♪ ♪
sue: Oh, oh, I've got a caribou.
It's out here just off my pad.
I don't know whether it's a male or a female yet.
Sue: I'm starting to get to the very end of summer.
I've only got four, five weeks,
then I've got full-on winter coming at me again.
I cannot pass up anything the tundra's gonna give
me right now.
Sue: Oh, yeah.
Sue: I can have four bulls, and he's definitely a bull.
It's 140 yards away.
That's way too far for this gun.
Sue: Okay. Think like your opponent.
Sue: Hmm.
It's gonna be a challenge, but the challenge is worth it
'cause susie wants to eat.
Ricko: Take what you know best, teach it to your kids,
and hopefully they take what's best from you and carry it on
to the next generation.
Ricko: Look at all these cracks,
and then you see these holes right here?
Skyler: Yeah.
Ricko: You can see the ants go in here and
they carve out a home.
There's a large tree in front of my cabin.
Been here before I was ever born.
And it's got a lot of ant damage going on.
It's kind of hollow. You hear that? Listen.
(chopping)
it's all rotted out, just 'cause the ants are eating at it,
and the tree has, has no defense anymore.
Ants are very destructive.
The tree can be standing for hundreds of years.
Once those black carpenter ants come in and start eating on them,
it's game over for that tree.
And look at this.
The roots are starting to lift.
Do you see this big old root hanging out of the ground right here?
The ground is lifting.
And the way, the reason the ground is lifting is this tree
is starting to lean and it's lifting the roots.
It's for sure signs that this tree is coming down.
If we don't saw this tree down, it's coming down anyway,
so the best thing we could do is try to make it happen safely.
The last thing we want is a big wind to come from this
direction over here, push this tree,
knock it right on the cabin while we're sleeping inside.
It'll kill us.
When it's standing right next to my cabin like that,
that's a death sentence if I'm upstairs and it falls or
if the kids are out in the yard and it falls down.
Something like this has to be dealt with right away.
Here, we gotta get some diesel.
Skyler: Why?
Ricko: What's gonna happen when we open that tree up?
Skyler: There's a bunch of ants.
Ricko: And they're gonna, what they're gonna do when
that tree come down?
Skyler: They're all gonna spread out?
Ricko: Yup. They're gonna go for other trees.
So we have to dump a little diesel on them
before they disperse.
You might think of bears and bad weather when you're in
alaska, but, man, these ants,
they only have one summer to multiply,
and they do a lot of damage real quick in this
hot weather out here.
Skarlett: I saw two ants in the house.
They were big.
Ricko: You gotta tell me when you see them ants.
Skarlett: Okay.
Ricko: Ants are a big problem.
This diesel fuel will help kill the ants.
Ricko: I really don't know.
It's just something you know out here.
You gotta know everything when you're living in the woods.
There's no exterminators out here you can call.
When I cut that tree down,
those ants are gonna come pouring out,
and those ants, they'll migrate to another tree,
so I gotta kill those ants that are in that tree or
they're gonna continue to move.
It's a domino effect out here.
They're trying to destroy our living area for theirs,
and now we're fighting back.
We gotta go launch an attack on the ants.
Chip: Nothing like being young.
I got through my younger days though.
Now I'm in my older days,
and I'm not gonna get through these.
They'll end, and I'll be dead.
Chip: Grab the anchor. Okay, wade, we're, oh.
Carol: Whoa. We're gonna hit the ground running.
Both: There we go.
Carol: Look at this dog.
Whoa.
Chip: We'll get these.
These are just fine, these willows here.
I got a chainsaw to knock them down and you girls can
pack them over to the boat.
They're pretty light.
Narrator: The hailstones are spending the summer at their
isolated camp in kiwalik in order to bathe themselves and
sanitize their belongings out of the elements.
They will now build a native-style washhouse.
They will use local materials for the build,
and their first task is to harvest willows that
will make the frame.
Chip: Here.
