ANZLIE_JACKO CHRIS_APASSINGOK DANIEL_APASSINGOK EVAN_STRASSBURG JACQUELINE_JACKO JOEL_JACKO JUSTIN_PHILLIPS MARVIN_AGNOT NALU_DANIELLE_APASSINGOK STEVEN_TIG_STRASSBURG TERRANCE_STRASSBURG MARVIN AGNOT I'm just heading out to White Rock. And go set my one anchor, which is the king buoy. We just found out this morning that we got an opener in two days, and I don't have all my gear out. Now that I got my own permit, I'm gonna try to find a spot I can claim. We just hope there's fish. MARVIN AGNOT The Department of Fish and Game give us 24-hour advance notice. If there's enough fish and that's what will let us know when we got an opener. Usually, 33 hours for us to catch as much fish as we can. Commercial fishing is where I make my living, I don't have a job here so I gotta pay for nine months in advance so I can live for the winter. This year I got the set net permit. After struggling all my life to finally get one. Being a crew member, you only get a percentage of what the gross is, but now being a permit holder, I get a hundred percent of it. This is ours buddy. You can drop me off on the rock and I'm going to tie that end. There hasn't been very much permits in my community. Two-three permits for all my life and for to have one coming it can help my family. JUSTIN PHILLIPS Right there. See the shackle? MARVIN AGNOT Yeah. JUSTIN PHILLIPS Somebody fished before and there's a eye bolt there that we could attach our line to and that's basically all we need so, White Rock's the spot. MARVIN AGNOT I had to build the net from scratch. Brand new anchor line brand new strap line, big investment for me. That's why I gotta take care of it. I can't afford another one. JUSTIN PHILLIPS You ready for the line? MARVIN AGNOT Yeah, I need the end. JUSTIN PHILLIPS Ready? MARVIN AGNOT Yeah. (bleep). JUSTIN PHILLIPS Good? MARVIN AGNOT Yeah. All right. Whoo. A couple more things and I'm ready to fish. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG All right, my boy. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG We're going to use this big tree for the foundation. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Then, I'll have you out of our house, Into your own house. Our house is getting smaller our kids are getting bigger. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG And Terrance and Evan they're growing up. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG I had a big stack of material left so I figure I might as well make use of it and build these boys a bunk house. Look good? TERRANCE STRASSBURG Uh-hmm. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Roll them over. TERRANCE STRASSBURG The house is pretty crazy since there's seven of us packed with kids. I'm looking forward to less noise and more quietness. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Holy cow, dead on. I believe the hardest part of starting this build is going to be the foundation. Little off there. It's a good lesson in life right here. Anything you do you gotta start off with a good solid foundation. So, we got the foundation level. Next thing to do is start getting these cut out and make the box of the flooring and start getting the inside hung up. Whatever these boys do in life, whatever they set out to do or try, attempt, they should build a solid foundation first, just like we do with this house. Flush? TERRANCE STRASSBURG Yeah. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Terry time. All right. Now, grab that other end for me. Stand outside. I don't have any blueprints for this build or anything I got picture in my mind that I'm trying to put down in wood. All right. I'm gonna take this. You know, I'm no professional but I can sure nail two boards together and nail enough of them together and something turns out. The edge to the outsides square up with it. Looks like a floor to me. TERRANCE STRASSBURG Uh-hmm. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Look like a floor to you? TERRANCE STRASSBURG Uh-hmm. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Like a floor to me. Now, we'll conquer these walls. DANIEL APASSINGOK Ready? DANIEL APASSINGOK Here, uh, stable? NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Now, it's good. DANIEL APASSINGOK A couple places to, uh, they change out a few rivets. DANIEL APASSINGOK My aluminum boat is just about 40 years old right now. It's taking in a lot of water. My, uh, daughter is gonna help me fix up my boat a little bit because, uh, it's a good time to do some fishing. There's people catching salmon out there already in their nets. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK And you've been doing this for how long? DANIEL APASSINGOK Almost every year we do this. We go out year-round. We uh, tear up our boats a little bit faster than most people do. We go through a lot of weather but that's what it takes to live a subsistence lifestyle, I take every opportunity you can get. Ready? NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Yup! DANIEL APASSINGOK How's that look? NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Okay, it's good! NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK You can do the one on your right too. DANIEL APASSINGOK Before we, uh, started using aluminum boats, we used skin boats. The frame was made out of hard wood, part of the boat is made out of walrus hide. DANIEL APASSINGOK [speaking Akuzipik] Taawa! DANIEL APASSINGOK Oh, they're holding good! NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Once we fix the boat, we are planning on setting our fish net. DANIEL APASSINGOK Oh, we're gonna have to get an axe or something for that other one, huh? We got a little store here but we don't supply everything. We gotta really go with what we have. Try going between the wood and rivet. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Okay. DANIEL APASSINGOK Ready? NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Yeah. Good. DANIEL APASSINGOK Five hundred more to go. Might as well make a whole new boat. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK With aluminum foil? JOEL JACKO All right. There's a couple little ponds back in here. JOEL JACKO Just gonna try sneak back here and see if I catch a couple ducks. I got Tracker with me I haven't taken him ducking hunting before so hopefully, hopefully I can get him to retrieve the ducks. We'll go find out. So, Jacqueline and Anzlie just came back. I thought it'd be a nice thing to do is kinda have a nice traditional subsistence meal for their, uh, arrival home. Me and Jaqueline had a couple rough patches a year ago and we decided to, uh, split up. Seven-year itch is a real thing. We defiantly needed a year to realize that we still love each other. JOEL JACKO Hey. JACQUELINE JACKO Hey. JOEL JACKO Hey. Give me a hug! JOEL JACKO You know having kids it just kind of changes everything. We adopted Anzlie and she was born Yup'ik and I'm Athabascan so it's a little different. But it's really important to me that Anzlie grows up here in nature living a subsistence lifestyle. ANZLIE JACKO It's raining. JACQUELINE JACKO That's why there's a rainbow. JOEL JACKO I do feel like I have somewhat of a responsibility to kinda pass down these traditions and practices, I know that's important to Jacqueline too. So, I used to come back to this lake when I was, you know, pretty young, with my 22. I'm hoping that Anzlie kind of shows an interest in hunting in general just 'cause it's a good father daughter bonding experience. It was always the best time of my childhood I felt like when I was out here. There's nothing to worry about. Except, you know, getting eaten by a bear, so. Two ducks showed up, so. [COMMERCIAL BREAK] JOEL JACKO The safety's backwards on this. So, I borrowed my buddy's shotgun he had this brand new twelve gage. Huh, well, there it goes what the hell. I don't understand why the safety was reversed and then I realized it was for a left-handed shooter, so all the buttons are on the opposite side. I think we'll move on I'll go check out a couple other ponds see if we can get lucky. When it's just yourself you don't need much to survive, a little more stake in the game 'cause well, you know, with more mouths to feed. I kinda picked a little spot where I can cover kinda like a duck blind, I guess. I don't think they'll be able, especially if they come down this way, they won't be able to see me till they hit the water. Here come a couple now. Go get it. Go get it. Get it, Tracker, get it. Get it. Tracker, get the duck. Go. Guess he's not a bird dog. So, I think I finally found something Trackers not good at. Huh? No? You don't like ducks, huh? It's kinda funny trying to see him try to get the duck and then just realize he doesn't want to. I thought he was gonna go get the bird, but he didn't quite grasp the concept. I might try one more location on the lake and see if a couple more come in. If I get a couple more that'd be great. Tracker. See, there's a duck right there. Two ducks. Okay. Tracker it's your time to shine, get the duck. Go get it. Fetch. Yeah, you're a horrible, horrible duck dog, Tracker. That's good I got more than enough now for Jaqueline and Anzlie. We're dining like kings tonight. It's a good day. Huh? No? NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Are we there? DANIEL APASSINGOK Yeah. Right about there, yeah. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Good spot? DANIEL APASSINGOK Kind of. DANIEL APASSINGOK We, uh, fixed the boat up a little bit and I wanna go, uh, set the net. And see if we can catch any salmon. Grab the other rope and throw that other net down. Takes a family to set up a net. Basically, a four-man job. DANIEL APASSINGOK So Nalu, Agra, and Ina are gonna be helping me. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Do you bury him? DANIEL APASSINGOK Yeah. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK All the traditional things that we do on this land makes me feel connected to my ancestors. DANIEL APASSINGOK So, we go get the boat now, huh? It's all set up to, uh, set the anchor. Hope the rail falls out. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Test it out. DANIEL APASSINGOK We've only got a small opening over the summer to catch as much salmon as you can. DANIEL APASSINGOK [speaking Akuzipik] Aatakqun. DANIEL APASSINGOK Ha! Whoo! CHRIS APASSINGOK Go on, get on! DANIEL APASSINGOK Ha! NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK It still gets lots of water. CHRIS APASSINGOK Yeah, we need to work on it a little bit more. Just hold the anchor up. Watch out for this. Just like that. Straight back. DANIEL APASSINGOK [speaking Akuzipik] Agavek. CHRIS APASSINGOK Let us get straight, okay? DANIEL APASSINGOK [speaking Akuzipik] Taawa? Okay. DANIEL APASSINGOK [speaking Akuzipik] DANIEL APASSINGOK [speaking Akuzipik] Taawa! Drop! Ready the anchor. DANIEL APASSINGOK [speaking Akuzipik] Taawa! DANIEL APASSINGOK Hey! Nice and straight, huh?! NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Yeah! CHRIS APASSINGOK Yup! NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK It looks good! DANIEL APASSINGOK Go pull the boat up! We can set the net when you come back! Probably set it overnight, uh, basically, the weather is nice and see how many fish we can get. Start pulling. CHRIS APASSINGOK Yeah. DANIEL APASSINGOK [speaking Akuzipik] Huuwik! DANIEL APASSINGOK [speaking Akuzipik] Taawa! DANIEL APASSINGOK All right we're all set huh! Catch Salmon now! STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG All right my boy. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG We got the floor made. Now let's get these walls measured out and these are gonna be where our STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG uprights are gonna be. TERRANCE STRASSBURG I've been away for a year going to school from Fairbanks and came back for the summer. TERRANCE STRASSBURG It was a bit of a shock going home. Still is pretty noisy. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Align these up, dead center. TERRANCE STRASSBURG I'm pretty excited. My dad wanted to build me a little house outside. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG All right we'll get them stood up. TERRANCE STRASSBURG I was hoping to help him build it. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Woo! There we go! That's the last nail holding these two walls on my boy. TERRANCE STRASSBURG Pull it. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Straight up and down all we gotta do is build these inside walls. Terrance he's doing really good he's getting familiar with a lot of these different tools. Who knows he might go on to be a carpenter. Game time. And as a kid my dad was building his new house, he had one nail left in the nail gun he went to shoot that last nail and it wasn't in there he starts looking for it, holy (bleep) it's right there, he had three of his fingers nailed together like that. He ended up having to go to Fairbanks to get that nail taken out. So, these guns ain't no joke you gotta be careful with these things. It will shoot your fingers together. We are a long ways from any sort of help or any hospital or anybody that can sew anything up so we