ANA_HOFFMAN AVERY_HOFFMAN CAPT_JOHN_WATT DANIEL_APASSINGOK ERMAN_WORKER EVAN_STRASSBURG GAGE_HOFFMAN HAZEL_STRASSBURG JODY_POTTS_JOSEPH JOEL_JACKO JOHN_PINGAYAK JUSTIN_PHILLIPS LOUISE_MOSES MARCELLA MARVIN_AGNOT NALU_DANIELLE_APPASINGOK PANITA_PINGAYAK PRODUCER QUANNAH SINGER SONNA_BOY STEVEN_TIG_STRASSBURG STOSH_HOFFMAN TERESA_PINGAYAK SONNA BOY Hey hey, right there! Over there. Shoot! JOHN PINGAYAK One day when I was a boy my grandfather, he said. JOHN PINGAYAK When our creator. JOHN PINGAYAK Made Alaska. JOHN PINGAYAK I was part of it. And I am the master of this land. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG No matter where we come from, interior, in the costal, down south, we all came from strong indigenous people. JODY POTTS JOSEPH Our people have thrived in a challenging environment. DANIEL APASSINGOK It's something that we learned from the elders. MARVIN AGNOT The best way I've learned is from stories. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG We listened to these stories and learn from them. Where to go and get game. DANIEL APASSINGOK How to shoot in a boat. MARCELLA AMODO-WHITE How to harvest. ANA HOFFMAN My mom taught us how to cut fish. JOEL JACKO How to survive out here. JODY POTTS JOSEPH How to thrive in this environment. How to honor it. LOUISE MOSES Stories about helping others. JOHN PINGAYAK About drumming and singing. SINGER [singing foreign language] TERESA PINGAYAK It's very important that our stories are passed on from generation to generation. JOHN PINGAYAK Story telling has to be taught because you revive the spirit of our people. JOHN PINGAYAK The sharing is part of our life. SONNA BOY You got it. JOHN PINGAYAK All right. JOHN PINGAYAK We need to go back and get the knives and stuff and go, let's go cut it up. SONNA BOY Kay. JOHN PINGAYAK My physical capabilities is not where it used to be. PANITA PINGAYAK They're coming back right now. TERESA PINGAYAK Okay. JOHN PINGAYAK But when I see a tuntuvak, JOHN PINGAYAK I become a man that can do all things. TERESA PINGAYAK Ah! PANITA PINGAYAK Woo woo! TERESA PINGAYAK Yay. JOHN PINGAYAK Oh, it's a big one. TERESA PINGAYAK Oh. JOHN PINGAYAK I feel just rejuvenated, stronger. You know what I'm gonna do? TERESA PINGAYAK Dedicate it to me? No. JOHN PINGAYAK We gotta go over there and harvest it. TERESA PINGAYAK Okay. So exciting, come on let's go. MARVIN AGNOT Beautiful day Justin. JUSTIN PHILLIPS Yep. MARVIN AGNOT It'll be our last fishing opener for the season. MARVIN AGNOT It's been a pretty slow fishing year all over, bad price. MARVIN AGNOT Now the fish are showing up and they extended the season for another thirty-three hours. Basically, I got thirty-three hours to get what I'm gonna get. I've been a commercial salmon fisherman all my life since I was a child. But I was always a crew member. This year I got the permit in my name. I'm entitled to the full 100% of it. MARVIN AGNOT Coming up on our tie-up lines. I got a new location from the previous spot I set. The previous time I set, I struggled. We had catastrophes. MARVIN AGNOT I gotta pull my net. I lost an anchor. You know at the end of those catastrophes, you know we see what we are doing, and the potential is still there, we just gotta go out and get it. Deadly? JUSTIN PHILLIPS Yeah. MARVIN AGNOT We just gotta grind until the grinding is done. JUSTIN PHILLIPS All right. MARVIN AGNOT Pull it nice and tight, huh. JUSTIN PHILLIPS Yeah. MARVIN AGNOT I'm hoping my running line is all tight and the anchors grab. What I've done this summer I went all out I bought all brand-new gear, new net, new anchor new line and new stuff. It's the resources I'm building a little at a time to make it. Well, we'll just let it fish till change of tide. I'm happy for how it came out, took a little bit but now we just let her fish. GAGE HOFFMAN Coming. There's gonna be, hold on hold on. Hold on! GAGE HOFFMAN It's gonna dump. AVERY HOFFMAN No, it's not. Woo! GAGE HOFFMAN Good, good, good, good. GAGE HOFFMAN We're here in Takotna at our moose camp. We have a cabin, a meat shed and a little freezer van for storage. GAGE HOFFMAN One thing we're missing is a steambath or a maqivik. AVERY HOFFMAN A maqivik is a traditional self-sustained way to be cleaning yourself when there's no water around. We're