♪ ♪
(whistles)
JODY: Denali, come here with your scope real quick.
Hurry.
There's a couple caribou right up there.
My son Denali and I are going to try to bring home
some caribou meat to my home village of Eagle.
We kinda ran out of meat already this year 'cause we shared about
half our moose with the village.
JODY: This is the, "40-mile caribou herd,"
that my people have hunted for millennia.
I spent my whole life hunting from this herd.
My family did and my ancestors did.
Get the one with the biggest beard.
(gunshot)
You're hitting low.
Aim higher.
Take your time.
(gunshot)
Is that your last shot?
DENALI: Yup.
JODY: Deep breath and then hold your breath.
(gunshot)
(theme music playing).
JODY: We don't hunt for sport.
If it's feeding our families and when the animal offers itself to us,
we also honor it by doing everything in a good way.
Let's do it, take care of it right here real quick.
Try to get this knocked out.
Take that head off and aim it towards Eagle.
(inaudible).
DENALI: Huh?
JODY: This is a blessing, we're gonna eat well.
This is a, "40 mile herd," that goes across all those
big mountains into the 40 mile country.
The caribou never made it to the Eagle side.
So folks in Eagle didn't get any caribou this year.
That doesn't make it very easy on our people when
we don't get our native food.
Work quick, come on.
We're definitely taking some of this meat to Eagle.
Gonna share with our family and friends there.
TIG: It's an unforgiving country.
Raising my kids out here.
I just hope that living this type of lifestyle is gonna
show them to never give up.
TIG: It's warm in there? HAZEL: Yeah.
TIG: Oh boy. You guys ready?
TERRANCE: Yup. EVAN: Yup.
TIG: All right we're not pulling no Home Alone are we?
We got five in there?
HAZEL: Yeah. TIG: Head counts clear momma.
We are good to go.
Woo, we're rolling.
EVAN: Whoop, whoop!
TIG: Watch out for the deep snow.
I got all seven of the kids loaded up.
Louise and I are gonna go head up to Fish Creek Lake,
and trying to get us a beaver to eat, I hope.
Winters coming to an end and I wanna get my out here,
while we still got a little bit of winter left.
EVAN: What's the password? LOUISE: Mom, mom's the password.
EVAN: What?
TIG: We do want to catch some food,
put a little bit of food in the freezer before spring.
Today this is where I wanted to bring my kids and
set a beaver trap while they're having some fun.
HAZEL: Think there's snow in my boot.
TIG: I go down as far as I can with the axe.
I wanna get as much of this ice outta here,
before I poke through.
Once you poke through this whole thing's gonna flood with water.
And then every swing will be a splash.
(rumbling)
Oh, that freaked me out.
Hey, beetles, that's a good sign of beaver.
Last month I was having a hard time trapping beaver and I went
and talked to one of the elders and he told me exactly where to
set traps and that's why I came to this little spot.
So pat myself on the back for that one,
finally figuring it out.
LOUISE: I'm worried she's playing with the ice from the water.
You gotta worry about the water splashing up on you,
could give you beaver fever.
TIG: Don't eat that ice, now.
LOUISE: Any of you kids got beaver fever before?
TERRANCE: You did have it before, remember?
Got a little sick and got messy in the toilet.
EVAN: Hmm.
TIG: What I'm gonna do is take a couple snares and
wire one off right here.
Let's hope the beaver, when he comes from his house to get the food,
he's gonna come in this way.
All right.
TIG: Did it tell you something?
It said, "Amiya, eat me!"
Huh? Maybe?
As much as I've learned through my life,
I just wanna be passing it down to my children,
my nephews, nieces.
You know, everybody, not just my family.
I don't want that tradition to end and die with me.
TIG: I'm just a stepping stone for this tradition.
TIG: I hope we'll catch him tonight.
With that kind of confidence, maybe we will baby.
Amiya, she's my lucky little girl.
Tonight we're gonna catch him, yeah,
yes we will baby.
Now we got the beaver trap set,
Amiya sure thinks it's gonna be successful overnight,
she's putting out good vibes, I'm hoping.
JOEL: I'm like a minimalist.
You know, I kind of try to do as little as possible and
live as simply as I can.
♪ ♪
JOEL: All right, this is the cache I built this fall.
I thought it would be a good idea to turn it into
a dual-purpose building and also make it a smokehouse.
You're not really using the cache in the summer so much,
so I figured it would be a good smokehouse also.
