is just in one area. Basically just gonna kinda stack these up like a little log building. So I'll just bolt this in, start on the next side and then kinda start throwing dirt back in there. So I'll just get a couple more logs on here and then I can start digging out underneath the house and filling this in with the dirt. After that it's smooth sailing. Oh yeah. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG All right girls, we're gonna make our camp here. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG So we gotta cut some brush so nothing sneaks up on us. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG We'll have a place to put our tent. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Be nice and dry once we get here. WESLEY STRASSBURG I love it. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Sound like a plan Wesley? WESLEY STRASSBURG Yeah. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Yeah? Okay, good. AMIYA STRASSBURG Dad, I can see the moon. LOUISE MOSES The sun baby, it's turning red behind all the smoke and the clouds. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Yeah we're just having some crazy weather out here. There's around three hundred fires in Alaska right now and that's not including Canada. These fires are putting up big plumes of smoke as they start creating their own weather, we're seeing three seasons in one day. This is a good spot. Get busy. This time of the year is a good time to out and get prepared for the moose season coming up. If I don't go out and get this stuff right now, by time moose season rolls around I'm gonna be monkeying around getting stuff done when I should be hunting. AMIYA STRASSBURG Where will our tent will be? STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG We're gonna set it up right here under the tarp, just gotta cut this little brushes out. AMELIA STRASSBURG Dad? STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Huh? AMELIA STRASSBURG Can I help you? STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Of course you can, of course you can help me. Throw those away. AMIYA STRASSBURG Timber! STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Whoa, did it. Man, had a tough time this winter baby. Went on some moose hunts up here but didn't quite have any luck yet. You know we get another chance here pretty quick with the fall moose hunt. Maybe this year we put in work early, we can enjoy our fall. Moose is our main food source that we have in this country. We don't have any more caribou herds, we rely a lot the moose. AMELIA STRASSBURG Are you making a house? STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Yeah. How's that look? All right, we want the brown side out so we can be more camouflaged. AMELIA STRASSBURG The rain is coming down dad. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Woo! [COMMERCIAL BREAK] STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Mother Nature is cranky today girls. Mother Nature's telling us, go home! Come on girls get in, get in, get in. Holy. LOUISE MOSES Get your life jackets on. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG It's gonna get wild. GAGE HOFFMAN I�m live. AVERY HOFFMAN All right. AVERY HOFFMAN I'm watchin'. AVERY HOFFMAN Well, you got the top of the square. GAGE HOFFMAN A little high. Hit the square but a little high, we'll shoot it one more time. AVERY HOFFMAN Where were you aiming? GAGE HOFFMAN The square. AVERY HOFFMAN What square? GAGE HOFFMAN The dot. AVERY HOFFMAN Aim at the bottom of the dot. Ha, that was higher than the last one. GAGE HOFFMAN Glad we have these few days of prep. Sighting our guns, this is the best time to find out if your gun's off cause we might only get one chance so we want to make sure we're ready and our guns are ready for moose hunting season. AVERY HOFFMAN How's my form? GAGE HOFFMAN Good. AVERY HOFFMAN Look good, shoot good. Fire! Oh that's money dude! GAGE HOFFMAN Yeah, that was money. AVERY HOFFMAN That was perfect. GAGE HOFFMAN Okay, that one's on too. AVERY HOFFMAN That's the way you do it. This one's on. GAGE HOFFMAN Good. We're ready. It's getting pretty late into the morning now so we decided to check out some of these meadows while we're out here. Check the conditions, find a couple good spots that we want to stop in and call for moose when the season opens. AVERY HOFFMAN Check to see if it's nice and dry. GAGE HOFFMAN Yeah, let me know. AVERY HOFFMAN There's some moose tracks here. I really like this meadow. Nice and flat and we got the tree cover so if we call they won't see us, we can see where the grass is kinda folded down a bit, you can see a moose walk through. There's movement in here, that's what we like. This spot looks very promising, can't wait to see if it produces a bull in here. GAGE HOFFMAN How's it