Carol: My dad is just gonna keep on chain sawing and I'll
keep passing to qutan while she brings them to the boat.
My dad is actually doing the hard part,
but I believe my little sister, qutan,
is doing the harder part.
She's carrying them all to the boat.
But she's the youngest so it's her turn to shine.
Chip: Here. That's about it.
We got enough.
Qutan: Last ones? Carol: Yeah. Yeah.
I believe so.
Chip: Looks like a good pile.
If we need more, we'll just come back and get more,
but I think this is a good start.
You girls can pass them to me in the boat, huh?
We'll take them over to camp.
That's good enough right there.
Qutan: There we go.
Chip: Come on, wade.
We're gonna ride back to camp.
Jessie: You don't just sit out there idly,
not trying to get better.
I'm out here to get better.
I'm out here because I can focus on my dreams.
I don't have nobody getting in my way.
Jessie: Hey, girls.
Hey, what are you doing, huh?
What are you doing?
I'm coming up close to being out here for a year at brushkana,
and I'm really starting to get to shape the
way I want everything to be out here.
Last year, I moved out here in the fall.
I just did what I had to do to get almost 70 dogs moved out
here to a new location and get ready for winter,
and everything was just kind of by the seat of my pants.
Now I got a whole summer out here to really shape
what I can.
Hey.
Got these barrels that I've used to set up out here.
I put them together in nenana.
But I'm about to upgrade the whole dog yard.
Widen out everything.
Get all this ground freshened up for the dogs.
Fill in all these holes.
And then I'm gonna build them all-new, brand-new dog houses.
The first step to improving the dog yard is gonna be a lot
of dirt work with the skid-steer.
Working with a piece of machinery,
you gotta be very thoughtful and slow and methodical.
It's dangerous.
And working around dogs,
I don't wanna hit anything with it.
I'm renting this thing,
I don't wanna do any damage to it.
If you just go crazy, start moving stuff,
and you don't think about where you're at, you know,
there's always a big cliff behind you somewhere.
And you roll this thing, it could be a big, big problem.
Everything's really crowded in here right now.
We got space as far as the eye can see, but usable, flat,
organized space is what I'm looking for.
Right here where my house sits and my dog yard sits,
I have an endless amount of gravel if I work it right.
Gravel is amazing for the dogs.
It's awesome. It's dry.
It's the ideal surface to put your dogs on.
All right. This is going really well.
I've already made it over quite a bit.
It's starting to open up a lot.
I can actually see that I'm gonna get more space
than I first envisioned.
This is a huge project, but once I do have it done,
it's gonna completely change the face of brushkana.
This is gonna be a beautiful dog yard.
Sue: We don't win every battle we enter.
There's a winner and a loser.
And occasionally we lose.
But then we rise again.
(animal call)
sue: Gonna get closer.
Narrator: For sue aikens,
an unexpected windfall has presented itself as a
bull caribou has wandered into kavik.
Although she's harvested one already this summer,
she cannot afford to let this rare opportunity slip through her fingers,
as more meat will be needed to survive the months ahead.
Sue: I'm a good-looking caribou.
You like me.
I have one horn.
Come closer.
You wanna be with me.
I'm lonely.
That's right, buddy.
That's right.
Mmm.
You're gonna stop and eat some grass.
Mmm. Mmm.
Look at me.
I'm eating food.
You wanna come check it out.
Sue: Caribou might think I'm the ugliest cow on the
planet or the ugliest caribou,
but they still think it's a rack.
They don't care if I've only got one.
Come closer, buddy. A little closer.
(animal call)
sue: Come on. Come on, do it.
(animal call)
(gunshot)
unshot)
♪ ♪
sue: Buddy, thank you.
Thank you. Thank you.
Wow.
He's not the biggest bull on the planet.
He's not some monster tatanka that's gonna feed a village.
But it doesn't have to.
He's gonna feed me, and I'm grateful.
I just can't believe it.
Every blessing I've had this year has come way unexpectedly.