This is my first smokehouse build.
Everything I do is pretty much self-taught.
It's good to learn new things.
So this last fall, I built this cache,
you know with my family, my wife and my daughter.
You know, they're kinda out of the picture now,
they moved down to Washington.
But we're still good friends and everything.
We just, uh, we definitely saw our lives going in,
you know different directions and.
I turned a new chapter out here.
A little lonelier.
It's just, uh, me and Tracker.
We work sun up to sun down.
So I'm going to screen in the ends of the eaves here
so the birds can't get in.
Keeping the birds out is gonna be a, a bigger deal than the bugs.
'Cause the smoke actually keeps the bugs out.
We live a pretty involved subsistence lifestyle out here
'cause we are on one of the biggest salmon runs in the world.
We rely on 'em quite a bit,
'cause you can dry salmon and you can eat it all year.
Salmon is a very important part of our diet.
The whole purpose of this is so that I have cool,
dry storage, that doesn't require electricity.
So, I am trying to embrace the traditional lifestyle,
at the same time use modern technology in my building materials
to kinda enhance traditional ways.
'Cause if they had it, they would've used it.
So, when I originally built the cache,
it was just gonna be a cache, and then I kind of had an idea
to make it into a smokehouse.
Kinda on the smaller size for smokehouses,
but now that I'm alone.
Now it's like the perfect size, just for me.
I'm going to measure the door and then I can go down to the mill,
throw a couple boards and I can build the door.
And then we'll hang it, throw a wood stove in.
Start pumping some smoke in there.
JOHN: Your tradition is your story.
Your tradition is your survival story.
JOHN: Did you feel something?
PATRICK: No.
Almost thought I did.
JOHN: Touch the bottom and go up like this.
We do a lot of fishing during wintertime.
It's tough but I depend on
my subsistence way of life out here.
(gusting winds)
JOHN: Every season, Creator has given us certain types of subsisting.
Out there on the tundra,
the river, or out there in the ocean.
JOHN: It's our source of life.
JOHN: Yeah.
I listen to the ice.
Same thing with the wind.
(gusting winds)
JOHN: When it starts blowing,
we gotta go home.
JOHN: If I see fog, on the other side,
it's gonna be dark.
PATRICK: How much daylight do you think we have?
(gusting winds)
JOHN: The snow is our traction for our snow machines.
With the wind, if you go through ice,
it'll be blowing you to a different direction.
It takes a split second to get lost in there.
(gusting winds)
JOHN: We cannot get stranded.
Go to safety all the time.
A lot of times we can't rely on GPS,
but I was trained as a young man
to travel on this land.
My elders tell me, "Make sure you see grass sticking up,
'cause that'll tell you, you're on the land."
The tundra.
As long as you're on this land, you are safe.
Are you okay?
PATRICK: Yeah.
JOHN: This building right here is for, uh,
people that get stranded when it's whiteout.
And so they have a shelter here that they can go to and
keep warm in there.
You have to make sure that this grass right here,
is sticking out from the tundra.
PATRICK: One strand of grass?
JOHN: Yeah. One strand will tell you.
You're on land.
The safest place is the land.
The willows, this is my compass, and you say,
"Hey, I've been here before."
We're gonna go down this way and then
work our way back towards Chevak.
JOEL: Here in America, not all the natives have land anymore.
And that's something we have an abundance of.
We have this huge lake and we have these clean rivers and
all these woods to run around in that are just untainted by people.
JOEL: So this is the old smokehouse.
This the original smokehouse.
So my dad originally built these.
That one I think was actually used before
I was, you know, alive.
Then this one was built, I don't know, 20 years ago.
We had a big family when I was growing up.
That smokehouse was smoking all the time.
You're putting up, hundreds of fish.
A very necessary part of living out here.
We got an electric fence around it to try to keep the bears out
which doesn't always work.
And so you're always kinda worried about your fish in there.
Which is why I built the cache, it's on stilts.
I've never seen an elevated smokehouse,
I'm not really sure how it's going to work.
Smoke-cache. It's a smoke-cache.
Making something outta nothing is I think, super cool.
When you're done you have this functional,
almost piece of art you've just made.
It's not gonna keep the wind out,
all it's gotta do is keep the critters out.
Looks like you're gonna get snowed or rained on.
Probably rained on, since it's like 35 degrees right now.
Shouldn't really be raining for another month.
