JHONNY: I see a dark spot over there on the far beach, and uh
it's a rock bear. It's a big ass rock.
That's another rock bear, no bears.
They eat along the shore.
I'm out here hunting black bear because black bear
is readily available in this area.
Springtime is when they come out of the den,
and black bear's what's going to feed me,
feed my dog, carry us through the few months that we stay in this area.
Once that bear's gone it'll be time to go back north
and start chasing caribou,
but every area has its own resource.
And I take advantage of those resources.
My method is to invest a day understanding the land.
You know, understanding the land, understanding the area
helps me understand the animal.
If I was a bear where would I be?
Different world through these.
I think you're actually looking through them.
Bears like to come out of the trees,
and they come and they eat this grass right here.
Ooh. Look at this, Java.
Something's been in here just grazing,
and that something is what I'm after and that's black bear.
This is good sign.
A jackpot up here.
Come here. Fish bones.
What the bears do is they'll fish in the rivers
and the creeks and once they get a fish,
they'll climb up somewhere so they can be alone and eat it,
otherwise other bears will try to compete,
and they'll try to take that salmon from them.
They're eating the grass; they're eating the fish.
I mean the bears are not going to be far from this area.
I've lived all over the United States.
The last place I was living in before I got to Alaska was Seattle.
Living in a town and living in a city is not healthy for me.
It's like a disease to my soul.
This is where I belong.
That's the lucky one, Java.
This right here, it'll bring home spring and summer meat.
What do you think, rub some good luck on ya?
There we go.
Alaska's not a land of what-ifs for me.
To be worrying about what if I don't do this or what if I don't do that
is an unhealthy way to live out here.
It's a way that I just, I don't live out here,
I don't think like that whatsoever.
I can see a black bear right now.
The wind is blowing right toward that and it's going to smell me in no time.
That's exactly where the bear's at so it's gonna smell us
and it's probably six hundred yards away and I gotta get at least to two-hundred yards.
There's two of them, there's two bears.
They're looking at me.
It's a sow with two cubs. I can't shoot that bear.
I don't wanna shoot it because it's a mom,
I don't want to shoot it because it has cubs,
and I don't wanna shoot it because a sow bear
is one of the most dangerous bears to approach.
It's going to do everything it can to protect its cubs.
You don't wanna mess with mama bear, she'll mess you up.
She's a good size, too.
KALEB: As a young-adult, I lived in the city.
On a low-paying job.
That was getting me nowhere.
I grew up in this valley.
And I saw an opportunity here to make a better living for my family,
and if I don't I'm one step closer to failure.
All right, Gilbert.
We got our trap, some wire, an axe and a shovel.
I think we'll be able to take care of these beavers.
Gilbert and I are heading out to McCarthy's most well used
watering hole to assess whether beavers have moved in.
Beavers will flood landscapes and they carry Giardia Bug, beaver fever.
Which makes humans incredibly sick.
GILBERT: You're getting caught.
KALEB: All right, Gilbert.
So, we need to make sure that there's no beavers around here.
Hop on in.
And if there are, we need to catch them.
You ready to do this? GILBERT: Yeah.
KALEB: We're gonna go find us a beaver pond.
Come on! Good girl!
You gotta be careful here so we don't tip over.
I see lots of really old cuttings here but nothing fresh, which is good.
This is my chance to teach Gilbert about conservation.
Just let the wind carry us, Gil.
Dealing with animals that can threaten the health of an entire community.
We're gonna just kinda ease our way in here.
Whoo! Go straight off the bow.
Hi, Pipe.
You can grab this, we're gonna try and catch a beaver with that.
We'll get the wire, here you go, and axe and we're gonna set up this house.
So, let's see what we can find here.
CHEVIE: I live here with my wife and three kids.
Sonta's from here. Deg Hit'an Athabascan.
As long as we have respect for the land.
And appreciate the land, we'll reap that reward
that the land will give back to us.
SONTA: Let's do this thing, let's get some white fish.
We are hungry. CHEVIE: Hungry.
SONTA: Kay, everyone has their life jackets on?
CHEVIE: Right now, this is one of my favorite times of year.
As soon as the ice goes out of the Innoko River
the white fish start running. SONTA: Thank you.
CHEVIE: And we have about ten days to capitalize on catching them.