looking? Good? AVERY HOFFMAN I like it, it looks really good. Looks really promising. There's track in there and everything. GAGE HOFFMAN Yeah? Looks pretty good to pack through here. AVERY HOFFMAN All right. GAGE HOFFMAN Okay should we head back? AVERY HOFFMAN Yep. Good. Start 'er up. GAGE HOFFMAN Yep. AVERY HOFFMAN Found some spruce chicken? GAGE HOFFMAN Uh-hmm. We're ready to go. MARVIN AGNOT All right, you ready buddy? Let's see if we can catch us a silver. MARVIN AGNOT Not worth looking around for the ranger cause of the fog. MARVIN AGNOT And we brought our fishing poles. See if we can catch anything and to pass the time while we wait for the weather to break. JUSTIN PHILLIPS Never miss an opportunity to do anything, even if it's raining. No such thing as bad weather, there's only bad gear. I started fishing when I was little with my dad and ever since then I just always loved it, ever since I could go on my own I would. Fishing right out of the village. MARVIN AGNOT Justin is a very good provider. Subsisting is a big part of what we do. He don't think twice, he just does it with happiness. Hey Justin, you see that otter? He's catching fish. JUSTIN PHILLIPS We'll see what happens, there's gotta be a few around. Whoa! There's dinner. Nice big silver. Silvers are just now starting to show up, they're still nice and bright. That's nice to know the silvers are around. MARVIN AGNOT Yeah there Justin, you got a nice fish there. Deadly hook right there, that's the silver slayer. JUSTIN PHILLIPS Yep. MARVIN AGNOT Are we ready? JUSTIN PHILLIPS Yep. MARVIN AGNOT Okay. You got dinner buddy. JUSTIN PHILLIPS Yep. MARVIN AGNOT And it looks like the weather's starting to break a little bit here. JUSTIN PHILLIPS Not too bad. MARVIN AGNOT Maybe we'll be able to finish off our hunt. JOEL JACKO All right. All right, I think I'm done shoveling, get to building. JOEL JACKO Basically only had to build two walls. JOEL JACKO I'm gonna try to build it outside and then just bring it in and nail it in place, that's kinda it. Jacqueline and Anzlie went out berry picking. I'm very used to doing these projects by myself, coming up on winter and we just need to get you know multiple things done at one time. It's only about two-hundred pounds (ninety kilograms) now. So I didn't realize my wall was gonna be so heavy. I wasn't thinking about the plywood being treated and it's like twice as heavy as regular plywood. So I'm trying myself a little skid so I can slide the wall in there. Oh man, ugh! Wow. This is definitely where Jacqueline's help would have come in handy. What's it stuck on? Come on mother sucker. Shoot. Oh, perfect. This better fit. Oh, stupid, idiot! [COMMERCIAL BREAK] JOEL JACKO That's braces on there I forgot to take off. No wonder why it won't go in there. There, ah. Just won't tell anybody about that. All right. Look at that, yeah. Yeah. Oh man! Hook right in there. All right that was more work than I thought it was gonna be. Think next one I'll just build in place. When that's done, that was gonna be, that's the biggest wall too so, hope Jacqueline's having fun picking berries. Next time I'm going, she can stay and build. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Feels a lot better to be out of the storm. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Brand new blank page out there. Okay, we're gonna cut trail right here. Every year we gotta come and cut it out and get the thorns out of the way. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG So we're gonna be able to sneak in here when the moose season come. Hazel, you're gotta be my gunner. It's very important that girls can do everything that the boys can do. It's a tough country, tough life. AMIYA STRASSBURG Where are we going dad? STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG To a lake, it's called Bergman's Lake. We're doing this types of stuff, it helps builds their confidence. It's just all around learning experience. AMIYA STRASSBURG It looks pretty here. LOUISE MOSES I'm thankful that my girls are learning. It's opening up a whole new world for this next generation. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG All right, we're almost there. AMIYA STRASSBURG Come on guys. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Yeah, come on guys. Look at this you girls. HAZEL STRASSBURG Wow. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG What do you think could have done that? HAZEL STRASSBURG Wolverine? STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Nope. It's a little big for a wolverine. AMELIA STRASSBURG A Daa?tl'edze? STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Yeah, a bear. Those are fresh scratches. You gotta keep an eye out all right? HAZEL STRASSBURG Okay. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG They can come right up on you before you ever notice them. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG So, that's why it pays to pay attention and also have good trails like this. All right girls look at that, looks like a damn good trail now. It's wide open, there's nothing in our way, no more pokies. We made it. Oh, watch out for the wet spot. LOUISE MOSES Careful you girls, it gets muddy out there. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Yeah. That's good enough. LOUISE MOSES You're going into a lake. HAZEL STRASSBURG I recognize this spot. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG You recognize it now? AMIYA STRASSBURG I do, this spot. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG This is the lake that we were checking when you were pregnant with him. LOUISE MOSES Yeah. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG I use this lake quite a bit and that's why I wanted to chop out the trail. Many many times this lake has fed you. AMIYA STRASSBURG Are we going home now? STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Pretty soon, we got more that we gotta do baby. GAGE HOFFMAN You ready? AVERY HOFFMAN I'm ready. GAGE HOFFMAN Okay, I'll uh keep an eye on the water mainly and then you look in those gravel banks. AVERY HOFFMAN Oh for sure, I'll keep my eye out. GAGE HOFFMAN Roger. GAGE HOFFMAN Whenever I think about spruce chickens, I think about moose hunting. It kinda gets us in the right mind set of hunting and being out here in Takotna. AVERY HOFFMAN Moose! GAGE HOFFMAN Bull, that's a bull! AVERY HOFFMAN Yeah, woo! At least we know they're here and moving. GAGE HOFFMAN Yeah, we gotta remember this spot, that's a little good bull. AVERY HOFFMAN Perfect size one. GAGE HOFFMAN Perfect size, right out here on the water. Couple days, we'll be ready for him. AVERY HOFFMAN Yep. GAGE HOFFMAN Oh man, you love to see it. AVERY HOFFMAN Now we just need to find some chickens. GAGE HOFFMAN Yeah, we're kinda running low on food so, we want them chickens. So while we're out here it really is essential that we get spruce chickens so we do have food to allow us to stay out here for as long as we need to, to successfully get a moose. Oh I guess we woke up earlier than the chickens. AVERY HOFFMAN These chickens can really blend into the rocks. GAGE HOFFMAN Little surprised, thought they'd be everywhere this morning. AVERY HOFFMAN Yeah. GAGE HOFFMAN I think I see one. AVERY HOFFMAN Under the tree? GAGE HOFFMAN Yeah. You want him? AVERY HOFFMAN Yeah, I'll take him. Be ready for gunfire. GAGE HOFFMAN Right there. [COMMERCIAL BREAK] GAGE HOFFMAN Nice. AVERY HOFFMAN Thanks. Nice chicken. GAGE HOFFMAN Sweet, yeah. AVERY HOFFMAN Let's get some more. Being Yup'ik, we are told that the animals are offering themselves to you. We feel a sense of honor that we are respected enough for these animals to offer themselves to us. GAGE HOFFMAN It's a blessing. The more spruce chicken we get, the longer we're able to moose hunt. Chicken, chicken, chicken! Here, take controls. AVERY HOFFMAN It's at the tree. GAGE HOFFMAN Yeah, I see it. Money. AVERY HOFFMAN Nice. GAGE HOFFMAN All right, we're both on the board. My brother and I love spruce chicken. AVERY HOFFMAN Nice. GAGE HOFFMAN Not only for the taste for also for the nostalgia factor. AVERY HOFFMAN Nice. GAGE HOFFMAN It really just reminds us of all the times we were out here hunting as kids. AVERY HOFFMAN There's three! Take 'em. Oh you got two in one shot! Wait, wait, wait, it's still in the tree. GAGE HOFFMAN I know, I know. AVERY HOFFMAN Wow. Woo! Nice. GAGE HOFFMAN Okay, you wanna pull up. AVERY HOFFMAN I'll get this one that's drifted. GAGE HOFFMAN Hey, I got two in one shot. AVERY HOFFMAN I'll get this one. Yeah, I know, get your birds. Just gotta brag, huh? GAGE HOFFMAN Nice one. Well, we're at nine now so feel like we should head back and get them stored. AVERY HOFFMAN Yeah. GAGE HOFFMAN As Yup'ik people we have respect for the land and the animals. We use all that we can and make sure that none of the meat goes to waste. AVERY HOFFMAN Moose, moose! GAGE HOFFMAN Oh, yeah! Young calf. AVERY HOFFMAN Yup, little cow. It just stops and looks at us. GAGE HOFFMAN Pretty small cow but always a good sign. We're only gonna be hunting bulls out here and starts tomorrow. Okay, let's start heading back to camp. JOEL JACKO All right, I just finished the installation, I put spray foam in there to kinda seal everything up. JOEL JACKO So, basically everything that's in there is now getting covered up and now it's all the finish work which I like to do. I like to make everything kinda look good and I got cedar. Cedar's like perfect for this 'cause it doesn't rot, it smells good and then it keeps the moths and stuff out too so kinda the perfect wood for this. This house has been a