I'll try to hurry and get this door on before,
before we start getting wet.
Should still be winter and we're quite a bit above freezing right now,
and it's melting and raining.
Good? Not so good.
Hang it, should work though.
Getting this done right now is, is pretty important
so that I'm ready when the fish get here.
When the moose get here.
And I'm, you know, I'm just ready to process everything and
get everything dried and put away.
All right.
It's a big step for, you know, later on in the year.
It's starting to snow and rain and getting dark so.
Maybe I'll call it a day for today and then, uh,
start again tomorrow.
Get the wood stove in, start smoking some stuff.
TIG: We're a very strong people,
the Koyukon Athabascan's.
It's a beautiful life that we live.
TIG: Well, we let this beaver snare go overnight.
Hello girl.
I'm hoping that's enough time for this beaver to come out and
find the bait and put his head in one of the,
one of the snares.
We'll see if you guys noticed anything different
over there by the trap.
Anything different?
TIG: Look, there used to be something right there in this spot.
EVAN: Oh, yeah!
TIG: What are we missing? EVAN: Oh, the bait.
TIG: There's no food.
Definitely been a beaver here.
TIG: I hope so.
Once we're out here in the woods, you know,
there's no store to run to, there's no nothing, you know.
We're just completely living a subsistence lifestyle out here.
EVAN: Yup, it's water.
TIG: Oh, man.
EVAN: Messed up the traps? TIG: Darn, he hit 'em both.
Maybe they're a little too big.
Darn.
LOUISE: Wanna hold the pole up for your dad?
TIG: Yup, Terry? Can you hold this up?
Huh, how did he do that?
EVAN: Wasn't that, one of those on the other side like that?
TIG: Yeah, it goes like this.
He did bump my snares.
We are getting close, I missed him this time.
So, I'm gonna shrink our snare down a little bit.
I want as much chance as I can have to catch this beaver.
It's a delicacy to our people out here.
We're just gonna keep on trying.
Reset these snares and hopefully we'll get him next time.
(overlapping chatter)
LOUISE: Good to be outta the house.
Nine of us cramped up in a one room cabin.
(laughter)
Out here, they have all the space in the world.
EVAN: Help, help, help.
TIG: Well, we got the beaver house soaking.
We got the sets put out so, now we're just gonna try and
see if we catch some fish.
LOUISE: See how it's done?
LOUISE: You think you could do that?
TIG: What you think Wesley?
I don't want my kids to lose the tradition of going out into the woods.
(squawking)
TIG: Hey, coming right up the shoot.
(squawking)
LOUISE: Holy, seen it flip?
TIG: When you see that raven flip over like that,
he's got a lucky pack on his back.
So when he's flipping over you know, he's,
he's wishing you good luck, he's dropping his lucky pack for you.
AMIYA: Birdie in the sky!
SOPHIE: Me too. LOUISE: You too?
Hey, keep fishing!
(laughter)
Ah, no, you're gonna make me fall in the hole.
AMELIA: I want my momma!
LOUISE: Ah, no don't get it on the inside, hey!
TIG: Everybody's starting to get a little complacent in this one area.
TIG: Oh, just getting tired of one area and
they're getting a little rambunctious.
Everybody's starting to fight and argue a little bit.
(laughs)
(screams)
TIG: So, we gotta get moving.
Go home and get some food in them or something.
(cooing)
Yeah.
I bet it's been quite a while since
this country has heard a baby cry.
Brings new life to the country.
Hopefully it treats us good,
and help us out with some fish or a beaver.
JODY: I was raised by a strong mother who was raised by a strong mother.
I definitely feel like I have a responsibility to fulfill.
JODY: Haw, haw.
Let's go, haw, haw.
Good dogs. Now we're cruising.
We just got to Eagle and now we're cruising up to
the village where my people are from.
We brought the caribou meat so we can share with the village.
The caribou haven't migrated over to this area,
so it's been kinda hard this year without the salmon and no caribou.
People haven't had much of our native food.
The traditional foods are our medicine and
it's really important to just our health and wellness and our existence.
Haw, haw. Here we go.
Eagle Village is right near the Canadian border where
the Yukon River comes in from Canada.
The Yukon River is just a powerful presence in my life
from the time I was born and traveling on it
by canoe when I was a baby.
To now as an adult traveling on the river with my dog team.
The Yukon River demands respect.
Anytime of the year, it is a force to reckon with.
