ANA_HOFFMAN AVERY_HOFFMAN DONENE_ELUSKA EVAN_STRASSBURG GAGE_HOFFMAN ISAAC JAMEY_JOSEPH JODY_POTTS_JOSEPH JULIANA_PHILLIPS JUSTIN_PHILLIPS MARVIN_AGNOT STEVEN_TIG_STRASSBURG STOSH_HOFFMAN GAGE HOFFMAN It's getting brighter. AVERY HOFFMAN Awesome. GAGE HOFFMAN Heck yeah, daylight of moose hunting. GAGE HOFFMAN The plan this morning was to drift down to that spot? AVERY HOFFMAN Where we seen that little bull. GAGE HOFFMAN Drift down four or five bends, sit there for a while. In the pre-season we spotted a bull moose four bends down from our cabin. So, our game plan is to drift to that point to try to run into him again. AVERY HOFFMAN Coming out of the slough, let's go stealth mode. AVERY HOFFMAN Right now, we are in Takotna, Alaska. AVERY HOFFMAN This is where my dad grew up hunting when he was small, and he wanted us to have the same memories as he did. GAGE HOFFMAN Beavers everywhere. AVERY HOFFMAN Beavers all over the place. GAGE HOFFMAN Guess those beavers are on the same schedule as moose. AVERY HOFFMAN You're funny. GAGE HOFFMAN Still pretty dark, gotta make sure we correctly identify them. AVERY HOFFMAN Don't want to shoot the cow, huh? GAGE HOFFMAN Yeah. We're gonna after the bulls and leave the cows alone in hopes that moose population continues to grow so the next generation can enjoy it as well. GAGE HOFFMAN Getting close. AVERY HOFFMAN After this stretch. GAGE HOFFMAN Yeah. AVERY HOFFMAN Calf, a calf! Calf, calf, calf. GAGE HOFFMAN Moose! Whoa. There's a cow. AVERY HOFFMAN Oh, man, if only that was a bull. GAGE HOFFMAN I know. Man. AVERY HOFFMAN Good sign that they're up and moving this morning. GAGE HOFFMAN Yeah. AVERY HOFFMAN Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! GAGE HOFFMAN That's a bear! AVERY HOFFMAN No, I thought I'd seen horns. Hold on. He'll come back out. GAGE HOFFMAN Wanna do a call? Let's, let's park. Get ready. AVERY HOFFMAN Gage. Gage. AVERY HOFFMAN Uh, there's a moose in here. GAGE HOFFMAN I think it was a bear. AVERY HOFFMAN Pretty sure. GAGE HOFFMAN Probably a little calf or, or a bear. AVERY HOFFMAN You ready? AVERY HOFFMAN He'll probably be right here when we come back up. GAGE HOFFMAN It wasn't. It was either a bear or a calf. AVERY HOFFMAN It wasn't a bear, I know that for sure. GAGE HOFFMAN This is when everything starts to look like moose out there. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG A few years ago. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG I was driving here, and I'd thought I'd seen a good patch of trees. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG From the bank they look nice and dry. But who knows they could just be little sticks. Keep an eye out there should be a good little patch around here some place. We're always preparing for the next season. Today my son Evan and I, we're gonna head upriver. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG With the hopes of finding a good spot to get some firewood. The little ones tend to get cold, that negative seventy-five finds any little crack and crevasse in the house and starts pouring through. So, what you typically wanna look for is standing dry trees that died on their own, they're standing up still. It's nice and clean, burns hot. EVAN STRASSBURG Are we gonna try to get farther in the woods or closer to the river? STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Kinda lazy I wouldn't mind finding right on top of the bank. EVAN STRASSBURG Would those be them? STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Oh, yeah. We're gonna attempt to build a raft out of our firewood. It's a good easy was to get a lot of wood in one shot. Use the river to float that wood right on home. Be careful coming in hot. Building the raft, it's nothing new for our people but it's kinda new for myself. I've done this a long time ago when I was in high school but there will be some learning along the way. Oh, yeah, I think this is the ones I'd seen. We're close to the river. This is a damn good one. Yeah look, this is the spot I believe Evan. Pretty lucky find right here. Next step is gonna be getting the chain saw out and cutting all this underbrush out of the way. Make sure our work area is nice and clean. This way we'll have no problem pulling them off of the bank. The more work we put in, in the beginning, the less work we're gonna have to do throughout the whole process. Got some of the brush cleared out, look at this nice one that, fell down by itself. EVAN STRASSBURG Nice and hidden. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG We got pretty much the prep work done. EVAN STRASSBURG Okay, I'll get this last one real quick. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG All right. EVAN STRASSBURG Yeah. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Tress coming down! EVAN STRASSBURG Falling. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Out of the way. Woo! We'll take the bigger of the trees that we got here in the area, gonna cut those into the sixteen foots (4 meters) that what's gonna be the base of my raft. We'll see if this is gonna work out in the woods here. It worked. EVAN STRASSBURG That's easier than I expected. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Yeah. Eight more to go. MARVIN AGNOT You got all your lumber here for your smoke house Justi. MARVIN AGNOT At least we got a little break between fishing and it's that time of the year to start thinking of uh, making smoke salmon. MARVIN AGNOT and salt fish and I ordered a brand-new smoke house. Smoked fish is a nice staple, you freeze it, do your vacuum pack and preserve it for winter supply. Maybe we'll cut them. MARVIN AGNOT This is gonna be really beneficial for his family every year. JUSTIN PHILLIPS It's a good indication when fall is here when we see three smoke houses going. MARVIN AGNOT Right on the nose. We're square as can be now, we'll get some gravel. Fill the holes in and then we'll be able to build right after that. Okay, it's coming together pretty nice. A smoke house is something that I've never had, always went to other people and was always when they wanted to do it. A little rain coming huh? JUSTIN PHILLIPS Little bit. MARVIN AGNOT We'll put the door over here, right? JUSTIN PHILLIPS Yeah. MARVIN AGNOT Okay. Weather changes very quick around here and it gets very rough. This is gonna be the window that's going. Smoke house is multipurpose. It has a storage after smoking, He can hang his deer in there come wintertime and just the benefit of just having that. There's no insulation or nothing and you got vent holes to let some smoke out. There it is. It's looking so much better than my, my house. I might just have to move in here. Yeah. JUSTIN PHILLIPS Yeah. MARVIN AGNOT Well, there's that. JUSTIN PHILLIPS Working with Marvin, he's a lot of help and some good motivation and we can get some pretty good stuff done when just put our heads down and go for it. MARVIN AGNOT That'll do it. Yeah. Very good, Justin. Look at that. It'll withstand our winter weather. JUSTIN PHILLIPS Yep. MARVIN AGNOT Yeah, yeah, good job, Justin. JUSTIN PHILLIPS All done. MARVIN AGNOT Yeah, we're all done, buddy. MARVIN AGNOT Now we are ready for fish. JODY POTTS JOSEPH It'll be nice to be up at the summit today. JAMEY JOSEPH Yeah. JODY POTTS JOSEPH Hopefully we'll get a lot of berries and see some ptarmigan. JAMEY JOSEPH Uh-huh, little smokey though. JODY POTTS JOSEPH We have quite a number of wildfires in interior Alaska. We've had a really hot summer so far; it's caused some really dry conditions. JODY POTTS JOSEPH I don't see any leaves changing color yet so that's nice. JAMEY JOSEPH No. Yeah. JODY POTTS JOSEPH Probably in a couple weeks hopefully. JAMEY JOSEPH Yeah. JAMEY JOSEPH Oh, right there. JODY POTTS JOSEPH Yeah, it's a lot of smoke. Wildfires are pretty common but due to climate change they're a lot more extreme now. It's something that we're having to adjust to and learn about. JAMEY JOSEPH Right there, babe. JODY POTTS JOSEPH Oh, yeah. Grouse. There I got it. Oh, there's another one right there. There's a third one that flew away. I'm gonna let it go. JODY POTTS JOSEPH M�hsi' Choo D�wda???ch?aa JODY POTTS JOSEPH I got two, babe. JAMEY JOSEPH Supper. JODY POTTS JOSEPH Supper. JAMEY JOSEPH Time to go do some berry picking. JODY POTTS JOSEPH It's a good day to be Indigenous. GAGE HOFFMAN Are these some moose tracks