We might be shooting the shotgun too
so you guys look out for ducks, okay?
You guys might have to grab them out of the water, all right?
SONTA: Our first ride of the year.
Our diet is really based on the seasons. You good? SYDNEY: Yeah.
SONTA: So, while we're looking for white fish
we're looking for other things as well.
We just gotta be ready and prepared.
I'm pregnant right now, and it might not look like the most comfortable thing.
CHEVIE: You guys good?
SONTA: But, really I know that this is a healthy activity for me
and baby's gonna eat some good whitefish.
Are you staying warm enough?
RYDER: Do I go grab it? CHEVIE: Yeah, go ahead.
SYDNEY: I want to try and grab it, too.
CHEVIE: Ryder's gonna grab it. You get the next one.
Don't lean over the edge too far.
When we're out doing anything, especially on the river
it does add another level of danger
but there's a lot of opportunities that may present themselves.
So, we have to be able to capitalize.
EMRY: We got it. SONTA: Yup.
CHEVIE: Sydney, Sydney here.
Push off of it up there so we can go.
JESSI: We live out here in the middle of nowhere, Alaska.
Originally, we came out here because Chris' dad's homestead was here.
And then we started feeling what it is to be out here.
And I'm hoping that our sweat, and our tears,
and just our body-aches will continue to keep this thing standing.
CHRIS: It's amazing that the windstorm took this tree down.
There's some funky trees around the house.
JESSI: Ready? CHRIS: Yeah.
JESSI: I'll follow you.
CHRIS: I'd hate for a big tree to fall right on the roof.
So, this is one of the trees that I've been very worried about is this.
I noticed this started cracking in the last few days, and it is just like.
JESSI: Well, look at it just sway up there.
CHRIS: Yeah, and if you notice it's leaning out over the cabin.
We've gotta take these trees down.
If we don't.
JESSI: We better take them down before they take the.
CHRIS: Cabin down. JESSI: Cabin down.
CHRIS: This isn't even the worst tree, check this tree out over here.
It's gotta come down at any point.
JESSI: Yikes, they're both equally rotten.
CHRIS: Yeah, and unfortunately the worst time to cut trees
is when it's super windy.
JESSI: So, we're gonna have to rip these things with a come along.
CHRIS: Yeah. That's how I'm feeling. JESSI: Sounds good.
CHRIS: I just need something kind of heavy, something like this.
The idea's to, like, chuck something like hook it on a rope
and like chuck it up to the tree.
Try to rope a come along to it and pull it but let me just try it out.
JESSI: What.
CHRIS: Like that. (laughs)
Dude it's wedged in there.
JESSI: You think that's gonna apply enough pressure to pull it?
CHRIS: Well, that wasn't the plan but let's just see.
Son of a gun.
JESSI: Yeah but what happens when you apply enough pressure to break that one branch?
CHRIS: Um, just humor me. JESSI: Okay.
CHRIS: Just humor me for a moment.
JESSI: All right. CHRIS: I wanna try something.
You see that? JESSI: I don't even wanna be.
CHRIS: Oh, you see that tree move?
I don't think anything's gonna break.
Watch that tree.
Gonna pull it one more time and see if it'll move a bit more.
JESSI: Oh my gosh. You okay? CHRIS: Oh, yeah. JESSI: Yeah.
CHRIS: It got me in the shin, you can see where
it nailed me when it came out of the tree.
I think I got a little excited that it went up on first try.
I'd like to get it all the way up and over
and then get this rope hooked to like a cable. So, let's try again.
Nope, close.
Better than climbing the tree.
Let me try one more time.
JESSI: Just be careful when that comes down.
CHRIS: There it is, come on. Ah!
JESSI: Whoa! It's like going to the carnival.
CHRIS: Okay, let's try something else.
We're just, we're just trying.
I don't know if I can poke it with this or not.
JESSI: Oh, wow. Can you reach it all the way up there?
CHRIS: I can't see yet.
Right there.
JESSI: Great. CHRIS: Got it.
JESSI: Here it is. I've got it.
CHRIS: All right, so we just need to get this untied and then hooked to the cable.
JESSI: Okay.
KALEB: People in the city have no idea what it's like to
be reliant on a stream to get their daily drinking water.
They never have to think about where does this water come from?
Is it safe to drink?
And will there be water tomorrow?