Haw, haw.
(thudding)
♪ ♪
JODY: There's no stopping your dogs on that glacier.
I mean it's just slick, smooth, hard ice.
But that's all part of it, just kinda,
nature of the beast out here.
JODY: You just have to hold on for the ride.
Just never let go of your dog sled.
JODY: Up, let's go!
Haw, haw, haw.
Eagle is a really beautiful, very special place.
It's just so scenic and the mountains are amazing.
Just the country in general is just has really good energy.
JODY: Gee! Gee! Gee! Whoa!
JODY: Eagle is a very healthy community.
I have family here.
I have my life-long friends here.
I was raised, not just in the village but my family was always
out on the land and that's where I just feel my best.
Where I just refill my cup.
JAMEY: Denali got the caribou. JUDY: Denali!
CHIEF KARMA: Really? Good job Denali.
Fresh meat. Right on.
JODY: Yeah. Yup. Such a blessing.
It's important to Denali to be able to step into his own
as a provider for the people.
BEN: Got some fresh meat. DENALI: Yup.
BEN: How many you get? DENALI: Just one.
BEN: Yeah, these are pretty good.
Man, we didn't get nothing this year.
JAMEY: Yeah.
BEN: Usually, every year we get surrounded by caribou here.
JAMEY: They just took a different route this year, huh?
BEN: Yup. JAMEY: Yeah.
JODY: I feel really proud of Denali for his good harvest
and sharing the meat.
Uncle, you want to go with us to pass this meat out?
BEN: Yeah. JODY: All right.
(knocking)
DENALI: Hey Micah. MICAH: Hey.
JODY: Denali, he spends a lot of time with elders in our village.
MICAH: You can leave it there. DENALI: All right, yeah. Cool.
JODY: He has the skills and knowledge that was
passed down through the generations.
JODY: And he possesses that ability to provide for people.
JODY: He's a culture bearer, for sure.
JOHN: Elders have no time to rest.
We have to bring all of our young people to the future.
JOHN: Check this wood, see if it's dry.
Part of a stump, but it'll work.
PATRICK: Seems kinda dry.
JOHN: It's pretty dry.
We can use it for firewood.
That's a good find.
PATRICK: Yeah.
JOHN: It can be used for cooking and keeping our house warm.
Let's look for another one, okay?
PATRICK: Okay.
JOHN: All of the driftwood are deposit out of the Yukon River
and northwest winds bring it to this area.
What resources are available,
we go out and get it.
PATRICK: It seems wet, John. JOHN: Okay, then leave it.
This is really dry.
This is the kinda wood I usually like to get for art.
My specialty, I make faces out of them by carving.
When my hand touch that wood.
When my eyes look at things and analyze and
make something out of a piece of wood that look like nothing.
Try to watch your back.
PATRICK: Yeah.
JOHN: When I was younger, I did all this kind of work by myself.
I'm still strong, but, uh,
my son-in-law, he does all the work.
PATRICK: You are still strong, John.
(laughs)
JOHN: Okay.
Don't sit down too early.
Encourage your young people, teach them what do we know.
You gotta make it tight, yeah.
It's good.
PATRICK: I can't imagine being an elder,
but I know I am gonna be teaching if that time comes.
(squawking)
TIG: There's a balance between us and the animals.
We only take what we need to.
We always take with respect.
We always show respect for the land.
(laughter)
TIG: Let the girls out.
Hmm, no bait.
Well, we've had this beaver set out for a few days now and, uh,
there's good activity there,
he's coming and getting the bait.
TERRANCE: The beaver took the bait?
TIG: No bait, yeah.
My kids, they've been sure missing beaver meat
right now too, they wanna eat some beaver meat.
TIG: Yeah, he did.
TIG: He's got this bait all twisted up to the,
one of the snares it look like.
Ah, he keep taking the bait and not putting his head in my snares.
Not quite having any luck with this guy.
TIG: I hope the land is gonna help us out with some beaver.
We just gotta keep trying and stay persistent and not give up.
EVAN: See anything? TIG: Nope.
AMIYA: Daddy, what's that?
TIG: Yeah, it looks like he got his food all tied up in the snare.
What?
TIG: No, it got that bait all stuck on one of the snares.
EVAN: Smart beaver. TIG: Whoa!
AMIYA: It's a beaver TERRANCE: We caught the beaver!
TIG: Holy cow it's heavy.
Watch out. Baasee'.