right here? AVERY HOFFMAN Yeah. GAGE HOFFMAN Those are pretty fresh. They're from early, early this morning or late last night. Moose hunting is defiantly a mixture of luck and skill. GAGE HOFFMAN Every bend we're thinking that there's a possibility that a bull moose is there. AVERY HOFFMAN There could be one five feet (1 meter) away from us in the willows and we can't even see because the willows are ten feet in the air. There could be a moose in there and we just don't even know yet. AVERY HOFFMAN Generally, these moose come down to get a drink of water. AVERY HOFFMAN Eat the little twigs around the edge of the river. AVERY HOFFMAN We're basically looking for ears or horns. The face looking back at you. They blend in pretty well. GAGE HOFFMAN Hey, turn around! Turn around! Is that a head right there? AVERY HOFFMAN I don't see no head. GAGE HOFFMAN Man, I thought that was ears sticking out a head right there. But just a uniquely looking stump, I guess. Looking for moose can be very taxing on the mind so, takes patience. GAGE HOFFMAN Everything looks like a moose out here now. AVERY HOFFMAN It's a, oh, (bleep)! GAGE HOFFMAN One horned moose! AVERY HOFFMAN One horned moose! GAGE HOFFMAN Hold on, hold on. Get ready. [COMMERCIAL BREAK] GAGE HOFFMAN Get ready, right there. Oh my God. AVERY HOFFMAN Ah, he ran in. Dang, fast. GAGE HOFFMAN He's quick. GAGE HOFFMAN Turned and burned. GAGE HOFFMAN They can truck through those trees, man. It's crazy. It's always great to know that those big game are out and moving. So, we took it as a good sign. AVERY HOFFMAN Well, should we go find another one? GAGE HOFFMAN Keep looking. AVERY HOFFMAN Well, that'll warm you up. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG All right, my boy last one. Agh. Oh, yeah, there we go. We're gonna hit the ground running and start rolling these logs into the river and start trying to build this raft. We'll slide this log this way son. EVAN STRASSBURG Uh-hmm. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG That fat end is gonna go over, we'll swing this end right here and roll it in. I haven't done this in, you know, twenty something years so I am a bit nervous about getting this out there and getting it built. All right my boy, I'm hoping this will go good, we'll find out with this first one. A lot can go wrong you know, I can lose it all it might all float away, I don't know anything can go wrong. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG I'm stepping into unknown territory for myself. You ready? EVAN STRASSBURG Yep. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG All right let's see what the hell happens. No problem my boy that went all right, it's floating, went A-okay I believe. In my head this was gonna be a lot more difficult than I thought, you know, in my head these logs were gonna be jamming into the cut bank, stuck in the mud and rolling too far, trying to float away. Now I'm just gonna continue rolling them in one more, push the that's already in there a little farther tie that together and just continue on. Starting to look like a raft huh, Ev? EVAN STRASSBURG Yep. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Little bit! EVAN STRASSBURG Starting to build up. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG It's quite a bit of firewood. Hey, but those beaver steal my wood. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Edzoo. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Cold. This is a twenty-foot (600 cm) bank right here that we're standing on and only right now eight foot (240 cm) of it is out of the water, So I know I got at least twelve feet (365 cm) of super deep, super cold water below us. If I did happen to slip in there, I can get stuck underneath the logs so we just gotta try to do this as safe as possible. Oh, oh, oh, oh. EVAN STRASSBURG I feel like we have a big haul of wood. All this will help a lot during the winter. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG I'm floating. Look at me a real Tom Sawyer. Might not be the prettiest rope job but we got them tied up. This river is what brings up life, it's giving us life until December. Nice warm healthy life, nothing beats the heat of a wood stove. Easy peasy. EVAN STRASSBURG Lemon squeezy. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG All right, it's time to load up as much as we can. JODY POTTS JOSEPH I say we go away from the road. JAMEY JOSEPH Uh-huh. JODY POTTS JOSEPH So, it's not as, um, dusty berries you know? JAMEY JOSEPH Yeah. JODY POTTS JOSEPH The summit, the high country is a really important place, a place that I've brought my children. There's a lot of bountiful harvest from berries to medicines to caribou. I love the view up here. I always feel right at home when I'm there. JODY POTTS JOSEPH I am home. It's our country. Oh, wow, Jamey, look. This is a nice one. Berries are a very important food source for our people, and it has been for thousands of years. Ah, man this is beautiful, it's perfect. We don't get just enough blueberries just for a day or two, we get enough for the winter. It's a nice addition to our diet and has a lot of nutrition value. If I can get five or six gallons (18 or 22 liters), that would be really, really nice. A lot of times when I'm picking, I always like to just say little prayers of thanks and also just praying that the land stays healthy so it can keep proving for us. Well, I'm gonna leave some. JAMEY JOSEPH Yep. JODY POTTS JOSEPH When I'm picking berries it's meditative, it's healing. I'm hearing some thunder. Hardly see any rain though. Is it moving this way Jamey? JAMEY JOSEPH It looks like it, right there. JODY POTTS JOSEPH We should probably get going cause that storm is moving this way pretty quickly, it's getting dark, so. JAMEY JOSEPH Like a little shower going down on the way down, huh? JODY POTTS JOSEPH I don't wanna get my blueberries wet. JAMEY JOSEPH All right. JODY POTTS JOSEPH Nice bounty huh? JAMEY JOSEPH Yep. JODY POTTS JOSEPH Look over there. JAMEY JOSEPH Over there? Ptarmigan. [COMMERCIAL BREAK] JODY POTTS JOSEPH Got it. Ugh. I got it. Whew. I got this bird and I have another one down there. Thank God for the white or else I wouldn't have seen it. The little patch of white getting close to winter so it's going back to its white color. You always kinda have to be ready because you never know when animals are gonna offer itself to you. Today we're very blessed we got two grouse, two ptarmigan, and two gallons (7 liters) of blueberries. So, everything is just right for a couple. We better get out of this rain before that lightening gets close. MARVIN AGNOT Are you having fun Bigger Boy? ISAAC Yeah. MARVIN AGNOT Are you excited? ISAAC Uh-hmm. MARVIN AGNOT Well, today Justin and Bigger Boy, Donene and I are gonna go get some reds for for the smoke house that we just built. JUSTIN PHILLIPS We get all different species of salmon here. Sockeye has the most red meat of the fish. MARVIN AGNOT That's why we go to this one river because of the concentration of the reds, that�s where everybody go. Well, look at all the fish, Bigger Boy. All the way down the beach. DONENE ELUSKA Look at all the fins right there. MARVIN AGNOT Red, red, red. ISAAC One Jumped on land! JUSTIN PHILLIPS Oh, look at there is a fish on the beach what the hell. DONENE ELUSKA Go get it with your hands, hurry up. You just said you wanted to catch them with your hands. JUSTIN PHILLIPS Make me feel good seeing the kids the way they like to live out here. MARVIN AGNOT You got the first one look at that! JUSTIN PHILLIPS I hope Isaac is gonna wanna stay in the village throughout his life and do exactly what I'm doing. MARVIN AGNOT So cool. You can put it right in there, our tote. the first one. He didn't even use a hook, line, or nothing. Oh, yeah, he'll remember that. MARVIN AGNOT Justin and I are going to be in the skiff and. MARVIN AGNOT Donene and Bigger Boy are going to be the anchor on the beach. We'll just circle the fish with the net and um, pull it in by hand. DONENE ELUSKA Wow, fish almost jumped in the skiff. ISAAC I know. MARVIN AGNOT We'll wrap it right there. Yeah. Whoa. DONENE ELUSKA See and look all this fish right here? ISAAC Uh-huh. DONENE ELUSKA it's gonna be in the net. Hey, you stand on here Bigger Boy I'm gonna go grab the line from daddy. MARVIN AGNOT Pull it in, Justin, pull it in. Tight as you can