I located one of the entrances to his den, but so far, I'm really happy.
I've not seen any beaver sign.
That's good, we don't want beavers in this pond,
but we still need to make sure we make the effort to catch one
if he's sneaking and hiding in here. 'kay?
GILBERT: Or we could dig in this.
KALEB: We're not allowed to touch the, the den. GILBERT: Why?
KALEB: Because Alaska law does not allow that. GILBERT: Ah.
KALEB: Ah. Let's find two long skinny poles. GILBERT: 'Kay.
KALEB: Like this one right here.
I think this one might be long enough. Oh, yeah.
Ooh, look at this pole right here. See that?
A beaver cut that down, and he tried to cut it right there.
Look at that, his teeth are just like, hummm.
All right, have you ever seen how to set one of these, Gil?
It's pretty easy.
GILBERT: But it also look dangerous.
KALEB: These are very dangerous.
The first year that the beavers were in this pond
I caught one in a conibear like this and one in a foothold trap.
And then the next spring, two more beavers moved into the house,
and I got them with my rifle.
So, I've taken four beavers out of this house,
and I've done my part to help keep our community drinking water safe.
Beavers have underwater entrances and when they come out of the house,
they swim out really fast.
So, when they hit the trigger of the conibear there's not backing out.
And we caught a beaver.
I mean a beaver chew.
Now we just need to disassemble this and put it in the water.
GILBERT: Mhm.
KALEB: We don't like having beavers in our drinking water, right?
GILBERT: Right.
KALEB: Kaboom. I think we're good to go.
Let's tear out some beaver dam, Gilbert.
JHONNY: Hunting's more than just pulling a trigger.
Hunting is having a deeper connection with my food
and a better understanding of nature.
And no other lifestyle I've lived has allowed me to do just that.
I see a bear on the shore.
It can be kind of hard to tell from afar
because he's kind of up in the brush.
It's gotta suck trying to keep a quiet, steady movement.
I'm trying to race up to catch this bear,
I'm also trying not to scare it.
Once he goes up into that brush he's gone,
but the wind's in my favor.
Wind's blowing opposite which'll help try to carry this noise of my
upward motor away from the bear, keep my scent away from the bear.
It's just so hard to put a sneak on 'em.
But you better believe I'm gonna try it.
To get an entire bear that's going to feed me for about two months.
That's the best way to live out here,
'cause hand and mouth is a lot harder.
That's a big bear.
Don't go, buddy. Don't go.
Gah, that's a big bear.
Two-hundred and twenty-five yards.
Hey, hey. No.
There's a seal right over there and she's curious
when she sees little critters in the water.
JHONNY: I'm moving way too much,
there's no way I'll make this shot.
I would rather not take a shot than miss a shot
or even worse injure the bear. That's not what I'm about,
so I think what I need to do is go to shore.
If I skirt around it, I think I can kind of get a stalk up behind it.
Java, you got your ears on?
Are we listening?
We paying attention?
If we go to shore, you gotta behave.
You'll ruin the hunt, you'll ruin yourself.
Java girl, come on. Come on.
(inaudible)
We must have spooked him.
He must have heard me coming.
Pretty hard not to hear me coming honestly.
It's a tough stalk.
There's a chance that the bear is on the other side of this big rock.
I don't wanna come up on a bear like that. That's just,
that's a suicide note.
So, I think it's back to the boat for now.
JESSI: Nature is everything.
It is the force of life up here,
and it's stronger than I will ever be.
You can resist but you can't push it too far.
CHRIS: Damn, it's windy out today.
Okay. You ready? JESSI: I hope so.
CHRIS: All right.
Just trying to figure out how to get a good whip,
the rope is catching and like slowing it down. JESSI: Yup.
Success!
Chris and I, we have two large birch trees,
and they have super rotten cores,
and we have to take 'em down now.
CHRIS: Yeah. Tighten it up!
JESSI: They're really close to the house,
these trees literally can come down tonight.
CHRIS: Nice. Start putting pressure on it.
Go until it's like, zip line tight.
There it goes. Pulling good.
It's starting to pull away from the cabin.
JESSI: It's getting there; it's pretty stiff.
CHRIS: Okay, I'm gonna make some cuts.
JESSI: Oh, wow.
CHRIS: Starting to move.
Whew! It's cracking!