The majesty of seeing what he did,
and the cat and mouse we went through,
the gratitude I feel,
the sustenance I receive, that makes it full circle.
That's like a whole big (bleep) hug in one day.
I'm gonna go get the knives.
I'm gonna do him up proper.
Yeah, I guess I'll do him here.
I don't usually like a whole lot of blood so close to camp.
I don't have any bears or anything that are close
that I know of, but,
let's get you taken care of, buddy.
Thank you.
Man. Bounty of the tundra.
Chip: Homeschooling my kids is to be able to have
that time to be with them.
Education's excellent when you can show your kids yourself.
Chip: Everywhere you go, people know how to make a good
little brush house.
Let's just kind of figure out what our boundaries
are right now.
Might as well put it right here.
See if we can stick it in there.
Yeah, that's pretty deep.
Use your weight.
Keep twisting until it stops completely.
You'll feel it.
Qutan: We are building a little washhouse.
We don't exactly have all nice weather here,
so we are gonna build a place to get out of the wind
and out of the rain.
We could wash our clothes, do dishes, wash wade.
So it'll be pretty useful.
Chip: It's like planting trees.
Let's do this one.
And you see how it'll start to make this thing
into a bowl shape?
Carol: Yeah.
Chip: Hold on to those,
and I'll start tying from this end.
Qutan: People back in the day,
they used to make the same kind of huts,
weaving the willows.
But we haven't really made any of these huts before
so it's pretty new to all of us.
Chip: Shucks. This one just broke.
Wade: You need it?
Chip: No. I don't need it, but I will.
Carol: We got the willows in the ground.
Now we're starting to bend them, tie them in place.
And see if this thing is actually gonna turn out.
Carol: I know.
The willows are breaking while we put them on,
and it's still all flimsy, and it's just dumb.
It doesn't seem like it's working out.
Chip: It's gonna be kind of loose and shaky at first,
but when it all gets tied together,
even these thin links will become really strong
with each other.
Qutan: Hey, at least after we get this first one done.
Chip: Yeah.
Qutan: We'll know how to do the next one better.
Chip: Yup. It's all right. We're, we're getting there.
It's always trial and error, kiddos.
Doesn't always work out the first time till you
figure it out.
Get this broken one off there.
You can't be having them that thin.
You see how far I've got these connected?
Two and three feet of them sometimes.
You know, it calls for a lot of adjustments,
tying and untying, and just figuring this thing out.
Yeah, we'll get it done. It'll, it'll come along.
Just be patient.
If you haven't made one before then you're probably
in for a lesson.
The local culture's been on to this stuff for a long time.
Willows are an excellent material for making
a lot of things.
You know, you can make little willow huts like these.
My wife's dad talked about things like that.
So, you know, I listen to those old things.
You really can't get better than what people
already have around here.
So why try to reinvent the wheel or why try to
make something better when this is probably the best
thing I've got going right now.
This thing's coming out pretty good.
Looks like it's gonna be fairly stable.
Take the rest of these willows over here.
We'll go weave them through here until we've got them up
on the walls here and this thing is really
stiff and straight.
And then we can get a tarp over it.
Sound good?
Carol: Yeah. That's pretty cool.
Ricko: There's a lot of variables out here,
from the wind, to the bugs, to the bears.
That's life out here, you know?
You get hit with unexpected circumstances.
Ricko: I wanna drop this tree straight in this direction.
Between the garden here, and the smokehouse,
and the wood shed.
Basically, I wanna drop that tree straight down the line here.
Hopefully get it right in the center so I don't damage
none of the property.
Narrator: Ricko has discovered that a spruce tree near the family cabin
has been infested by ants causing it to lean
towards the structure.
Should the strong arctic winds pick up,
the tree could destroy the home and could be fatal for
ricko and his children.
He must cut the tree down before it causes any harm.