building it for my mom. AVERY HOFFMAN I personally prefer a shower, but we grew up using a maqivik. Dude, that is perfectly level. STOSH HOFFMAN Yeah, it worked out the gravel made a, made a good foundation. AVERY HOFFMAN I didn't expect it to level right off the bat, experts. STOSH HOFFMAN Beginners luck. Yeah, it looks really good guys. We just gotta make sure it's square and it needs to be a true eight feet wide by sixteen so that our plywood fits on without cutting the plywood. GAGE HOFFMAN Stosh of course has a lot more building experience than my brother and I. STOSH HOFFMAN You want the crown facing up. AVERY HOFFMAN It's always my dad's design but Gage and I are always there to critique it a bit. You're one sixteenth off. STOSH HOFFMAN Yeah, it's good. Now we're gonna put the deck on top of the beams. GAGE HOFFMAN The wood stove is gonna sit on the ground here? STOSH HOFFMAN Yep, the wood stove gonna sit right here, the stack's gonna be right here and we're gonna do the walls. Gonna be six-foot (2 meter) walls, so we need to go six minus seventy two minus three� sixty nine right? AVERY HOFFMAN What? STOSH HOFFMAN Yep. ANA HOFFMAN Taking a steam is traditional for Yup'ik people. Taking a maqivik is more than just cleansing your physical self. When you're in the hot part of the steam you're just trying to endure the heat. And then when you come out to the cooling part of the maqivik, you're just so thankful for the coolness and the breeze. So, this maqivik, it'll be a place to recharge. STOSH HOFFMAN Okay hold on. Let's make sure it's level now. GAGE HOFFMAN Hold on right there. AVERY HOFFMAN A little more. GAGE HOFFMAN No. AVERY HOFFMAN It's touching this line. GAGE HOFFMAN It's barely touching that line. Go. AVERY HOFFMAN Perfect. GAGE HOFFMAN Whatever, we're touching the other side now. It doesn't matter. STOSH HOFFMAN Okay. AVERY HOFFMAN Am not. Not touching no sides. GAGE HOFFMAN Yeah, ya are. AVERY HOFFMAN No, we're not. GAGE HOFFMAN Yeah, we are. AVERY HOFFMAN Nope. STOSH HOFFMAN The next wall should go up pretty quick, but no one has to argue about it for a half hour, it'll take us five minutes to do it. GAGE HOFFMAN Better get a move on. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Quite a ways out now, man every bends starts looking real promising. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG I remember all the different places I've seen moose before, right back there I know I've seen a few. LOUISE MOSES There's a lot of work to be done before a long winter and we're hoping we can fill up our freezers. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Maybe climb a lookout point, maybe check some lakes. LOUISE MOSES A lot of things are Hutlaanee we don't say we're gonna go out hunting for moose. LOUISE MOSES We say we're gonna go for a ride, it's fall time we all know what we're all going out there for. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG When we do have moose meat, we'll go through about three pounds (one kilogram) of moose meat a day. Seven kids, usually we don't have any leftovers. I have gone out already, me and my daughters. We did see some moose, but we didn't have any success yet. There's no giving up this time of the year. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Got my moose call. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Got my rifle. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Got my honey. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Can't forget you. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Let's go! Blonde hair. Bears been using this to scratch on for a while. LOUISE MOSES Having a hard time this fall. It's a little disheartening that we're not seeing anything. It's kinda sad that we're not having any luck. I'd like to have some luck. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG All kinds of little. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Lookout points all over the place. LOUISE MOSES I was just thinking that must have been really important long ago STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Mm hm. LOUISE MOSES To where if they even seen one back here, they'd still go after it. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Get up high and see what the raven sees. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG See that Dotson', came to us and then took off that way calling. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG There's a bull back here. [COMMERCIAL BREAK] STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Our wind is blowing directly towards him. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Yep, he caught our scent. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Boogied on out. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG As soon as he caught our wind STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Our scent. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG He took off. LOUISE MOSES Gives me hope though, you know. LOUISE MOSES God, that got exciting. LOUISE MOSES Wait a little longer, maybe we'll� LOUISE MOSES Have something come out. TERESA PINGAYAK Where's the moose at? You see any berries? PANITA PINGAYAK I didn't look. JOHN PINGAYAK The moose that I caught, we're gonna work on it, process it. TERESA PINGAYAK Go cut the jugular vein right now. JOHN PINGAYAK Yeah. TERESA PINGAYAK It's been in the sun. It can't boil in the sun. TERESA PINGAYAK It's very warm outside so they need to take care of that right away. JOHN PINGAYAK Our catch will keep us sustained for wintertime. And whoever needs part of that in Chevak, we can give it away. I think we're gonna get it done in no time. Right Sonna Boy? SONNA BOY Yeah. TERESA PINGAYAK Let's pick cranberries while the men are out working on the moose. Mm my favorite berries, the cranberry. These are high in vitamin C, they're a good medicinal berry. TERESA PINGAYAK So that's one of the reasons why we like to have some bags in my freezer. Use some and save some for the long winter. Right now, it's the last of the year where you do the final push to get what you need for the winter. Oo, it's a moose maybe. PANITA PINGAYAK Is it? TERESA PINGAYAK Yeah. On the bushes on this side, right there. PANITA PINGAYAK It's a muskox. TERESA PINGAYAK It is a muskox, Panita. TERESA PINGAYAK He can live. TERESA PINGAYAK We don't over kill. TERESA PINGAYAK We take what we need. TERESA PINGAYAK Let the rest be. You know when we come out here, we never know what we're going to see. Don't just be picking berries with your head to the ground. SONNA BOY Damn this is heavy. TERESA PINGAYAK Hey guys look, look how much berries we got. JOHN PINGAYAK Ah. TERESA PINGAYAK Look at that. JOHN PINGAYAK Let me have a handful right now. TERESA PINGAYAK Not right now. JOHN PINGAYAK Ha wowee! TERESA PINGAYAK Good to go. Are you fully satisfied now a hundred percent. JOHN PINGAYAK I am totally, totally satisfied. TERESA PINGAYAK The hunt is done. STOSH HOFFMAN Okay, we're going up guys, ready? One, two, three go! AVERY HOFFMAN Hey hold on. AVERY HOFFMAN Good window height. STOSH HOFFMAN Can you see our moose? AVERY HOFFMAN Not yet. GAGE HOFFMAN We got both the long walls framed and floor done, and the window framed so I think we're past the hard part. AVERY HOFFMAN It's been a process. It's been two steps forward, one step back, especially if you're trying to reassess, make sure everything's the correct length, and yeah. You want the door that big? GAGE HOFFMAN Yeah look, go down there and open the door and then come in. There. AVERY HOFFMAN Yeah, but you're gonna hit your head. GAGE HOFFMAN Fifty-five (139 cm)? AVERY HOFFMAN No, we're going sixty (152 cm). GAGE HOFFMAN No. AVERY HOFFMAN Why. GAGE HOFFMAN That's ridiculous. I'd say hunting is a little easier to do as a family activity. Every now and then I get annoyed or irritated from these bugs or my brother. GAGE HOFFMAN I just remind myself that this Maqivik is gonna make my mom really happy, so. AVERY HOFFMAN Hey, there's ducks right there. There's ducks, there's ducks right there. GAGE HOFFMAN Where? AVERY HOFFMAN Straight across. Come on. AVERY HOFFMAN Let's just drift down and shoot them as we drift past them. AVERY HOFFMAN Ready? GAGE HOFFMAN Yeah. AVERY HOFFMAN Grab the oar. [COMMERCIAL BREAK] GAGE HOFFMAN Okay, you got 'em both with that shot. Good shot. GAGE HOFFMAN Well, it's like going to the grocery store. ANA HOFFMAN [speaking foreign language] Qavcinek? ANA HOFFMAN Two? Perfect. ANA HOFFMAN [speaking foreign language] Quyanavaa! ANA HOFFMAN We'll eat duck soup. AVERY