because we got 'em. We got 'em, we got 'em. Here. JUSTIN PHILLIPS Go ahead. I got it. I got it. MARVIN AGNOT That's good, Justin. Let us build a ledge with you guys and then we'll have a bag. DONENE ELUSKA Put it in the tote, Bigger Boy. Three. ISAAC I got one. Ah! DONENE ELUSKA Four. MARVIN AGNOT Okay. DONENE ELUSKA Five. MARVIN AGNOT Thank you. MARVIN AGNOT Well, I've been a salmon fisherman all my life. MARVIN AGNOT Since I was a child. MARVIN AGNOT It comes in complete circle. MARVIN AGNOT Of how I grew up. JUSTIN PHILLIPS So, there's 50. There you go. MARVIN AGNOT It was entwined into me. Works like a champ. MARVIN AGNOT Now we'll just load our net. MARVIN AGNOT And I hope tomorrow to smoke. Ha, you ready? Very good job. AVERY HOFFMAN It's colder than yesterday. Nice, crisp morning so a lot of moose should be moving today. AVERY HOFFMAN I think I see something way up there. GAGE HOFFMAN It's clearly nothing. AVERY HOFFMAN Nah-uh it looked like something way over there. Like you said, everything turns into moose. GAGE HOFFMAN It is a little more challenging earlier in the season when the moose aren't arete yet. You kinda have to just cross paths with them. Look, a swan! Swans! AVERY HOFFMAN Woah, that's so cool. Two swans. GAGE HOFFMAN All the animals are out. We shoot the first bull we see, we don't pass up anything. GAGE HOFFMAN Because you never know when you'll see another one. We wanna ensure that we have meat for our family and for our elders in our community. So that's something we live by. AVERY HOFFMAN Hey, look, an eagle! Oh, there's a second one! GAGE HOFFMAN Holy cow. Look, they're diving on each other! AVERY HOFFMAN Oh, my, they're flipping! Ha, have you ever seen that? GAGE HOFFMAN No, this is the first time. AVERY HOFFMAN That's insane. Dude, you're gonna get some good luck here. Every year, Gage and I would rotate who's shooting the moose. AVERY HOFFMAN So, we keep it even and fair. I think my dad made it so there'd be less arguments between us. Yeah. GAGE HOFFMAN Maybe check out a meadow. AVERY HOFFMAN Okay. You ready? GAGE HOFFMAN Yeah. At the end of the day, it is about actually getting that moose, so even if it's my turn, I always have him backing me up. If I miss, I want him to shoot too. If he misses, he wants me to shoot. AVERY HOFFMAN Go to the right. AVERY HOFFMAN Go to the right. GAGE HOFFMAN Try calling. AVERY HOFFMAN This meadow, it looks really promising. Nice, tall grass. Little bit of water but the edges are good. GAGE HOFFMAN Avery! GAGE HOFFMAN Try to listen. GAGE HOFFMAN Try to listen. AVERY HOFFMAN You hear something back here? GAGE HOFFMAN I hear branches breaking. AVERY HOFFMAN Oh, I hear it! GAGE HOFFMAN Yeah. [COMMERCIAL BREAK] GAGE HOFFMAN Watch both sides. AVERY HOFFMAN Yeah. GAGE HOFFMAN Stay here. GAGE HOFFMAN It's in here. AVERY HOFFMAN The young bulls this time of year are really cautious. GAGE HOFFMAN I kinda stopped hearing it. Whew, that was crazy. AVERY HOFFMAN Intense. GAGE HOFFMAN A young bull doesn't wanna respond to a cow call because they only wanna challenge a big bull. And there's moose tracks. Ah, great sign. AVERY HOFFMAN Yeah. GAGE HOFFMAN Well, I think we're doing everything right, so we just gotta keep getting after it. DONENE ELUSKA So, Justin, you take the middle out? MARVIN AGNOT Yeah. ISAAC My name is Bob. JUSTIN PHILLIPS It's good working with the family whenever we go out. Every time we do it, somebody has a little role they can do, whether it's cutting, splitting, or just rinsing the fish off. ISAAC Mom, you teach me. DONENE ELUSKA See, look, if you hold it like this, and then your knife glides like right in there. ISAAC Ah, slippery. DONENE ELUSKA Super slippery. DONENE ELUSKA Careful, please don't cut yourself. MARVIN AGNOT It's just the teaching part of the young generation. DONENE ELUSKA You made like a butterfly. Your fillets are extra small but it's okay. Look, Bigger Boy. ISAAC Hm? JULIANA PHILLIPS Your small one will be in the smoke house. Daddy's gonna put them where you can keep an eye on them, okay? ISAAC Okay. JULIANA PHILLIPS 'Cause they're done fast cause they're so small. JUSTIN PHILLIPS Isaac handled it pretty well. JUSTIN PHILLIPS He's doing pretty good I'm proud of him. MARVIN AGNOT Here's our potion. Explosives. The new recipe. The brine to fan it out. Don't wanna over salt it, better to have under salt than too much salt. JUSTIN PHILLIPS There it goes. MARVIN AGNOT Oh, yeah. 