Ricko: A big spruce tree like that is not something I enjoy
cutting down, but I have to cut it down because the ants
have totally destroyed the inside and it's just a matter
of time before it comes down on its own.
I don't wanna hit the smokehouse.
Don't wanna hit the old garden.
Most importantly, don't wanna hit the cabin.
You know, I'll have the kids come out,
wait over there while I start cutting it.
Drop it right down the line.
That would be a perfect scenario.
I've never knocked down a tree this close to the cabin.
So I'm not looking forward to doing this job but
it has to be done.
I can't sleep good at night thinking of that tree.
The wind is blowing when I'm about to go to bed,
and that tree is on my mind.
What I want you kids to do is go over here right now.
Skarlett: Where are we gonna have to go?
Ricko: Stand right here.
That tree can get kicked back if it hit anything,
so I want the kids far out of the way because this is a
dangerous project, and people have died cutting trees down.
From what I could see,
just the way this tree is shaped,
leaning kind of almost to the cabin.
So I wanna do a little face cut right here, make a wedge,
cut from the other side, create a hinge so the tree
falls directly where I want it.
The only way I can manipulate the way this tree falls is
with a little bit of technique and a whole lot of luck.
This wind is kicking pretty strong today so it's kind of a concern to me,
so maybe the sooner I start this job, the better.
If I screw up on this tree, it's coming down on my cabin,
and that is my family legacy right there.
I'd be devastated if I knocked this tree on my cabin.
So I'm nervous. I'm real nervous.
Never had this done before, so.
Skarlett: Are you scared now? Skyler: No.
Ricko: Lot of ants. Okay. I'm cutting it down.
(chainsaw motor)
skyler: Timber! Skarlett: No!
Skyler: Timber!
Skarlett: No!
Ricko: Woo!
Skyler: I wanna see the ants.
Ricko: Okay. Let's get these ants.
You see them?
Skyler: Yes. They're everywhere.
Ricko: I gotta dump some of this diesel on it.
We gotta get them before they take off.
Skarlett: Hurry!
Skyler: Look, they're crawling on the floor.
Ricko: Splash up some up in here on this stump so that it,
they can't come out of that stump.
You see how they're dispersing?
Skyler: Uh-hmm.
Ricko: I start by cutting a tree down, in the end,
I'm educating my kids on bugs.
And it's important to have the kids learn something about
bugs and beetles and gnats, the whole bug world,
and how it can hurt our world we're living in,
as far as safety in our cabin or just feeling comfortable
outside our cabin.
Didn't go perfect but it didn't go bad.
We destroyed the old garden bed but that's all right.
I'm glad we got it on the ground though.
We didn't get the smoke house.
We didn't get the wood shed.
We got the old garden but that's okay.
We can live with that.
Main thing though, we didn't hit the cabin,
so I'm real happy.
High five.
Sue: I think if you're living life correctly,
you're gonna be happy with what you've done,
but you're always gonna go,
"damn, there was so much more."
sue: He's blowing up,
and I don't want a pressure bath of internal yuckiness.
Narrator: A chance encounter with a bull caribou has
yielded sue a crucial meat supply for her survival.
Field dressing the animal will be grueling,
but she must work quickly before the scent of blood
fills the air and attracts the unwanted attention
of nearby predators.
Sue: Found a heart rock and I put it in my bag this morning.
My heart and his heart.
Together.
I can get verbose.
I can use a lot of words to describe my lifestyle and say,
"you just can't count on anything 'cause it'll surprise you,"
but right there today, out from nowhere bounds the
monarch of my glen and offered himself up.
It's like he dropped out of the sky.
Boom. "here I am, sue."
I'm allowed four.
And this makes two.
The one I got a little while back, total surprise as well.
Here's what's left of the caribou.
But you can see I am right there at camp.
I'm not that far away.
Just a few hundred yards.
And that's really bumping my comfort zone,
for leaving the gut pile here.
That smell may permeate the area and make it a
draw for the predators.