HOFFMAN Mm hm. GAGE HOFFMAN Whip up some lunch and get back to working on the maqivik. JOHN PINGAYAK We just don't set net any old place. Sonna Boy where we're gonna be setting this net, I learned it from my grandpa. JOHN PINGAYAK When they used to come here to this place. JOHN PINGAYAK To fish white fish and pike. JOHN PINGAYAK We'll need to go across there set this net overnight and see how much we caught. JOHN PINGAYAK All right? SONNA BOY Yeah. TERESA PINGAYAK Today is a good day. TERESA PINGAYAK Subsistence food is our security for the winter to come. JOHN PINGAYAK Okay. JOHN PINGAYAK Qagateq is the spawning area for, for the fish. JOHN PINGAYAK This is where my ancestors came and fished during fall time. Close one eye. Fall time they come out abundantly. Whenever you're ready Sonna Boy, okay? And we cut 'em up, dry them and save these for winter. Winter food. TERESA PINGAYAK That's perfect. JOHN PINGAYAK I hope we get lots. I live on the tundra. That land trusts me. Trusts my soul spirit. My subsistence way of life, it was taught from one generation to another for thousands of years. It's very important for me, it keeps me alive, and our families and our communities. Our survival is our land. Going to check the net, it's been overnight. SONNA BOY Yeah, about thirteen hours. TERESA PINGAYAK Is there lots? I see pike. PANITA PINGAYAK Yeah. JOHN PINGAYAK Wow, look at that. PANITA PINGAYAK Agh. TERESA PINGAYAK Panita, let me see, how many fish do you think we got? PANITA PINGAYAK Maybe twelve. TERESA PINGAYAK That's good enough for tonight. JOHN PINGAYAK We'll go back to camp. TERESA PINGAYAK Yeah. JOHN PINGAYAK Okay. TERESA PINGAYAK Let's get to work. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Well, we took a pretty long ride yesterday, I got pretty tired. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG We went quite a ways out there, didn't have any luck. LOUISE MOSES Every year I wish it would be easier. LOUISE MOSES I'm always hopeful that one of these years we'll take a short ride, drive around the bend maybe and have a moose just on a bar. It's never that easy for us though, we always have to go drive many miles, check every river. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Remember that little lake where we called one out with the girls last year? LOUISE MOSES Yeah. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Big monster bull. Well, nobody did get that guy outta there. Man, a bull that size he probably got three inches (7 centimeters) of fat on his rump. LOUISE MOSES Living out here you gotta know how far you can push yourself, how far you can go. Know when to call it quits. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG I'm not giving up. I'm taking Louise to another lake where we called one out last year. There's always some good moose sign in there. The last year I had my daughters and Louise in there and we're able to call out a really big bull. We didn't get to connect with him, but I have hopes he might still be in the same area. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG I hear something in the water over here. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG You hear it? LOUISE MOSES Yeah. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG There's that big boy! LOUISE MOSES That's where he came from last year! STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG That's a seventy. LOUISE MOSES You think so? STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG That thing is huge. LOUISE MOSES He's just on the other side. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG It's kind of a long shot. Two hundred and seventy yards (246 meters). I got a whole adrenaline going on right now. [COMMERCIAL BREAK] STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG See that tall tree? LOUISE MOSES Yeah. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Right back over there! LOUISE MOSES Steven. Oh. Oh yeah. Oh no. LOUISE MOSES I'm lost. Dad? LOUISE MOSES Trying to see if there's any tracks. Steven? What the (bleep). (bleep). I've never seen a den before, and don't want to see one that close. That was scary. Steven! There you are. You're okay? STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Think I got a complete miss here. I can see the water in the grass where he ran through, there's absolutely no blood. In the worst-case scenario that's the best case, you know at least I didn't wound a moose. That was a good opportunity to fill our freezers and make sure my families gonna eat right for the rest of the winter. LOUISE MOSES I picked some cranberries. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Kule. LOUISE MOSES So, what do you think? Do you think after shooting it would still be worth it trying to come up here tomorrow? STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG I think we'll still come back and. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Try it out. Being the sole provider for my family, it does put a big weight on my shoulder to be successful out here and make sure you know we are gonna get some food for the winter. Sun's going down, we better make our way back to the boat and we'll try again here another time. I'm carrying a lot of kids and my honey on my shoulders, and it weighs me down. Some days it gets, it gets hard to get outta bed, but you know I realize how much people are relying on me so I just gotta keep going at it. I just gotta go out there and get this done. TERESA PINGAYAK [singing] Gone are the days when I used to cut all the fish. TERESA PINGAYAK [singing] Now here we are with the children are helping. TERESA PINGAYAK We got some pike with the nice weather, I told John why don't you put your fish net out and get some more pike. SONNA BOY They're gonna be happy. TERESA PINGAYAK John made there kegginaleks for me. JOHN PINGAYAK That's a really big one. JOHN PINGAYAK We're going to eat you. TERESA PINGAYAK I've been doing this since I was able to because my mom passed away when I was fourteen. When I was a little girl when the men were at the cannery, the women would do the fishing. They'd use those kayaks, set up the nets and just get a lot of salmon in those days. Very independent, strong women. SONNA BOY That's a lot of pike. JOHN PINGAYAK Ten. Let's go. SONNA BOY We got a lot. PANITA PINGAYAK Oh good. JOHN PINGAYAK Wow, awesome. Wow. Teresa, they look really really good. TERESA PINGAYAK They are. JOHN PINGAYAK Gonna be awesome when they dry. The resources that are here, they are all mine, part of our ancestry. I've become self-sufficient from being right here. MARVIN AGNOT The nets been out about six hours. MARVIN AGNOT So that's usually about the time I try to pick it, around change of tide. It's been a very slow year for everyone. We are coming into start of fall, we don't know if this is gonna be our last opener. Are you ready? JUSTIN PHILLIPS Yeah. JUSTIN PHILLIPS All the species of fish that we're catching come in all different runs but we're trying to target the money fish which is the sockeye. The sockeye has the most red meat of the fish. Marvin getting this permit in the family will be a good investment for the future. It's like straight. MARVIN AGNOT I am ready to pick. Is there anything here? JUSTIN PHILLIPS No. MARVIN AGNOT Nothing here. This is the part of fishing that we gotta take the good with the bad otherwise we'll always feel bad expecting good all the time. Snagged up, was this net on the bottom or what. JUSTIN PHILLIPS Fishing is always a gamble you can make money every year, you could not make money you just never know. MARVIN AGNOT Little patience. I think we got something. [COMMERCIAL BREAK] JUSTIN PHILLIPS Hello down there. MARVIN AGNOT Yeah! JUSTIN PHILLIPS We got a few in the corner. MARVIN AGNOT We got a few in the corner, eh? All right here we go. Fish are here to save the day. MARVIN AGNOT Nice red. MARVIN AGNOT Oh yeah, this corner and the other one Juti. Lot of humpies here, lot of humpies. MARVIN AGNOT Red, red, red Juti, huh? [singing] Deadly redly, deadly redly. You don't wanna sing that song? You ready to go to the tender. Now we're gonna go deliver our fish to the Ermine, and we'll just turn right around. I think I got time to go and pick one more time cause it's gonna close tonight. Hi John! CAPT JOHN WATT Hey Marvin, Justin. MARVIN AGNOT Beautiful day out huh? CAPT JOHN WATT Looks like good fishing too. MARVIN AGNOT Yeah. They are gonna close us down at six o'clock, so we are in a little hurry. What time is it, John? If you don't mind me asking. CAPT JOHN WATT It's