do have to be careful with power tools. Oh, yeah. Fitting nice and tight like it should. All right. All right my boy, well look at that, three walls and a window. You can see the river good little view right here my boy. Can just imagine it almost now huh? I always say everyday you're learning something new, if you're not learning something new, you're not doing something right. Stand or crumble, one or the other. It's not crumbling yet. All right my boy put one right there, we'll call the frame done. You can put the last one in there. Yup. Woo, like a champ. TERRANCE STRASSBURG All right. MARVIN AGNOT That'll go straight out. MARVIN AGNOT Now that we have them all whole tied up. MARVIN AGNOT We are going to run my line a hundred and twenty-eight fathoms straight up all the way out to my king buoy. This is, what works really good. Just put it straight up like this. JUSTIN PHILLIPS Yup. MARVIN AGNOT White Rock opened up after a lot of gill-netters left. MARVIN AGNOT It used to be packed. All the excitement and all the fish that was before. MARVIN AGNOT The 1989 oil spill. And since then, we've never recovered. JUSTIN PHILLIPS And I would just let the remainder of the pot go out with it. Let it fall. MARVIN AGNOT Yeah, that sounds real good, the whole things going out. JUSTIN PHILLIPS Okay, we're at the buoy. MARVIN AGNOT Get the buoy. Throw it overboard. The main anchor that I set out is the king buoy that's the main one I need set right, it holds my net in place. JUSTIN PHILLIPS I got the anchor line you have the set line. MARVIN AGNOT Okay. Are we good there? JUSTIN PHILLIPS Yeah. MARVIN AGNOT Feels pretty tight? JUSTIN PHILLIPS Yeah. MARVIN AGNOT Okay. You're good. JUSTIN PHILLIPS Just go with a little bit of ease. MARVIN AGNOT Kay. Over the top, over the top. Over the top! [COMMERCIAL BREAK] MARVIN AGNOT Okay. JUSTIN PHILLIPS (bleep). MARVIN AGNOT I'm sorry Justi, I didn't know you were behind me. MARVIN AGNOT I gotta clear, I had to clear all that (bleep) out. Are you all right? JUSTIN PHILLIPS Yeah. MARVIN AGNOT I didn't know you were behind me I'm trying to clear. JUSTIN PHILLIPS Moving stuff off the line it's all right. It's a lot of learning that takes course, so yeah, it can be dangerous fishing. MARVIN AGNOT Where we gonna pull from? Are we, I think we're good here? (bleep). MARVIN AGNOT Let it go, Justin. I'm moving two hundred and fifty pounds (113 kilograms) its very heavy you can't lose our fingers between the anchor and aluminum skiff then I'll be done. And I can't. I came to far to not make it. Just let it go, let it go. Just let it go, now! All right. We are done here buddy we go our mark, our king buoy. Looks pretty good, doesn't it? MARVIN AGNOT Right from the Rock. Easy peasy there it is. There how tight, very tight with one anchor. And then, that's how you want your set. Tomorrow we will set the remaining anchors. Very good Justy we are done. Let's get out of here. I pray for that, this to come together. JACQUELINE JACKO There's daddy. ANZLIE JACKO Daddy. JACQUELINE JACKO And Tracker dog. ANZLIE JACKO Ah! ANZLIE JACKO Watch this! JACQUELINE JACKO Woah. ANZLIE JACKO Where'd it go? JACQUELINE JACKO It's over there. JOEL JACKO Hey. JACQUELINE JACKO Hey. JOEL JACKO I got you guys something. JACQUELINE JACKO What? ANZLIE JACKO What? JACQUELINE JACKO Awh! Look at the birdies! JOEL JACKO I got some duck. JOEL JACKO Anzlie defiantly a little too young and a little too small to be shooting ducks yet but I think I can get her to pluck them and kinda get her back into the whole subsistence lifestyle. You wanna take one? ANZLIE JACKO Hm? No. JOEL JACKO You don't want to touch it? ANZLIE JACKO No. JOEL JACKO You know just kinda show her what it's all about. Ain't nothing to it. JOEL JACKO You just pull the feathers out. ANZLIE JACKO Agh. JACQUELINE JACKO Do you want to put them in a bag so we can save them? You wanna do some crafts with them? ANZLIE JACKO Yeah. JACQUELINE JACKO Yeah. JOEL JACKO I think you know just being involved when we are doing this stuff is a big part. You know a lot of kids don't get that. JACQUELINE JACKO Ooh pretty. ANZLIE JACKO I'll pull off the white. JACQUELINE JACKO Yeah, look at those. ANZLIE JACKO Can you help, can you help me mama? JACQUELINE JACKO Mm-hmm. You can make a little earring. Anzlie's gonna have. JACQUELINE JACKO A few different ways of learning, we are going to home school her. She will