So when I take the meat in to put up,
I'm gonna bring the trailer and the four-wheeler back,
load this slop, and bring it further downstream.
In the cities, you've got people whose job it is to go
and clean up the mess.
You set out your garbage pails and they come take it away.
If they didn't, you might have coyotes, rats,
species that people find distasteful,
might start to encroach more.
The gut pile, the bones I don't need,
anything excess is gonna go across the
river and downstream.
It may be a little bit of a pain in the butt to
do it this way but it's the safest way I can think.
Predators are in the area.
I may not see them but they're here.
Looking at the river where it's nice and flat.
A lot of people make the mistake that that's
where you wanna cross.
That's where you're gonna sink.
That is super, super deep.
None of this is doable. None.
It's deeper than (bleep) in here.
So this is all out.
I can go down this way,
see if maybe I can make it down that way.
Doesn't hurt to try.
For a predator, if they can take something and snatch it away,
that's their preference.
They don't really wanna force an interaction if they don't have to.
Same with me.
If I have to protect my camp,
I certainly will with deadly force.
But if I don't have to, I'd rather not.
This seems like as good a spot as any.
The camp is way over there that way, across the water.
I'm not 50 miles from camp.
But for a predator, he's got someplace to hide.
He's got someplace to be safe.
He's not right up my backside.
So it's safe.
I'm letting nature have a shot at something I
couldn't do anymore with.
Share and share alike.
Sharing is caring.
Jessie: I don't focus on my strengths.
My strengths are my strengths.
My weakness is what I need to focus on.
Jessie: All right.
This is one of my old dog houses right here.
You can see a lot of the wear and tear that's happened.
I built these about four years ago.
It's not in terrible shape,
but there are things like this, you know?
The dogs tend to be pretty rough on them.
Narrator: Jessie is in the process of a major overhaul of
his dog yard to improve the kennel's comfort in brushkana.
After completing the groundwork,
he must now move on to the next phase of the revamp if
he's to complete the task before fall arrives when
training takes priority over all other endeavors.
Jessie: One of the things that I really wanna do with the
dog house is completely switch up the design.
You have this door here on the front.
Well, that only gives the dog a little area to be
like out of the wind.
I mean, the wind can rip out here.
The storms are just incredible.
Seeing that this winter, the heavy snow load,
the big massive storms, the deep cold,
I wanna make a better design.
I wanna put the door here.
I've been building dog houses for 15 years.
I built some pretty bad ones.
I built some pretty good ones.
And now is the time to build the best ones.
Okay.
I've got all my measurements.
Now it's time to transfer it out onto a piece of plywood.
I'm very diligent to use only one piece of
plywood per house.
This is an expensive material,
and I don't wanna waste it.
To live this lifestyle, you have to be very smart
about the way you use your resources.
When I'm out here and I'm doing something,
it's not like when I was in nenana.
Honestly, I lacked inspiration when I was in nenana.
Things are so different out here in brushkana.
Everything's on my terms.
This is my place.
It's something I take pride in.
Okay. I got all my four sides put on.
Got the main structure of the house built.
Next I'm going to lay out my door.
This is not just a doghouse to me.
This is what provides my dogs with shelter from the wind.
Shelter from the storm.
The roof fits.
See how this looks.
Oh, I'm liking this.
This is a real nice doghouse here.
This is heavy duty.
It's gonna last for a while.
It's time to go see what emmet thinks about it.
Where are you, emmet?
I have a very special dog, emmet.
He's a huge dog.
I love him so much, you know?
So I got this house built and I'm gonna see what emmet
thinks about it.
If emmet approves, then I'm gonna crank out 27 more of them.
Oh, there you are.
I got your new house, buddy.
You're gonna try this out for me?
Oh, yeah.
Check this thing out.
Nice and new.
Right now, it's make it or break it time.
If emmet doesn't like this house and he doesn't go in
there easily, I gotta go back to the drawing board,
redesign the whole house, go back and do this again.