'Cause then, you can't take the salt out. And it's really hard to eat. Now that we got these brining in the salt water here, we're gonna let it soak for one hour and then rinse the remaining salt off and let them drip dry for a night. Start firing tomorrow, buddy. JUSTIN PHILLIPS Yup. MARVIN AGNOT Good job man very good. One step closer to smoked salmon. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG There's a million different things that can go wrong. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG once we start floating those home, so we just gotta be prepared and be ready. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Every step, make sure you got your foot solid and you're not gonna slip off before you put your weight into it, all right? EVAN STRASSBURG Okay. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Evan's my safety barrier, you know. I'm going to be down there in more dangerous areas I need to cut right next to the water. Be careful, don't extend yourself too much. All right. I'm on. All aboard. Floating good. Hell yeah. I feel better up here. If all else fails, you throw me the paddle, meet you at home. EVAN STRASSBURG Meet you at home. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG I don't really wanna be monkeying with this while we're out there floating in the river and so this is my one shot to make sure that I got it done and done good. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Going to the boat now. I'm gonna pull my boat up and we'll start trying to latch my boat together with this raft. Try to make it one big solid entity, one piece that's gonna move as one. All right. You believe, Evan? EVAN STRASSBURG I believe. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Once I'm out there, if there's any types of mistakes, it's going to be hard to get back there and re-correct. I don't know, son. Figure this someway check. Come step on to right here. EVAN STRASSBURG Okay. Untie first? STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG No. Oh, go ahead. Just come step on and untie it. EVAN STRASSBURG Okay. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Be careful. EVAN STRASSBURG Woah. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Grab on right here. EVAN STRASSBURG This is wobbly. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Yup. We cleared that stump. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Let's see what happens. [COMMERCIAL BREAK] STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Grab that rope, pull it in. Look right here. Whoops, just my head. Hope and a prayer. I think we did it, huh? We're floating, going down river. Hell yeah, my boy. EVAN STRASSBURG With the big load too. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Yeah. We got five hoards of wood back there. Guaranteed your mom is gonna have wood till Christmas. It's looking good, as long as we don't push too hard. Use the motor to steer, I think, my boy, we're gonna be all right. EVAN STRASSBURG All right. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG So much weight is just lifted off my shoulders. It feels great. EVAN STRASSBURG It's pretty important learning these types of skills, to drive a boat, logging. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG This is a lot of wood. This is a lot of work for me and him. He's only 14 years old and he's right in there with me, you know, throwing these big logs around and this is awesome. Look at this. One good trip. I love it. I'm on top of the world! Brought it into the river, next step is we gotta get it out of the river. MARVIN AGNOT On our side of the island, on Kodiak Island, there's a lot of mountains. Rocky hills, no trees. MARVIN AGNOT And low-lying brush. Lot of alder. Good for smoking fish. Very good spot. JUSTIN PHILLIPS Just get some sticks. MARVIN AGNOT Yeah. We'll just get some sticks together and we'll just cut them all down to size after we get done. JUSTIN