EVAN: It's a big beaver.
TIG: Holy smokes that's a big guy.
TIG: You love that? EVAN: Can I touch it?
TIG: Awesome. We did it guys.
EVAN: Woo.
TIG: Woo, we did it girls and boys.
Now after we catch, we gotta rum him in the snow.
We gotta get that water off of the fur.
(grunts)
Boys, roll this around the snow, shake him around.
Woo, we did it.
Hard work, persistence pays off.
We never gave up, we kept trying.
TIG: Me and my grandma Hazel and me my dad would pull out
a beaver and that was my job as a young boy to...
TERRANCE: Flip it.
TIG: Roll 'em around the snow and get 'em dried out.
That beaver, he's got a good 30 pounds of rich meat once
I get him all processed.
Super rich, super fat meat.
All right, let's get this guy loaded up on the sled.
He's having a first-class ride back to camp.
(grunts)
First-class there, buddy.
Like the big beaver we got, you know,
we sure lucked out with this guy.
Kids were super excited when they seen the beaver.
And right away, they said, "That..."
TIG: "Did bring us good luck."
JOHN: My grandfather would tell me,
"These things that you learn are not yours. It's like..."
"So you pass it on."
JOHN: One thing I gotta teach you is I gotta teach you how to chop wood.
ASHER: Why?
JOHN: That's how I learned how to be tough.
I trained Sonna Boy how to chop wood too.
So far, he hasn't cut his toe off.
SONNA BOY: So far?
(laughter)
JOHN: So now, I'm a grandpa.
I can sit and watch my grandson do it because
I trained him already to do that stuff.
ASHER: Hey, how about use the bigger axe?
That one.
SONNA BOY: No, too much work.
My grandfather is training me mentally and physically how to
do all these things that his grandfather taught him.
JOHN: You know, when I go get wood like this,
I want to share it with people that don't have anybody
to go get 'em wood.
When people's houses are cold, it's no fun, right?
ASHER: Mm-hmm. JOHN: But you help them.
When you grow up, you need to do that, okay?
ASHER: Okay.
JOHN: All right, 'cause you're gonna get stronger
just like Sonna Boy.
All of these young people,
they need to be trained to be a warrior.
A warrior is a leader.
If you're a young man,
and you can do it, bring 'em wood.
ASHER: It kinda looks full.
JOHN: One of the positive things that we live by is being
compassionate to one another.
Training our children, passing on our tradition and values.
There is a love in that circle and life in that circle.
It's a beautiful concept.
ASHER: Now I wanna go home!
(laughs)
JOHN: Okay.
JOEL: Being your own person out here is a big deal.
You definitely need to find yourself.
And you're not dictated by what other people do.
JOEL: Gonna have my chimney go right in the side, I think.
So, I'm gonna go trace my hole.
And I'll try to use the chainsaw and cut a neat hole in
the side of this thing.
It's very fulfilling being able to provide for yourself
and not have to worry about relying on the grocery store.
It's just nice just being out in the woods,
you know, working on your own stuff,
and providing for yourself.
Oh, yeah, that'll do.
Sweet.
So I guess I'll throw the wood stove on the ground and
then I'll start running the pipe up to this pipe.
The stove is, uh, like a quarter of the size that
I thought it was gonna be.
So, I don't how this is gonna work.
Okay, I got the stove pipe all run up.
Looks pretty good.
I think that wood stove is way too small though.
I'll light it and see if there's,
if it's putting off any heat at all.
(thunder rumbling)
Now it's really raining.
Yeah, out here you really have to be in tune with nature.
You have to go along with whatever it's thrown at you that day.
Everything's wet.
It's not helping the situation.
Come on, baby.
That is the smallest wood stove I have ever seen
in my entire life.
You know, it came with a Barbie I think,
so picture can be deceiving.
So the only stove I have is this little tiny one.
So, hopefully, it works and if it doesn't,
I'm not sure what I'm gonna do.
Okay.
It's going now, so I guess I could jump up there.
Gonna see if there is any heat coming out.
JOEL: Oh, man!
There's actually a lot of heat coming out.
It was a grand idea, I had.
It's looking really good right now.
I'm actually pretty impressed with the little wood stove.
It's got a very, like a consistent temperature too,
because the wood stove is on the ground.
And you want to try to avoid cooking your fish 'cause
you're trying to cold smoke it not hot smoke it.
It's already warm in here.