dream of mine I'd say since the end of high school. When I was in Iraq, all you're trying to do is basically get out of there and like you're just dreaming of all these things you can do when you get outta there and like this house. Like drawing this house was like a big part of that. Kinda like grounds you a little bit and kinda kept me going too, but now it's just, I mean, it's been a big dream and it's come a long ways since Iraq. I was sketching on waterproof notebooks in, you know, a bunker basically. All right. So, this is the last step is just putting the siding on the walls and I'm pretty much finished. I'm hoping, you know, get this done before Jacqueline and Anzlie get back so it'll be a little, a little bit of a surprise for 'em 'cause this thing's kinda been, we've been talking about this for years actually. 'Cause we need the storage space and, you know, the cool, cool storage so this is gonna be great when it's done. I've done everything by hand and it's just been a lot of work so far. You know, it just makes thing a little bit more interesting 'cause, you know, I can say I did everything by hand. I got the walls finished and I just finished up the ceiling and I got like two more boards to put on and I'll slap the door on and that'll be about it. Last one. Sweet. All right. that's it, that's all the last of the cedar. Looks good, too good. So now I'll I have to do is put shelves then slap the door on, that'll be it. I think size wise it looks, it looks really good, because I can do like four layers of shelves like two feet (60 centimeters) deep and that'll be it. I'll be done, start stacking stuff in here. MARVIN AGNOT Yeah, what a beautiful afternoon. MARVIN AGNOT It'll be pretty nice. MARVIN AGNOT Now that the weather has cleared, the sun is out. We got our hunting back on and we are ready for our adventure. See if we can find any sign of reindeer. JUSTIN PHILLIPS Uncle Marv is one of our good village elders, he's working his way up, but I don't really see him as an elder quite yet because he's always out there getting and going with me and we're always good company together. MARVIN AGNOT Hard to say that in my age of where I am in that next level of the elders you know that's uh something to think about. I mean my mind still wants to go a hundred miles (one hundred sixty kilometers) an hour and my body don't feel it. Me, I want to go out and explore more. JUSTIN PHILLIPS See anything? MARVIN AGNOT Yeah, there's a buck all right. Got some velvet on his horns. We haven't seen any reindeer but there's a buck standing there staring right at us. But that's a lot of meat. MARVIN AGNOT We'll have to take him. It's a nice buck Justin. Couple hundred yards (one hundred eighty-two meters). You ready? JUSTIN PHILLIPS Yeah. MARVIN AGNOT Take him. [COMMERCIAL BREAK] MARVIN AGNOT Yeah, you got him. Deadly buddy. At least we got to take a deer home. Very good buddy. There it is. That's a nice buck. Overall, Justin and I had a good time. Whether we go hunting or fishing. Whether it's a success or no success, it's just happiness that we are around each other. We're family. To be a part of his growth, that's very important to me. Is that your first deer too, Justin of the season? JUSTIN PHILLIPS Yeah. MARVIN AGNOT There you go. JUSTIN PHILLIPS Normally I'd get a deer right on the first of the season, now twenty days went by, I'm slacking a little bit this year but. MARVIN AGNOT Ha, yeah. JUSTIN PHILLIPS Too bad we didn't find no reindeer but overall it was a good trip. MARVIN AGNOT Yeah. We got a good adventure. We got camping in. Pack her out and head on home. This will go good in the freezer there Justin. AVERY HOFFMAN Just right on the deck? GAGE HOFFMAN Yeah, that's good. AVERY HOFFMAN All right. GAGE HOFFMAN We'll just get 'em taken care of out here. GAGE HOFFMAN We got nine? AVERY HOFFMAN Yup. GAGE HOFFMAN Well, we wanted ten, we got nine so that's pretty good. Pretty eventful morning. What we see, two moose? AVERY HOFFMAN Two moose. GAGE HOFFMAN One cow, one bull? AVERY HOFFMAN Yup. Good time on the river, we're able to see what was moving. Got some mental stand points of where we want to check for moose when the season opens. That was a good one. GAGE HOFFMAN Now that we have all these chickens we don't need to worry about running out of food so we can really just focus on that moose hunt. The subsistence way of life is something that my ancestors depended on in order to survive and it is still a cultural value that makes us feel more connected with our ancestors. To me, my family, living off the land and hunting is a way of life. I'd love to you know continue to practice my Yup'ik culture and the language and to one day pass this knowledge and this lifestyle along to my kids and their kids. You gave me another gizzard? AVERY HOFFMAN Yeah. GAGE HOFFMAN What am I the gizzard guy now? AVERY HOFFMAN You got the cutting board. Yeah. GAGE HOFFMAN Man that's a, that's a lot of chicken meat. AVERY HOFFMAN How much do you think it weighs? GAGE HOFFMAN I don't know but we definitely won't have to worry about food for a while so, that's good. All righty, um, we'll just wash them off and do you want to cook dinner? Go to bed early and get ready for a moose hunt in the morning? AVERY HOFFMAN Yeah. All right good job. GAGE HOFFMAN Yup. Good shooting. AVERY HOFFMAN Mm-hmm. Good cleaning. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Hang on! LOUISE MOSES Hang on. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG You guys see this? HAZEL STRASSBURG Yeah. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Holy cow. I haven't checked this out in a long time. This was your late Great-Great Grandma Stella's house, it's a sod house. They don't make them like this no more. Nobody makes sod houses anymore. And so this is the last one of its kind right there. See the wood stove? HAZEL STRASSBURG Yeah. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Had a homemade barrel stove it's called. HAZEL STRASSBURG Wow. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG They had a really good spot here. You know, moose season, moose come out all over. A lot of fish right here, everything they possibly need. This is why we like this area so much. This is where your guy's family is from right here. It's all going back to the land. LOUISE MOSES It's important for my kids to know where we come from, how we respect the land. So, it's really important for us to bring them out here as much as possible, especially at a young age. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG This little creek is called Sinyalak. The salmon come here and spawn. Do some fishing, hopefully all of us can catch one and then cook up some fish. HAZEL STRASSBURG I saw a fish jump out there mom. LOUISE MOSES What? HAZEL STRASSBURG I saw its fin. LOUISE MOSES Cool, better grab a pole and get started, look like your dad's ready. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Trying to show them that you know if they're hungry there's ways for us to go out and get some food. I was just a little guy first time my late brother brought me here. It was the first time I ever caught a grayling was here. First time I'd ever seen grayling was here. That was twenty-five years ago. Whoo, look at the size of this one. Check out this one, momma. LOUISE MOSES Holy cow! [COMMERCIAL BREAK] LOUISE MOSES Wow, that's a monster. That was quick. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Yeah. Yeah. Big grayling. See that baby, like a shark, huh? HAZEL STRASSBURG Wow. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Whoo. As long as we're in the woods the kids are having fun. This is their playground. Uh, oh, don't let 'em get away. Don't let 'em get away. You got 'em. You got 'em. Walk backwards, walk backwords. Sooga, get away. LOUISE MOSES Back up. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Whoo. High five Amiya. LOUISE MOSES Good job. You brought in your first fish. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG We're gonna need four in order for us to eat. Okay. So, we need how many more? AMIYA STRASSBURG Two more. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Hey, yup. That math sounds right to me. AMIYA STRASSBURG Because two plus two equal four. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Yeah, good job. LOUISE MOSES Seeing the joy they have just being out here. It makes me really happy for the future. Every time we go out is amazing. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Oh, look he's right there. Oh. AMELIA STRASSBURG A fish! STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG It's a fish. AMELIA STRASSBURG I got one. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Amelia got one. LOUISE MOSES I don't expect them to be here in the village all the time but then you know, when they do come back they'll be able to eat the traditional foods that they grew up on. It makes me have hope that someday they'll continue going out here even when I'm not. Someday, they might be dragging me out here when I'm old. Look Wesley. Yup, it's a pike. No wonder it's fighting Sooga. HAZEL STRASSBURG Get it Sooga. Sooga, get it. Get it Sooga. LOUISE MOSES Sooga, you are not helping. We're definitely gonna to be eating some fish today. JACQUELINE JACKO Wanna help me get this one? JOEL JACKO The girls showed back up so I think I'll put them to work. It is nice to include you know Jacqueline and Anzlie in this stuff and especially Anzlie cause it makes her feel like she contributed and, you know, gives her a little sense of worth. Good job. That was a heavy one too. JACQUELINE