I'm hoping that I built the doorway big enough for emmet.
Jessie: I'm hoping that I built the doorway big enough for emmet.
All right. There he goes. He's getting in.
It looks like he likes the house.
I got 27 more to go build.
You want a new house too, buddy?
I'm gonna go build you a new house, buddy.
So happy that I don't have to go and redesign
this whole house.
Emmet likes it, everybody will like it.
Now it's time to go into production mode.
It's time to zone out, focus on doing a good job.
I enjoy building my own life here in brushkana.
Everything here has been done by my hard work,
sweat on my brow, my hands.
Definitely as the process goes,
it's a lot like pancakes.
The quality of the house gets better towards the end.
You get everything figured out, dialed in.
You get a lot faster.
You get more efficient.
Just have a couple more screws to put in the roof and I'll be
able to move on to getting these houses painted.
That way they'll preserve and last a long time.
Sue: A lot of my life, it's really winging it.
Sue: My great grandma used to make what's called aspic.
Cut around here, heat it up, pop it off,
and you boil that down, and you've got a gelatinous
material like jell-o.
Haven't had it in ages, and I wanna try.
The theory is you heat all this stuff up and then you're
able to get it off.
This is definitely some wild west stuff going on here, man.
(grunting)
it's trying.
Oh, look at that, it's starting to...
See how it's lifting up?
I'm gonna get this.
You're mine.
Okay.
One toe casing off.
I wanna try and repeat the process,
and get a little quicker at it.
Back in the day, you didn't waste a damn thing
on an animal.
People don't do it anymore just because
it's not fashionable.
I mean, who, who eats jell-o if you're not in a
hospital and dying?
I don't know.
It's nostalgic to me.
My age, I don't get that many new things that I go,
"oh, wow.
I haven't tried that, but I remember it. How cool."
and I get to do that, so it's kind of fun.
So I've got the hooves all cleaned up.
That's what I'm gonna be boiling up.
I'm gonna make my aspic.
But the day's not getting any longer so I've gotta keep going.
Ricko: I might not be a professional,
but no matter how stupid you are, as long as you work hard,
you can get something done out here.
Hard work pays off no matter what.
Ricko: Now the real work begins.
That tree is not just gonna go in vain.
We're gonna cut that tree down and stack it up.
This winter, we could use it for firewood.
In the long run, the kids learn,
not only about hard work but using whatever is around
you and not wasting anything.
That's what's important out here.
And if you have to destroy something,
at least make something out of it.
Skyler: Dad, where do you want the logs?
Ricko: Over here.
Just push, roll them over that way.
Maybe both of you on one.
Sky.
Skyler: I can handle it.
I'm a boss at this.
Skarlett: I ain't.
Ricko: My kids are getting stronger.
They're growing up and they're not babies anymore,
so having them around and teaching them is really
important because days like this, they help me out.
That's my fruit of doing my job as a father is having some
help in the end.
And that's what I like to see,
see my kids get their hands in there and get to work.
Let's tear this old flower garden out.
This old greenhouse frame that's in my yard that my dad
built got smashed by the tree.
Skyler: Timber!
Skarlett: No!
Ricko: I wanna clear that out.
I'll take the bigger pieces.
Skar, you can take something like this.
Just throw it right in the fire.
It's not gonna burn too hot 'cause it's all wet and moldy.
Jeez, it's coming all apart.
Here you go, sky.
It's actually a job that needs to be done.
It's just been sitting there rotting away.
Kind of a bed for bugs and mice and all that,
so it's good to get it out of the way now.
Put all this little stuff in there.
Just a lot of old junk we don't need.
This something I do when I was a kid with my family.
And we learned a lot about fire safety.
And sometimes you gotta fight fire with fire.
You can't have brush piled up in your yard where any
kind of spark can light that.
And also it keeps the bugs out of your yard by burning
all this stuff.
Looks beautiful out here.
We've got all our winter wood stacked up,
and then we got some future wood right here.