Just keep pulling until it gets really tight, it's gonna pull over!
There it is! Just bounce on that cable and it will come right down.
It's gonna go!
I'm gonna cut it, make sure it's tight!
All right!
JESSI: That's fantastic, nothing got destroyed!
CHRIS: Let's start prepping for the next tree. JESSI: Yeah,
it's gonna be a hard one.
SONTA: You're always gonna get taught a new lesson.
When you're interacting with animals,
you're always gonna get humbled by them.
They're gonna put you in your place.
They're gonna teach you something you didn't know before.
Rubbing right up against here?
CHEVIE: That steep little bank right there?
SONTA: Yeah. It looks like there's kind of a little eddy in there,
what do you think? CHEVIE: Yeah.
SONTA: This is an extremely short window. CHEVIE: Hold on.
SONTA: Oh. For us to be able to get our spring whitefish.
Because once they're passed, it's out for the year.
No going near the bank.
You see how it falls so easily into the river?
CHEVIE: It's deep, too. That's six to eight feet deep.
SONTA: We'll see what we see.
Got a little blood on the dip net, that's a good sign.
SYDNEY: That's 'cause of the duck.
(laughs)
SONTA: The whitefish are coming up,
so we're facing in an eddy that allows the fish to come into the net. Oh.
CHEVIE: You felt something already?
SONTA: Felt something already.
So that's definitely a good sign.
CHEVIE: This is what it's all about is getting on the water in the spring time,
taking advantage of those things. Look there's some nice animal tracks right there.
That's probably a big black because you don't see any nails in the sand.
Brown have such long nails you'll see those nails,
they're very predominant.
They're here looking for food also so we start cooking fish,
it increases the odds of seeing one, but, uh, we gotta eat too,
so we just gotta be on our toes and keep the kids close.
Just one of those, one of those risks that we take.
SONTA: Oh, that was something. Let's hope.
Y. SYDNEY: Oh yay, we got one!
SONTA: Wee! CHEVIE: We're fishing now. SONTA: Yup.
CHEVIE: I hope you flip it. SONTA: Thanks.
CHEVIE: How's that frame feel? SONTA: Great.
- That's a nice big fish. - That's a big size. - Cool.
SONTA: Pressure.
Woo-hoo! Yes. CHEVIE: Big fish. Big fish.
SONTA: You know the goal is really, to get, like,
forty to fifty would be awesome but if you get, ya know.
CHEVIE: Holy.
SONTA: Ten a day or more, that's a good start for fishing.
You know, every Innoko River person is either out here
or waiting for the fish in town. So, everyone's kinda waiting on the white fish.
One of the things that's really important is just continuing with our
cultural traditions, the activities that make us who we are: Innoko River people.
SYDNEY: This feels heavier.
SONTA: This is essential knowledge.
You got something. SYDNEY: I got something. I got something.
SONTA: Wow. Something that you pass on to your kids.
Can you pull it all the way over? SYDNEY: I think I can!
SONTA: Wow, you picked a good spot, Sydney.
SYDNEY: Don't take my spot, mother.
KALEB: There's an animal control specialist
who takes care of problems like this in the city.
I don't have that option.
I am the animal control specialist.
Oh yeah, look at that one.
That's holding back some water.
You have to take beaver dams the exact same way they went together:
one piece at a time.
Try and do it more than that, you will not succeed.
Beavers are such incredible engineers.
You're looking like a foreman and less like a worker there, Gilbert.
Gilbert, he's not much help with this dam removal, but that's okay.
He's learning an important lesson about
taking care of the resources that are given to us
and being good stewards of the land.
This dam starts back behind that big spruce tree and goes all the way here,
all the way down a hundred feet that way and then crosses another little ways.
But we're trying to make this as inhospitable as possible for beavers,
so they don't wanna stick around.
Before we did all this work
this would've been a pretty sweet place for a beaver to move in.
Unpack their bags, and, uh, enjoy a nice summer without a whole lotta work,
but we're trying to make it so they have to build
a lot of infrastructure to move in here.
GILBERT: They don't have a bag.
KALEB: It's metaphorical, Gilbert.
JHONNY: I grew up as a bum, you know, bumming around.
To just live a stagnate life doesn't work for me.
The closer I am to excitement, danger, thrills,
and death, the more I feel alive.