be studying from books but every day we will be studying from what's arounds us and our surroundings. ANZLIE JACKO Dadda. JACQUELINE JACKO With these, uh, with these birds and everything it's like, you know we were gone, I think our fight or flight was broken. JOEL JACKO Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. JACQUELINE JACKO We didn't fight, and we flew. JOEL JACKO Yeah. Like the kinda birds did. JACQUELINE JACKO Yeah. I grow up in the city in Washington but when I was in Seattle for the last year, people would ask me where I'm from and I said Alaska. I feel it deeply rooted in me that this is home this is where I belong. JOEL JACKO I'm pretty much done. Once the sun comes out, we'll get a little forage in and then, uh, we'll have a little picnic on the beach. JACQUELINE JACKO That'll be fun. JOEL JACKO You ready? You ready? Huh? Go get the duck! JACQUELINE JACKO He got it. JOEL JACKO Now you get the duck STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG All right my boy let's feed this through. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Woah. TERRANCE STRASSBURG [inaudible] STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Uh-oh. TERRANCE STRASSBURG What the heck. All right dad I got it. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG With the walls up, next part is gonna be building the roof. Woah. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Terrance and I we're kinda vertically challenged we're not the tallest people around, so that's gonna be another obstacle were gonna have to cross right there is, how we're gonna get all this stuff that's way above our heads. Yeah, this is gonna get tricky. TERRANCE STRASSBURG What do you mean dad? STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Uh, we're gonna have to start trying to put these rafters up. You know on the other walls we built laying down here and we stood them up. This one is a little too high for us to build and then lift it up on top. So were gonna have to try and build it from the top up. Learning, you know, how to get through these different problems and obstacles I sit there, and I have to figure them out. So, he's sitting there and he's watching me start seeing my wheels turn and everything. And how I overcome different things like that which is good for him. This line is gonna line up right with the edge of this son. TERRANCE STRASSBURG All right. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG You good? TERRANCE STRASSBURG Yup. The hardest part is probably the roof. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Ah. TERRANCE STRASSBURG It's pretty wobbly since there's no frames holding it. What are you gonna do for the roof? STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Oh, we'll put some plywood up, should be pretty simple. These sheets that we're putting up they're pretty heavy. We've got wind, we've got gravity, we've got all kind of things playing against us. It's going to be a little bit of a struggle. All right help me lift it. Get it low. My boy Terrance he doesn't look like he's very huge, but he is a real strong kid, he's been doing a lot of labor and hard work all his life living out here in the woods. Just living out life day to day is a workout. Woo, it's gonna be a little tougher. Little bit tougher my boy. Almost there, wait, wait, wait. TERRANCE STRASSBURG All right. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Grab it. Oh, Terrance, oh, (bleep). Oh. [COMMERCIAL BREAK] STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG It's not a good situation but we're gonna have to figure out a different way to get this plywood up here. TERRANCE STRASSBURG I'm gonna lift it up and you're gonna carry it in? STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Yeah. I'll get up here. Oh, yeah, that's the right. All right, way to go boy. Yeah. TERRANCE STRASSBURG I'm probably carrying like three-fourths of my weight right there. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG All right we're good. Go for that. All right. We got a roof boy. TERRANCE STRASSBURG Looks pretty good. JUSTIN PHILLIPS This is barley above. MARVIN AGNOT It sunk? JUSTIN PHILLIPS The line? Yeah. MARVIN AGNOT Yeah. We should of put those buoys on there Justin, let's go do that, huh? Tomorrow is opening day and we'll have thirty-three hours. Justy and I are going to set the remaining anchors. Oh yeah, nice and tight. The anchors we set out is what holds our net in place from the set line. MARVIN AGNOT That's very important. Okay, we'll just tie that anchor line. JUSTIN PHILLIPS Okay, we're good. MARVIN AGNOT Okay. JUSTIN PHILLIPS Gonna let this one go. MARVIN AGNOT Go ahead. Go ahead. Perfect. You got a lot of tide and you got a lot of kelp and you got a lot of pressure pushing on this set. So just gotta make sure the net doesn't wrap around the rock. We don't have money to replace it. This is the last anchor I'm gonna set here. JUSTIN PHILLIPS Ready? MARVIN AGNOT Yeah. There it is right there. We pretty good huh? That goes to the pot out there. There it is, right there. Should be pretty good, huh? That goes to the pot out there. There's a door that opens up where the fish lead themselves right into the pot where I'm trapping the fish. JUSTIN PHILLIPS We already got a seal. JUSTIN PHILLIPS He knows it's going to be loaded. All ready? Anchor. Anchor. It's right in the perfect angle, yeah ninety degrees pretty much. MARVIN AGNOT Well, I think we're done. Straight as an arrow. Woo. Tomorrow, we'll have our net in the skiff and ready to come out for twelve a clock bell. JOEL JACKO There we go. JACQUELINE JACKO Oh. JOEL JACKO Want your basket? Take your basket with you. JACQUELINE JACKO Oh. JOEL JACKO Mommy. JACQUELINE JACKO Oh, thank you. JOEL JACKO With the ducks all processed. We decided we'd make some tea, so we'd go find some labrador. See, this stuff here, this is brown so we want to find some stuff that's greener like this. This one's greener. JACQUELINE JACKO Are you excited to try this tea? ANZLIE JACKO Yeah. JOEL JACKO Yeah. JACQUELINE JACKO What do you think it's gonna taste like? JOEL JACKO Sticks? ANZLIE JACKO Yeah. JOEL JACKO Find us some labrador. JACQUELINE JACKO Not labradoodle. JOEL JACKO It's easier if you break the stem. You'll kinda hear it snap and then you can pluck it out so you're not pulling the whole root out of the tundra, okay? ANZLIE JACKO Like this. JOEL JACKO Yup, perfect. See some have a little bulb on top? ANZLIE JACKO Yeah. JOEL JACKO Yeah, that's where they keep their secrets. JOEL JACKO Yup, now you got all the secrets. It's like great that Anzlie's back, it was really rough you know being away from her for so long. We do have you know like a special bond. Are you looking? ANZLIE JACKO Yeah. JOEL JACKO Are you looking for some tea? ANZLIE JACKO Oh, I see some. JOEL JACKO Oh yeah, that's some good stuff. JACQUELINE JACKO It makes me feel at peace to see daddy and daughter goofing off. It just warms my heart that they can take those moments and giggle and laugh and make things fun for Anzlie. And he's really good at that. See seems pretty happy. JOEL JACKO Oh, I think she's, she's having an okay time. JACQUELINE JACKO She's alright. JOEL JACKO I think 'cause we missed each other so much, like our relationships almost better now. I think we got enough for tea. I got plenty actually. JACQUELINE JACKO Go make our duck dinner. JOEL JACKO Make some duck. What do you think Tracker? Let's go. Ah. All right, come on. JACQUELINE JACKO Okay, come on Tracker. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK You think there's fish? DANIEL APASSINGOK [speaking Akuzipik] Aatakqun. Esghaaqaalteggu. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Smell the fish? DANIEL APASSINGOK Ah, hi! Ah. DANIEL APASSINGOK [speaking Akuzipik] You gonna uuhuk baby? NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Wanna go fish? CHRIS APASSINGOK All right. DANIEL APASSINGOK The first fish that we catch we're gonna split with our close family members. If we get more, start giving out to the people in the village. DANIEL APASSINGOK Oh, somebody gotta watch, uh, line while we pull. Me and Nalu pull it. DANIEL APASSINGOK [speaking Akuzipik] Haay? NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Pull hard, real hard. [COMMERCIAL BREAK] DANIEL APASSINGOK [speaking Akuzipik] Seghleghhalek. Taawa taawa. DANIEL APASSINGOK [speaking Akuzipik] Enta paan. Una awiitaghaghluku. DANIEL APASSINGOK King salmon, big one. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK We got two reds and a humpy. DANIEL APASSINGOK First fish of the year. DANIEL APASSINGOK [speaking Akuzipik] Taawa neghnaqukut! DANIEL APASSINGOK Now we're gonna eat! Fresh fish, right off the net. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG See, we'll have one bed on here, mounted to the wall and have that looking good. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Me and my son, you know, we're out here we're building a house, we're building a structure. Solid as a rock, my boy. We're building a connection with each other. He's been a way for a year at school and so we're rebuilding that connection that has been lost in this one-year separation that we've had. Jump up there boy, see if it's gonna hold. Oh, yeah. TERRANCE STRASSBURG Feels comfortable though. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG It sure does. All right boy, we got the bunks made. Let's get this center beam in, then we can start putting the plywood and stuff on. Sound good? TERRANCE STRASSBURG Uh-hmm. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG The center log, it's gonna put a slight bow to the roof. Water's not gonna pool up in the middle. Water should be able to shed off all four sides. That looks level. Climb it. Look out point. We're all set with the interior, boy. Let's get this outsides done. One of our final challenges is getting these big sheets of four by eight plywood and start putting them up on the walls. And as long as we built true, the walls should be square and this plywood should go up no problem. Woo, drop it. We're working together, hand and hand. We're spending long hours together. TERRANCE STRASSBURG Finish it? STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Finish it. Go on. Having my son with me. Slower than normal. It means a lot to me. This is to keep their little sisters out so, you'll have a way to keep the little girls out, huh, boy? TERRANCE STRASSBURG Uh-hmm. The girls aren't gonna be allowed in it since their pretty annoying and tend to drive us crazy sometimes. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG First steps of becoming a man is right here, you got it done. You know this is what the men used to do a long time ago. When they were old enough they'd build their own house and move out of their mom and dad's house. Your brothers gonna be moving in here too, isn't he? TERRANCE STRASSBURG Uh-hmm. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG How 'bout you go get that guy. MARVIN AGNOT We got our opener today at noon and, um, Justin and I are getting ready to set our gear. We're right in the open while we're setting so it's gonna be a little rough, but good fishing weather. We're really excited for the first opener. All good things come together. And I'm just finally starting to invest in myself. To finally feel like I made it, to help my family just a little bit is very big for me. JUSTIN PHILLIPS Here's the first tie up. While we're setting the net, we just have to make sure it goes out nice and tight against the running line. Going nice and tight. MARVIN AGNOT Go to the corner. JUSTIN PHILLIPS Once we get up to the tie up line, that's when you just gotta make sure it's tight and singe it up and get your knot in there as quick as you can and get going to the next one. MARVIN AGNOT Woo, it's been a while. MARVIN AGNOT A little bit backwards. If we didn't have those ties in our set line. MARVIN AGNOT We'd have one big bag in the water. MARVIN AGNOT Hanging free, so. MARVIN AGNOT Every tie matters. Are we good there? JUSTIN PHILLIPS Yeah. MARVIN AGNOT And we just go along and tie our net all the way along the whole pot. Justin ties from the bow. I sit in the back and I just back us up and I watch him. Working together is everything out here. Well, here's our end! This is the lead. Where the fish lead themselves right into the pot. Woo! See how much slack we got Justin? MARVIN AGNOT Are we dragging? Sure seem like it. Something gave way out there! [COMMERCIAL BREAK] MARVIN AGNOT Look at how much slack we lost there, Justin. Untied. MARVIN AGNOT I gotta pull my net. I lost an anchor. MARVIN AGNOT Damn, one of my king buoys. My net broke apart from the king buoy. How the hell did I let that happen? JUSTIN PHILLIPS Coming over. MARVIN AGNOT We just have to pull it in. I couldn't leave my gear. It would have wrapped around a rock and ripped my lead line off my net. Well, so much for the, woo-hoo. I just gotta accept how far I've come. A plan I finally put together that's taken ten years. I cannot miss openers. Nice fish. I've never had to feel the good feeling of what I've earned with meaning. Just because of how I've had to struggle and it's