Skyler: Can't believe we got so much things done.
Ricko: Even though it seems like little yard work,
you're learning how to live out here and you're preparing
for the future.
You're preparing for the winter by stacking up wood
right here.
You've put in the work.
So good job.
Teaching my kids to work is very important.
I know they're future is secure if they know
how to work hard.
You put in work and you get fruit in the end.
And that's how I got by and that's how my
ancestors got by.
So I want them to carry that torch of survival too.
Qutan: Pretty cool just to make something in one day with
your family so why not do it right?
Chip: Well, we just need to keep layering them.
I'm just trying to get this front done.
Carol: We're just building a little washhouse
made out of willows.
Where we can go wash dishes,
laundry out of the wind and the rain.
Well, that's about, pretty nice, huh?
Chip: Yeah.
No complaint there.
Looks like it'll work to me.
We get some tarps thrown over this thing and
we'll call it good.
Up to the doorway.
Nope. You're past the doorway.
Qutan, you get it straightened up.
Carol, come over here and get the middle.
I can't hold up all this weight.
Something like this is just as necessary as a bathroom
or place to sleep.
You have to keep your sanitation up, you know?
You gotta have clean dishes.
You have to have clean clothes.
And you have to have a clean body and it makes
your mind clean.
And the fact is, you know,
with all the viruses and all that crap going around,
you can't go wrong being clean.
It's looking good in here.
This looks pretty freaking all right.
Okay. One more tarp over top.
You ready?
Up.
Carol: Qutan, push it.
That part, right? Right here, qutan.
Chip: Don't let it get stuck and rip.
Keep going.
Carol: Push it right in this spot.
Chip: Come on.
Carol: Irene please. Right there.
Right where I'm pointing.
Chip: Keep going. Qutan: What are you pointing at?
Carol: That part that's sticking up.
Chip: Keep going.
Carol: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Chip: That wasn't (bleep) cool at all.
Carol: Okay. Flip it and do it the other way.
Ready?
Chip: Yeah.
Carol: Putting on the tarp was pretty rough.
Chip: Okay.
Wait, wait, wait. Stop. Stop. Stop.
Get the top.
Carol: We all got a little bit impatient with it.
Qutan: Is it stuck or something?
Chip: Yeah. It's stuck. It needs to be pushed over. No.
Carol: Let's go, qutan. What the hell are you doing?
Push it.
Qutan: I can't reach it. God.
Chip: Lift the corner. It's still sitting right there.
It's not getting pushed over.
Carol: Putting on the tarp was almost maddening.
Yeah. She got it.
Now stop. Stop.
Just stop. Dad.
Chip: It's not big enough?
Carol: No. Doesn't quite fit.
Chip: Nope. Ain't gonna (bleep) work.
Damn it.
Chip: Nope. Ain't gonna (bleep) work.
Let's go get a different one.
Carol: Whoa.
Chip: It's not gonna work.
It'll work with two of them though.
We're getting there.
Just be patient.
Be patient.
Here it goes, qutan.
That's gotta get fixed.
There you go.
It has to go over.
Okay we got it.
We gotta tie it off.
Basically, you know, I've got canvas on top of a woven,
willow structure.
And the strength is in all of it coming together.
And then to hold down the canvas as we tied
them to heavier logs.
And we're using weights to hold down that canvas.
But isn't that a cool thing to build?
Carol: Real simple and cool, huh?
Chip: Yeah. Real simple. It just took a while.
It takes effort. Anything good takes work.
I think I showed my girls that no matter what,
they can make a shelter.
Like if they landed here and had nothing,
they can go back there and bust down willows and
build themselves a shelter.
Carol: Wow. Awesome. Chip: Yeah. And sturdy.
The wind ain't gonna blow this over,
nice and rounded like it is.
You could set up a small table and a little shelf and stuff in here,
and put things to do your dishes.
Qutan: Let's go. Let's go.
Chip: Okay.