JACKO This looks great. I'm excited. JOEL JACKO You get to move in when you're sixteen. ANZLIE JACKO No. JOEL JACKO We've been talking about the root cellar for so long. So, now it's time just to load it up and it's like super exciting and it looks way better than I thought it was going to. And now that Jacqueline and Anzlie are back it's definitely, everything is a little more, you know, meaningful. I feel like I not just building a house, 'cause now I'm building a home. All right. JACQUELINE JACKO Yay! JOEL JACKO Looks good. ANZLIE JACKO Starts raining. JACQUELINE JACKO Whoa. JOEL JACKO And there's still lots of room in there too. Put all kinds of stuff in there. JACQUELINE JACKO Yeah. JOEL JACKO All potatoes and onions and stuff can go in there too. JACQUELINE JACKO Yay! JOEL JACKO Thanks for the help, stacking in there. That's good. JACQUELINE JACKO Yeah, I'm excited. JOEL JACKO Good. JACQUELINE JACKO Thanks! JOEL JACKO Yeah, you guys better pick some more blueberries. Get back out there. ANZLIE JACKO You should get back out there! JOEL JACKO With your five-gallon (18 liters) buckets and fill 'em up. LOUISE MOSES You girls want to gather some wood up, get ready to make a fire. AMIYA STRASSBURG I got lots of wood. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Best way to protect our lifestyle is just being out here and showing my children how to live this lifestyle. Showing the rest of the world that we do use this land. We do kill and eat these animals. It's the only way we thrive and survive out here. MARVIN AGNOT For me every day is a blessing to wake up. JEANETTA Hi baby Boy. What is this? ISAAC Deer. JEANETTA Deer, thank you. MARVIN AGNOT Being with good company and watch the next generation move up, that means quite a bit to me. It's all good adventure. JOEL JACKO I think one of the biggest things with all this is kinda passing on my knowledge to my daughter. I gotta figure out how to do this and now I'm teaching Anzlie how to do it and hopefully they'll pass it on too and it's pretty big to me. GAGE HOFFMAN Now it definitely feels like moose season now. Finally gonna eat some spruce chicken. We'll have lots of energy for tomorrow morning. AVERY HOFFMAN Uh-hmm. GAGE HOFFMAN When we're out here living the subsistence lifestyle and practicing our culture, it makes me feel a lot more in touch with those who did it before me. AVERY HOFFMAN Cheers. GAGE HOFFMAN Eating 'em. AVERY HOFFMAN Uh-hmm. GAGE HOFFMAN That's good stuff. Just a sense of connectivity with the land, with my culture, with my family and with my ancestors. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG In all over the world, all us indigenous people we honor the land, honor the animals. We pay full respect to everything that we harvest. We just try to live off the land and give it to our children as good as we got it. [SNAP IN] JACQUELINE JACKO We're almost there. Come, good boy. ANZLIE JACKO How many steps do you think we took? JACQUELINE JACKO Oh, a thousand? JACQUELINE JACKO While Joel's working on the root cellar, Anzlie and I are gonna go pick berries. ANZLIE JACKO I can see our house over there. Can I see? JACQUELINE JACKO Yeah. ANZLIE JACKO Kinda boulder. JACQUELINE JACKO Wanna go look over there, huh? ANZLIE JACKO Uh-huh. JACQUELINE JACKO It's something Anzlie really good at and we need a little bit of a mommy and daughter break. Look at those. ANZLIE JACKO Uh-huh. JACQUELINE JACKO Nice, oh yeah. Whoa. You rolled right off of that. Going out with Anzlie and in picking berries, it's really not how many berries we're gonna get. Oh look, there's some right here. ANZLIE JACKO Oh yeah, I see some. JACQUELINE JACKO Look at those. ANZLIE JACKO Can I pick, oh? JACQUELINE JACKO Yeah. It's really just about the adventure and being together and discovering new things and talking to each other. ANZLIE JACKO I want to pick a bunch of them for Tracker because he loves these berries. JACQUELINE JACKO Now we're picking berries for Tracker? Anzlie is determined and she's brave. She's funny, she finds joy in a lot of things. Oh my goodness. ANZLIE JACKO There's so many blueberries. JACQUELINE JACKO Look. ANZLIE JACKO My hand is almost over filling. JACQUELINE JACKO She's an amazing little girl and I'm so proud of her. There's really no one like her, especially at the age of seven. Well this is looking good. ANZLIE JACKO Uh-huh. JACQUELINE JACKO I think we did pretty good. ANZLIE JACKO Yeah. JACQUELINE JACKO Should we start heading home and show daddy our loot. ANZLIE JACKO Yup. JACQUELINE JACKO Yeah? ANZLIE JACKO Yip. JACQUELINE JACKO You think he's gonna be proud of us? ANZLIE JACKO Yeah. JACQUELINE JACKO Okay, let's go. Let's get outta here. ANZLIE JACKO Now we have to walk two-hundred steps again. JACQUELINE JACKO Yeah. Here we go tracker, come on. [END]