about a quarter to two. MARVIN AGNOT Quarter to two? Wow that's the part I'm concerned about. ERMAN WORKER All right hook coming down you guys. MARVIN AGNOT The process is they put a crane with a scale and lift our brailer bag out of the skiff to tell you how much weight of fish you got that's where the money is you know? JOHN PINGAYAK Nine hundred pounds (408 kilograms) of reds Marv. MARVIN AGNOT Well, that's a good one. We're happy. JOHN PINGAYAK That's a good one right there yeah. MARVIN AGNOT All right thank you. We'll see you guys at the rebound okay. JOHN PINGAYAK Six o'clock comes quick. MARVIN AGNOT Exactly. MARVIN AGNOT You know that's what I'm. MARVIN AGNOT Squeezing time. We got some seas buddy. JUSTIN PHILLIPS We're not calling it off quite yet. GAGE HOFFMAN Yeah, I'm looking good here. GAGE HOFFMAN Last one. GAGE HOFFMAN All right, trusses are up. AVERY HOFFMAN I like it. GAGE HOFFMAN It's looking like a Maqivik now. GAGE HOFFMAN Now we're gonna throw the plywood on and done with the roof. STOSH HOFFMAN Slide it up. AVERY HOFFMAN Nurture and preserving native traditions has always been a topic on my mind. Growing up, speaking the language, learning the cultures. Just being able to pass it down to my kids one day is all that I want to do. GAGE HOFFMAN This is major progress though. AVERY HOFFMAN Mm hm. Can't wait to get down. A little scary up here. STOSH HOFFMAN Okay guys, we're almost done. AVERY HOFFMAN What are you cutting out? STOSH HOFFMAN Oh, this is the window and then we'll put up the gable in for the door here after this. GAGE HOFFMAN Okay. STOSH HOFFMAN Okay, see if I can follow a straight line. AVERY HOFFMAN Better put your reading glasses on. STOSH HOFFMAN The boys have their own personalities. They're both men now. We have three different perspectives or three different opinions. Your side is not square Avery. Okay, right there. AVERY HOFFMAN It's a little off. GAGE HOFFMAN Oh my gosh. STOSH HOFFMAN So, we decided we normally argue about it for a little while, all in fun nothing serious but we come to a conclusion, a consensus and it usually works out well. Hope it fits. Okay, here we go. ANA HOFFMAN Moment of truth right here. STOSH HOFFMAN Uh oh. Here we go. ANA HOFFMAN Looks good. STOSH HOFFMAN Feels good. ANA HOFFMAN Working together as a family is really what this is all about. STOSH HOFFMAN Yeah. ANA HOFFMAN Wee, look at that. STOSH HOFFMAN What you think? ANA HOFFMAN Assikaqa. STOSH HOFFMAN Gonna work? ANA HOFFMAN Uh huh. STOSH HOFFMAN We'll get the boys and get the stove in. Watch the chimney, don't let it hit the door. ANA HOFFMAN To be together, share stories with each other, tease each other, it's more meaningful when you do it together as a family. It's really is a part of who we are. Okay, let's fire it up. AVERY HOFFMAN Oh, it's ripping. ANA HOFFMAN This is something I've been wanting for years. I'll be the tester. AVERY HOFFMAN Mm hm. ANA HOFFMAN Good. I'm very grateful to Stosh and the boys. I'm so excited. I'll be grateful for as long as I'm using it. Good job boys. LOUISE MOSES That going to be big enough? STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG That's how big that bull was in my scope. I had a perfectly good shot at a moose, and I missed it. I was steady, I was down. My gun wasn't moving, in my head that moose should have dropped. Oh, he gotta have doots. Yeah, that's a bull now. In this open bar, it's a good spot to check my sight. See if it's my gun or myself. Five inches (twelve centimeters) high. Couple minutes of accuracy. Three minutes of accuracy. Going live. My gun was off. It wasn't myself. I've been out for a few weeks now and haven't had any luck yet. This might be one of those falls where we just don't get a moose. If it is this fall you know, that's on me, I missed. It's not my kids that missed, it wasn't my honey that missed, it was me that missed. It's gonna be on me if we go without eating. LOUISE MOSES Hearing how Steven felt that was really heartbreaking. I didn't know how much pressure is on the men in the village you know to get this meat in the fall. Feeling like you know a bit of a failure that rubs off on me as well. I don't want to lose hope yet. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Are you able to smell him? LOUISE MOSES Just a faint whiff. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Starting to see a lot of fresh sign everywhere. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG He ripped this tree right out of the ground. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG All that, tore this place up. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG He's a big boy. LOUISE MOSES Dad. LOUISE MOSES You can hear him coming just over there? LOUISE MOSES You can hear him over that way. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Woo! Go, go, go, go, go! [COMMERCIAL BREAK] STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Go team go! Woo. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG [speaking foreign language] Enaa Baasee' Deneege. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG [speaking foreign language] Enaa Baasee'. LOUISE MOSES Man, I'm so thankful dad. I love you. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG [speaking foreign language] Nugh Estsen'. LOUISE MOSES [speaking foreign language] Nugh Estsen'. Still have good fat? STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Yeah, he lost some in the rump end. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG But he's gonna have some good fat in there. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG All right, I gotta go down and get the pack boards. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Skinning knife. LOUISE MOSES He's a big boy, man it's gonna be hard lifting that boy. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG With that pack board, I'll get him outta here. Forty-five minutes of light left, make a load out. We gotta get to work if we're gonna try and make it home before evening. Instantly I feel a big weight come off my shoulders. I hollered out in excitement which is something I should have never done you know, going against our culture and everything but I felt so much weight come off my shoulders when I saw that moose come down it just, it just came out. I do feel a little bad about that, but I feel great that finally got it done. Oh yeah, feels good to have some weight on my back. A little weight on my back takes a lot of weight off my shoulders. LOUISE MOSES I'm really proud of Steven, I'm glad he didn't give up, I know how heartbroken he was when he took that shot and he missed. And to have him you know succeed in the end was just awesome. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG We're gonna make use outta every single piece of that moose. I want big old moose fat kids, eating our own food from our own land. MARVIN AGNOT Here we are on the way to go check the net, squeezing a little time cause it's going to close tonight. We got a little change of weather so it's going to be a little more, bouncy. You see how that water pours in there that's what I look at you see that's the concern of how much weight I get. Once I pull my net it's going to get very heavy here and my skiff gets pretty low out there so that's very big concern for me. Hold it right there Juti. I'll just untie it right here. Woah! Go overboard. Woo. Tender overboard. Got some fish again, Juti. Wow! Woo! We're gonna have another little delivery. This net is pretty deadly. JUSTIN PHILLIPS Yeah. MARVIN AGNOT It is man. MARVIN AGNOT It's gonna be easier once we go. MARVIN AGNOT The other way, Juti. Okay? MARVIN AGNOT We ain't going to be. MARVIN AGNOT Pissing into the wind. MARVIN AGNOT We are not going to be wind pissers. It's the first year that I've ended up owning my fishing permit and I was very grateful for that because I was trying to help my family move a little farther than I have by how we live out here. JUSTIN PHILLIPS Perfect a fish on every tie so far. MARVIN AGNOT Yeah, it is, good to hear. A cushion for me and if they see it the way I see it it'll be a cushion for them. Because that's where it's going to go is to Juti and his family. Good way to close the closer. It couldn't have come together better than it has come together. I'm very happy. I am. JUSTIN PHILLIPS No disasters, we got everything out of the water in time so. MARVIN AGNOT The strong survive, these spaces. Good afternoon good morning! I appreciate and love this place very much. Finally grew, grown into it again. JOHN PINGAYAK Okay Sonna