Carol: It was actually cool learning how to do this.
It's actually awesome.
I never thought about cutting the willows down and
weaving them together.
I'm glad I did this with my family.
Qutan: Building this hut and having some family time
with my dad and my sister.
It's quite nice, spending time with them and doing
new things like building a hut.
Carol: How's the dishes going?
Qutan: I'm almost done.
Carol: You're finally doing your dishes?
Qutan: What do you mean finally doing dishes?
Carol: Being at camp,
I usually do hang around my sister,
but then when it's time to do the laundry or the dishes,
she's off doing something else.
But having this little wash hut,
my dad will be like,
"both of you go do the laundry and the dishes."
so now I got a little partner,
and we could just hang out,
be out of the mosquitos,
and just have fun doing our chores.
Qutan: I'm done with dishes, so.
Carol: You're gonna help me finish?
Qutan: Yeah. Wow.
Look, dad made a hanger.
If you are new to alaska and you come out here,
it may seem like the middle of nowhere.
If you don't know the right things to look for,
it may seem harsh.
But with all the materials here,
like the wood and the willows,
it's pretty good to live out here
'cause we don't have exactly depend on anything for
food and shelter.
We can do it all ourselves from the land around us.
Chip: Wow.
That's good to see at the end of the day.
Excellent.
So you guys have a nice, mosquito-proof, warm,
wind-proof, rain-proof place to work.
Qutan: Yeah.
Chip: It's important to keep our stuff washed.
I mean, like this might be one of the most important
things that you do all day besides sleep.
Carol: Yeah.
Chip: I appreciate you girls for it.
Thanks for helping me build it.
Sue: You should always be intrigued by something.
Sue: I've got in here, boiling away,
the leg bones and the feet from the caribou.
It's been boiling for quite a while.
The toes are falling apart, and that's what I want.
All this has to boil down and add in to making this gelatin.
I don't have a lot of fresh veg,
but I'll cut up what I have, throw it in, cut up some meat,
toss it in, let that boil again,
put it into the containers, and hopefully,
hopefully we've got it.
Poof. We'll see.
Well, there it is.
This is the chilled product I had cooked.
The foot jelly.
Bon appetit me.
Over the teeth, past the gums.
Look out, stomach. Here it comes.
That's actually freaking good.
It's hard to describe.
It's super flavorful but in a savory way.
Go team kavik.
I just got the blue ribbon.
One more way to stretch the respect and the meals I
get out of one caribou.
It makes it one more thing that I'm grateful
to that animal for.
Thanks again, caribou.
Jessie: Everything I do out here,
I just wanna put my heart and soul into it.
I feel so much inspiration, motivation,
dedication, determination.
This place brings out all the best qualities in me.
(barking)
jessie: All right, guys. I got your new houses.
Yeah.
This is the time I've been waiting for.
Out with the old, in with the new.
New house. Look at that.
Come here.
You like your new house?
It's so pretty.
Pretty like you.
New houses, new yard, fresh ground.
That's how you keep these dogs healthy, happy.
Mr. Emmet, your house is ready.
You get to keep it this time.
There's a lot of excitement in the air.
Just delivering these houses to the dogs shows
what I envisioned.
Nice, clean rows.
Nice, fresh ground for my dogs.
Everything very concise and organized.
Let's see how it looks, huh?
Wow.
The dogs got so much space.
These houses look incredible.
They're gonna keep them so nice and warm this winter.
This is like party night in the dog yard.
This is a celebration.
Time to just take it all in and enjoy it and take
them for a run.
Alright, guys.
(whistles)
it's important for me to see my dogs be free.
Jessie: Everything that I do for these dogs,
I put my heart and soul into.
I love them. They're my family.
They're my best friends.
And they're all I need.
Looking at this kennel from up here really makes me excited
for the future.
I see, I'm building my kennel.
I'm building my kingdom here.
Who knows what the future holds but the present's pretty
sweet right now.
Captioned by cotter captioning services.