still a struggle. I might walk around with my happiness, but that struggle is still real right inside of me. We got a few fish, just a little mishap! Where I tied my anchors to my king buoy, my ring broke and so both of my anchors came off my king buoy. The pressure just snapped there. Good job, Justin. We tried. Well, for the rest of this opener, I am done. I just need a little help pulling my anchors up. I got a lot of investment out there. I don't have the means of pulling 250-pound (113 kilograms) anchors. I hope the other jail netters do very well for their first opener and I wish I was a part of it too. JACQUELINE JACKO Burn baby, burn. JOEL JACKO No, you're right, they are kinda spicy. You know I'm just excited, summers here and family's back. It'll pair nicely with the duck. We're doing better than ever. We just needed that year apart I think to kinda, you know, reassess our situation. JACQUELINE JACKO I was missing something the whole time and it was just, it was you and this. You know? JOEL JACKO Yeah. Makes life so much better living out here with people you love. JACQUELINE JACKO Mm. Oh, that's good! STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG What's up boys? Welcome home. What you think Ev? EVAN STRASSBURG It's cool. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG You guys are fancy people now. TERRANCE STRASSBURG I never built anything like that. So, it's something I should be proud of. I feel like a free man in this house. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG These boys are just growing up too fast for me, but can't be greedy with these kids, we can't hold them back. Just gotta let them go and move forward. DANIEL APASSINGOK Holy cow, we got lots today. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK My forearms are all sore. I'm gonna have Popeye arms. DANIEL APASSINGOK Ah, king salmon. Mm. I love it. MARVIN AGNOT I got a friend, Kelvin. MARVIN AGNOT He got all the rigging I need to be able to lift my anchors up because I don't have the equipment. CAPT. KELVIN HOWARD Coming up. MARVIN AGNOT For me, two anchors is a very hard hit. Thanks guys. MARVIN AGNOT Quite a stress reliever. Coming up. CAPT. KELVIN HOWARD Beautiful. MARVIN AGNOT Yes. And the next one is about fifty yards (forty-five meters) past that white buoy. It's been a struggle, I'm glad I have some good friends that's willing to help me. We'll just set them with the flukes across to get them that fill on top of each other. Very good buddy. JUSTIN PHILLIPS I'll try to get the other one right on this side like that. MARVIN AGNOT Unity, that's a big part of our survival out here. All right, you guys made my day. Thank you, guys, very much. DANIEL APASSINGOK Being out with my crew, my family, I feel successful. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG All of us were running together and we're growing together. JOEL JACKO It's a great feeling to be back together as a family. Brings joy to your heart. MARVIN AGNOT Yeah, woo! Are you happy Justin? JUSTIN PHILLIPS Yeah. MARVIN AGNOT Thanks to the help of good people. We're both gonna be ready for that next open and we're gonna do pretty good. [SNAP-IN] DANIEL APASSINGOK Gonna set the net back in and see if we can catch more. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK It's not always easy. The weather changes really fast here and the water has to be calm and get it in straight. DANIEL APASSINGOK It's a pretty heavy net, with a lot of line on there. Of course, the currents not gonna help much. Takes a lot of hard work to survive and you might not catch anything, but you gotta keep trying. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Woo! Let me fall. DANIEL APASSINGOK Almost there. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK He doesn't ever feel defeated. He's always in a good mood. I really love that about him. I'm so tired, Dad. DANIEL APASSINGOK It's almost straight. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Okay. CHRIS APASSINGOK Hold it right there, okay? DANIEL APASSINGOK Go hook the hook line! Wait a minute. DANIEL APASSINGOK [speaking Akuzipik] Haa. Taawa. DANIEL APASSINGOK Ah, ready for another set. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Ooh, that's a lot of work. It's really tiring. DANIEL APASSINGOK Yeah. NALU DANIELLE APASSINGOK Holy cow. I'd rather just rod and reel. Oh, (bleep). DANIEL APASSINGOK Yeah.