It's like, pretty impressed actually.
Barbie, you did it again!
Now, I can fill this whole thing up with salmon and
once it's dried, I can just leave it in there all year.
Kinda of a cool dual-purpose building and it works good as
a smokehouse now, especially since I'm alone.
Oh man, that smells good.
So, living out here, it's, it's a very unique lifestyle.
And I'm kinda not, you know, your run of the mill guy.
I live out here 'cause it's fun and it's beautiful and
it's on the edge of nowhere, so I need to find that person that
belongs out here, you know, with me.
Mm, smokey.
JODY: Say a prayer? CHIEF KARMA: Yeah.
JODY: We're gonna have Karma say a prayer.
CHIEF KARMA: Heavenly Father, thank you so much for this
beautiful day.
Thank you for having Jody come home and her family,
Jamey and Denali.
And thank you for everything that you provide for us Lord and
the food that we're gonna eat.
Thank you for this time and fellowship together.
In Jesus' precious name, amen.
JODY: Amen.
Well, the sticks are over here and there's fresh caribou meat.
I, I sliced up tenderloin and back strap you guys can
cook over the fire, too.
And then, Auntie Bert made fry bread.
Our traditional foods are our medicine.
We didn't have salmon in the river this summer and
the caribou never made it to this country.
CHIEF KARMA: Was there a lot of caribou when you guys saw this one?
DENALI: Yeah, there was. CHIEF KARMA: Really?
Did you tell them, "Come this way?"
DENALI: We did.
JODY: To be able to be home on Hän Gwich'in land,
sharing the meat with so many people,
I feel really blessed.
CHIEF KARMA: I'm gonna put mine among the coals.
Denali's smart.
DENALI: Cook fast.
JODY: I hope that I can come home to Eagle with my family and
really contribute to our tribe reclaiming a lot of our culture
and our identity.
These lands are always calling me home.
JAMEY: One and a two.
(gusting winds)
TIG: We just got this beaver a few hours ago and
he's already in the pot.
It's amazing lifestyle we live.
LOUISE: You guys lucked out with a beaver.
TERRANCE: Yup. TIG: Yeah.
LOUISE: You guys got to see the whole process.
Whoa, that looks hot. Careful.
Man, it smells good.
(laughs)
TERRANCE: Hmm. AMELIA: It's cool in the middle.
TERRANCE: Yup. TIG: Yeah. Ooh.
I cooked up the whole rib cage.
These are meat eating kids and go through quite a bit of meat.
SOPHIE: Good, dad. TIG: How is it, Amelia?
AMELIA: Good. TIG: Good?
AMELIA: Yeah. TIG: Say...
TIG: Yeah.
You know, a lot of people think beavers are rodent,
but to us it's not.
You know, this is a staple of our diet right here.
A rich fat food, it's really good eating.
TIG: Hmm. We eat good now, see.
I sure do enjoy watching my family all happy and
chowing down the, the foods from our land.
AMELIA: No, I, I...
TIG: How was it? EVAN: Good.
TERRANCE: It was good. EVAN: Real good. TIG: All right.
AMELIA: Enaa Baasee'...
TIG: Noye'e.
Oh, thank you.
I get kisses for the beaver?
AMELIA: Yeah. TIG: Hmm.
EVAN: A lot of kisses...
TIG: That's the best payment ever.
Oh, so sweet.
JOHN: Come, sit down and I want you to listen to
what I have to say.
This is part of our history.
Patrick's grandpa carved this mask for...
(speaking in Cup'ik language).
Eskimo dance.
And when they're Eskimo dancing,
they used these to make people laugh.
(laughter)
Asher, come.
(speaking in Cup'ik language).
JOHN: Okay.
(laughter)
(chanting in Cup'ik language).
JOHN: It was around 1950,
I had my first education in a classroom.
I was 11 years old; I was taken away from my village by
the federal government to Wrangell Institute
to immerse me into English and western way of life.
I would cry, every, every night.
Missing my mom, missing my dad,
missing the village.
And that's the way they treated us when we were small.
And when I spoke in the Cup'ik language,
my own language, my ancestor's language,
they punished me for that.
They try immerse us to be what we were not meant to be.
I didn't want my children to grow up like I did.
(laughter)
I want our people to know our language,
our values, our history.
To sustain us and make us strong and
who we are and where we came from.
We need to bring that warrior spirit back.
Captioned by Cotter Media Group.