You ready, Java? Huh?
Buckle in.
I've seen bears on this shore.
Stalked one last night.
It ran up into the trees, into the bushes. Got lost.
Wasn't able to find it, but I've seen activity in this area.
I'm gonna kinda focus, concentrate my time right in here.
All right Java, I see a bear.
It's a bear. I got a bear.
You stay, Java. Stay.
Ears on. You gonna listen? Huh?
You gonna behave? Really easy, okay? Let's go.
You gotta go around this corner and put the stalk on.
(bleep). Slippery.
Oh, yeah, he's feeding.
He's eating a bunch of grass right now, feeding.
It's kinda sat down.
That thing is (bleep) big. It's a big bear.
Good girl. Good girl.
Do you remember when I rubbed this bullet on your face?
That was a good look, wasn't it?
Whoa, that's a big bear.
(sighs)
Easy, easy Java. Easy.
When hunting predators, especially when I have Java with me.
Hey, hey, Java. Easy.
It's important I take the bear down with one clean shot.
I gotta wait for it to turn sideways so I can get a clean shot.
(gunfire)
JHONNY: I think I got a down bear.
Wow.
Java, come here.
That's a good girl. Huh?
That's a good girl. You did so good.
Yeah, I know you smell it.
The wind's blowing right toward us.
He looks good as dead, but we'll just have to go over there and find out.
This isn't a caribou.
Come on girl.
Yeah, looking pretty dead from here.
Yeah. It's dead.
Watch out, Java. Watch out. Come on. Java, watch out.
Hey, stay back.
Look at those, those teeth.
Something you don't want coming at you.
Bears and I are both opportunistic hunters.
We both like to wander. We both like to be alone.
I see a lot of myself in bears,
but that doesn't exclude me from being a hunter.
The middle of nowhere in Alaska, next to a bear that's gonna feed Java and I
for spring into summer.
Having a connection to the food I eat is a big driving force
to why I live this lifestyle,
because every meal I make now has a story to tell,
and I remember having this bullet
and I put it on Java's nose.
I kinda rubbed it a little luck on, on Java,
'cause this is her first bear hunt, and uh,
here I am holding that bullet. That's really really cool.
All right Java, you keep your eye on this. We're gonna hang onto that.
That's kinda a neat souvenir. I feel like I got my money back with that one.
Big old testicle.
Puts me to shame.
JESSI: I'm a knife out here, and the Cosna is the sharpening stone,
and I constantly have to stay sharp,
'cause as soon as I become dull you know something's gonna come my way
and I won't be able to cut it.
CHRIS: All right, that's looking pretty good, I'm gonna come down.
JESSI: Okay. I got the ladder.
CHRIS: So now I'm gonna figure out how to get this tree down.
JESSI: Welcome back to earth.
CHRIS: Oh, it feels good to be down.
JESSI: All right, let's take this outta here.
CHRIS: This one worries me so close to the house.
Nice.
Awesome. I'll get the cable.
JESSI: So, the cable is strung up from the rotten birch tree.
It's gonna over to a healthier tree.
CHRIS: Can't wait to get these trees down and not worry anymore.
JESSI: It's gonna go down along a pulley.
CHRIS: Okay. Everything looks really good.
JESSI: It's gonna go to second pulley connected to another spruce tree.
Okay, there it is. I think that works, right?
CHRIS: Yeah, it's gonna come right across here.
JESSI: So, this is gonna be our weight.
Keep the tension always. CHRIS: Yeah.
JESSI: Even when the come-along doesn't pull anymore.
CHRIS: Cool.
JESSI: Chris and I are gonna use a weight.
When we took the first tree down, I was acting as that weight,
but in this small area in front of our house,
there's not a lot of places to run from that tree.
Every link in this whole chain is important.
CHRIS: Nice, it's starting to float.
JESSI: This is nice and tight. CHRIS: Cool.
JESSI: Nothing can loosen. All right, here we go.
CHRIS: Take it slow.
All right, the barrel's going up.
JESSI: Tell me when you see the tree moving.
CHRIS: Dang, that barrel's getting up there.
Okay, it's starting to crack up top.
JESSI: Keep going? CHRIS: Naw, that's it.
She's ready to come down.
Here it goes!
JESSI: Oh, the barrel's coming down. Watch out.