Boy are you ready? It's time to go. And uh to break camp. TERESA PINGAYAK It was just you know beautiful time for us as a family together but it's time we gotta go home back to the village. JOHN PINGAYAK Ah Sonna Boy get a cup of water, we're gonna say a prayer before we go, go home. JOHN PINGAYAK [speaking foreign language] Quyana. JOHN PINGAYAK [speaking foreign language] Maani uitallemteni. JOHN PINGAYAK [speaking foreign language] Mermeng wanigga kuv'aput. JOHN PINGAYAK [speaking foreign language] Quyaluku man'a nuna. JOHN PINGAYAK [speaking foreign language] Cikiuten tamalkuan. JOHN PINGAYAK [speaking foreign language] Wangkutnun ilakelriani. JOHN PINGAYAK [speaking foreign language] Makut pissulput JOHN PINGAYAK [speaking foreign language] Tailluki Elpet neqkat. SONNA BOY My grandfather he's trying his best to teach me what he knows so that I can carry that torch and pass it on. JOHN PINGAYAK [speaking foreign language] Cali ayrurtuumaniaten JOHN PINGAYAK [speaking foreign language] Ilaput tamalkuita maani nunami. JOHN PINGAYAK [speaking foreign language] Cupiit Yupiit-llu tamalkuita. JOHN PINGAYAK [speaking foreign language] Makut-llu Alaskami uitalriit. SONNA BOY I don't fully know what the meaning of this song is but it's one of my atta's songs. [singing Cup'ik language]. Would it be okay if I? PRODUCER Yes. SONNA BOY [singing Cup'ik language]. QUANNAH The connection with responsibility to protect our traditional way of life and culture is generational. AVERY HOFFMAN Hope to family one day and to raise them how we have been raised here. GAGE HOFFMAN It's a way to ensure that these cultural traditions are gonna live to the next generation. EVAN STRASSBURG I feel responsible for carrying this on so I can teach the younger ones. HAZEL STRASSBURG The most important thing about passing down that knowledge is teaching other people what I know. NALU DANIELLE APPASINGOK It's up to us to carry on this tradition and take care of our family and our community. AVERY HOFFMAN To remember these stories and remember these people that used to be here. SONNA BOY [singing Cup'ik language]. No matter how hard the work is I'll still do it. We were here first, and this is our land, and this is our culture, and no one can take that from us. [SNAP IN] STOSH HOFFMAN Since it's not pouring rain and we're just about done framing this up, why don't you boys run upriver to Joaquin and get some steambath stove rocks. AVERY HOFFMAN Okay. STOSH HOFFMAN And I'll finish up inside. I'll do the, finish the roof. Try not to get any of those exploding rocks. We're getting close, alright guys. GAGE HOFFMAN All right sounds good. STOSH HOFFMAN Have a good trip upriver. GAGE HOFFMAN Okay. AVERY HOFFMAN Yep. GAGE HOFFMAN The rocks are used as a mechanism to help get the room hotter. AVERY HOFFMAN You ready? GAGE HOFFMAN Yep. AVERY HOFFMAN Okay. GAGE HOFFMAN You put them on top of stove in the maqivik. GAGE HOFFMAN And once the fires going, it creates steam, and it really heats up the room. AVERY HOFFMAN Do you wanna check the old gravel bar where we used to camp? GAGE HOFFMAN Yeah. Before we got our cabin built in Tokotna, while we were moose hunting, we would bring tents and just sleep on the gravel bars on the Tokotna River. Is that something over there? AVERY HOFFMAN It's a moose. Oh, it's a little bull. GAGE HOFFMAN Bull? AVERY HOFFMAN Straight forward. GAGE HOFFMAN Really? AVERY HOFFMAN Yeah, there's no velvet though yeah. GAGE HOFFMAN Oh my gosh. AVERY HOFFMAN I'm gonna find more rocks than you. GAGE HOFFMAN We'll see about that. AVERY HOFFMAN You got your bucket. GAGE HOFFMAN Yeah. Going back to our old gravel bar camp immediately reminded me of early morning spruce chicken hunts and fishing for grayling on that same gravel bar so. Brought back a lot of memories from previous moose hunts and it's kinda neat that we're bringing a piece of our old camp to our new camp here in Takotna. Alright this should be good. AVERY HOFFMAN Overflowing always. GAGE HOFFMAN Okay let's go see what the progress is like on the maqivik. AVERY HOFFMAN Heavy. GAGE HOFFMAN You got it? AVERY HOFFMAN Yeah. Can't wait to put these rocks to use in the maqivik, warm up. GAGE HOFFMAN Get a deep clean and warm up. Alright, let's good. Good stuff. AVERY HOFFMAN Good picking. [END]