PHILLIPS Alder wood to me smells the best because it smells sweet compared to all the other wood. MARVIN AGNOT Final stage is making the fire. You let it smoke for seven days and if you miss a day, it'll get sour really quick 'cause it's very warm and humid and damp. This is the start of our success. We got smoke coming out, Justin got the fire going. All he's gotta do is just put the lid on it and shut the door. MARVIN AGNOT Preserve the fish. Preserve the tradition. GAGE HOFFMAN Day three. AVERY HOFFMAN Cold morning. GAGE HOFFMAN Yeah. It's pretty cold, almost frosted. AVERY HOFFMAN Yeah. GAGE HOFFMAN In two days, it will likely be below freezing. AVERY HOFFMAN It's getting bright. Turn off your light. GAGE HOFFMAN I'm gonna see if it's bright enough. GAGE HOFFMAN Easy. We just gotta make sure it's a bull. AVERY HOFFMAN It is very important for our family to get a moose for food security. GAGE HOFFMAN Is that a beaver? Or a stick? GAGE HOFFMAN Beaver. AVERY HOFFMAN If we don't get a moose, there's pressure on me and my brother. AVERY HOFFMAN My eyes are still adjusting. GAGE HOFFMAN I'm locked in. AVERY HOFFMAN But we're usually successful every year. Nice sunrise. GAGE HOFFMAN This is where we saw the little bull? AVERY HOFFMAN Uh-hmm. Watch the willows, see if anything's moving in the willows. GAGE HOFFMAN What do you think I'm doing, Avery? AVERY HOFFMAN Just checking in with you. GAGE HOFFMAN I thought I smelled one for a second. I don't know if it's in our heads, but we sometimes get this smelly moose, moose feeling. AVERY HOFFMAN Just moosey and you think that this is where they're gonna be. GAGE HOFFMAN Where are da moose? What is that? Hey! GAGE HOFFMAN Moose! Moose! AVERY HOFFMAN Hold on! GAGE HOFFMAN Hold on! What is it? GAGE HOFFMAN Hold on! GAGE HOFFMAN You see horns? GAGE HOFFMAN I can't tell. GAGE HOFFMAN It's a cow, I think. AVERY HOFFMAN It's a bull. GAGE HOFFMAN Are you sure? AVERY HOFFMAN I see horns. You see horns? AVERY HOFFMAN It's a bull! GAGE HOFFMAN It's a bull? AVERY HOFFMAN Do you see the horns? AVERY HOFFMAN Shoot it right in the neck. AVERY HOFFMAN I see horns. AVERY HOFFMAN Shoot it! GAGE HOFFMAN Is it for sure? AVERY HOFFMAN Shoot it! GAGE HOFFMAN Avery? AVERY HOFFMAN Shoot it! AVERY HOFFMAN It's a bull! [COMMERCIAL BREAK] AVERY HOFFMAN Nice! GAGE HOFFMAN Woo! AVERY HOFFMAN Let's go. GAGE HOFFMAN Oh, my God. AVERY HOFFMAN I see horns. These young bulls have velvet on their horns still and barely bigger than their ears. GAGE HOFFMAN Oh. Nice young one. AVERY HOFFMAN Good job, brother. GAGE HOFFMAN I wanted to be 100% certain. You never want to shoot a cow moose. I'm excited to see what uh, AVERY HOFFMAN Parents are gonna say? GAGE HOFFMAN They're gonna be happy when we get back. All right. Let's get to work, huh? A strong Yup'ik tradition when it comes to moose hunting is giving respect to the animal. You wanna make sure that all that animal is used. Oh, man, lotta good meet. AVERY HOFFMAN Uh-hmm. We kinda have our distinct rules of when we're butchering a moose. We're gonna use the esophagus, you know, pull out all the guts. GAGE HOFFMAN Avery's pretty good at getting the guts and the esophagus out. AVERY HOFFMAN Gage kinda pulls and lifts. Almost there. Getting there. All right. Let's get the heart, liver. GAGE HOFFMAN That division of labor helps us getting that meat taken care of and put away before bugs get bad. AVERY HOFFMAN With the liver, we fry with the onions but back in the day our grandpa and his brothers eat it with salt raw. GAGE HOFFMAN Yeah. AVERY HOFFMAN In the boat as soon as they get it. GAGE HOFFMAN Yeah. We get the tongue, the heart, the liver and the kidneys. AVERY HOFFMAN Nose, quarters, and the ribs, and the neck, and the head. The ravens already found us. They know that there's gonna be food waiting for them as soon as we leave. The only thing that we really leaving is the esophagus to the stomach and the intestines. GAGE HOFFMAN So, we'll have enough meat to hand out to a few elders in our community and also to put away for our family for the rest of the winter. Last part is cutting the beard off here and throwing it in a tree for good luck. My dad grew up in this area and his Athabaskan friends taught him this. It's supposed to give you good luck for the next moose season. We've been doing it for a while, and we've been very lucky so something we continue to do. AVERY HOFFMAN Good! Let's go. GAGE HOFFMAN Good work. Ugh. Good. AVERY HOFFMAN We got a whole moose in there. GAGE HOFFMAN A little heavier now. AVERY HOFFMAN We probably got like 700 pounds (317 kilograms) of meat right here. GAGE HOFFMAN Yup. AVERY HOFFMAN Good job, Gage. GAGE HOFFMAN We make a good team. AVERY HOFFMAN Yeah. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Hi. You girls will stack this wood for me. Go right in there, start stacking it in the back just like how it is. Personal survival is just going out there and doing what I have to do to get my family through winter. Nothing beats that wood stove. It's amazing. Thank you, girls. It would of took me another extra hour if I was doing this by myself so thank you, my girls. Made easy work out of that. Oh, ouch. Not so hard. Ouch, not so hard. Ouch, not so hard! JODY POTTS JOSEPH We put in some work, and we had a good harvest. Now, I can make a nice meal and have a cozy evening with food from the land. Okay. Now I gotta add the sugar. For up here in the north, it's one of those tastes of fall. It's not pumpkin spice, it's blueberry jam and fresh meat. I'm feeling pretty good about where at in our winter preparations. This is enough fry bread for the whole tribe. I'm just so thankful how the land provides and cares for us. This is why I fight so hard to protect our lands. MARVIN AGNOT There you go. That's what I've been waiting for. I've been waiting for you all day till after school. They said you were gonna bring me some treat. JUSTIN PHILLIPS It's great to have him apart of all the success we're doing. MARVIN AGNOT This is the one you caught on the beach. I get to watch Justin and his babies grow up. To be a part of where I'm still learning and teaching with them. And that brings joy to me. You're a really good provider, Bigger Boy. So tasty. STOSH HOFFMAN Looks like they got a moose. ANA HOFFMAN Oh, yeah, look. Big catch. STOSH HOFFMAN Woah. Speck pork. ANA HOFFMAN Awesome. STOSH HOFFMAN Yup. They got one. It's real important to teach the kids the cultural values. STOSH HOFFMAN I think they've embraced most of it. AVERY HOFFMAN Yup. STOSH HOFFMAN Substance is just regular everyday living for us. Yeah. The meat looks good, guys. AVERY HOFFMAN I'm glad it's all hung. STOSH HOFFMAN Let's clean up and go have breakfast. AVERY HOFFMAN Yup. GAGE HOFFMAN Yeah. STOSH HOFFMAN All right. AVERY HOFFMAN Having these experiences with my brother, it really goes a long ways and memories. GAGE HOFFMAN I picture myself one day sitting around a campfire with him when we're old and hope to keep it going and send it to the next generation. [SNAP-IN] JODY POTTS JOSEPH Oh, nice. These are the nice oblong-shaped blueberries. They almost have like a sweet vanilla-y flavor. Here's like a ordinary round, here's one that's more oblong. Harvesting food from the land is just a part of our way of life and our culture whether it's berries, meat, fish, medicines, teas. It's a part of my relationship to the land and really, you know, a responsibility to my people and my family to continue with that way of life. So, I'm using a birch bark basket that was gifted to me at a potlatch. I really like using this for picking berries 'cause it's a traditional basket that my people make and use. And it's made out of birch bark and then there's red willow and spruce roots for the stitching. And it's all natural, obviously, so hopefully this will be a basket I can hand down to my daughter and my granddaughters that they could use one day to pick berries. So, yeah. This is a really special basket. A lot of my life for the last 20 years has completely revolved around taking care of my children and so it's a new thing for me to be an empty nester. When or if it's ever done with its life, it will not be just trash like plastic used up it'll just be a part of the earth which is really nice, so. I'm defiantly trying to go more towards like using more of our traditional goods and wears because it's just natural.