(bleep)
No.
Whoa. CHRIS: (bleep) yeah! All right! Woo! Yeah!
JESSI: Good job. CHRIS: Awesome.
JESSI: Woo! That came down like a big thud, right?
CHRIS: I know, man, my heart was slamming.
JESSI: We still have a lot of work to do,
this thing is blocking everything.
KALEB: Piper, hey. Hold it, hold it, hold it.
GILBERT: Piper you tip it over. KALEB: Good dog.
Let's see if we can snake our way out of these trees.
We got in here somehow. (laughs)
The dam's torn out, and we're back in the canoe.
What a nice day on the lake.
You enjoying learning how to use the canoe?
GILBERT: Yeah.
KALEB: These moments that I get to spend with Gilbert
are something that can't be replaced by anything,
and I really hope that this place sticks
to his soul and he comes back,
uses the resource and continues this life.
GILBERT: Dad? KALEB: What?
GILBERT: This is not a beaver place at all.
KALEB: Uh-huh. I cherish my moments with Gilbert.
It's time that I'll never regret.
CHEVIE: We caught somewhere between fifteen and twenty fish.
That's enough to keep Sonta busy in the smokehouse for a little while
and give some fish out.
SONTA: Come. So, we have um my tavash and the one that, who made this for you guys?
RYDER: Grandpa! SONTA: Grandpa, so hold on.
These are really sharp. What you wanna do is just hold right here on the gills.
One of the things that's really important is just showing the kids
how to use these tools.
Wash your hand right here. To meet our needs.
Here, put this whole thing like this towards you.
Cultural knowledge is something that you don't change.
I don't know everything. I don't claim to know everything.
But, you know, what I am told, no, other way.
Other way.
I tell it the exact same way to my kids.
Okay, Emry, go ahead.
JHONNY: I don't have plans to have children,
but I can see where people do play a role in my life.
So, right now I'm just boiling this bear skull.
You know I don't hunt for the skull, I hunt for the meat,
but to have that skull is just a way to remember that hunt forever,
keep that animal alive in spirit.
Okay, this is the hide here.
Just gotta scrape all the fat off.
That's gonna help me preserve this hide.
It's not something I'm gonna just waste.
It was a really, really successful hunt but it wasn't easy.
And, uh, Java did an outstanding job.
She just sat right next to me the whole time,
and, uh, she's pretty tired from the experience. You can tell,
but we come back here and we rest up.
I just got a little bit more work to do.
CHRIS: It's just so much work, but that's okay.
JESSI: Oo-hoo. Chris, check this out.
CHRIS: Oh, what a mess. JESSI: Right?
CHRIS: When my dad moved off the Cosna,
he thought that nobody would ever come back out here.
But he kept coming back and preserving the homestead
to make sure that it was here for us,
and so we're doing the same thing.
We are the protectors of our land out here.
KALEB: Check it out, Gilbert. Nice, clean, clear, giardia free water
that we can bring back home. It's nice and safe now.
It's our responsibility as the next generation to pass on these skills
so that it can continue on from generation to generation.
CHEVIE: So, we got butter, onion. SONTA: Butter.
CHEVIE: Duck, and white fish. A cup of water.
That's like a five course meal, man.
This is springtime right here, ya know, duck on the fire.
SONTA: Something that your grandma always says is that you taste the Innoko River.
RYDER: What? SONTA: Yup.
JHONNY: You got two options when you live out here,
you can live hand-to-mouth, or you can shop wholesale.
And getting a bear allows me to shop wholesale.
I can rest my mind because I do have a pretty good amount of meat,
that's gonna carry me through the spring and summer.
And uh, when that's run out, it's time to go back up into the arctic.
I'm nomadic.
I move with the resources, and the resources called me to be here,
so I'm not gonna argue it.
When I was eight years old my dad gave me a 410 shotgun,
and I remember getting off the school bus
and instead of going inside to do my homework, I went out into the woods.
He taught me safety.
Patience. Perseverance.
And he was very, very strict about it.
At the time, as a little kid, I didn't always understand why
but now as an adult, it makes perfect sense.
He showed me how to handle a gun,
where to point it, where not to point it.
Not only did my dad teach me what not to point the gun at,
but he taught me when a predator,
when that comes around, it's okay to point the gun at that.
As long as you eat it though.