All language subtitles for Life.Below.Zero.S04E22.Character.Stories.The.Hailstones.720p.NF.WEB-DL.x264-KangMus_track3_eng

[Chip Hailstone] It flies, swims, crawls,
grows underground or towards the sun,

we can probably eat it,

and we've probably killed it.

That would be us.

[narrator] The Hailstones live
a nomadic life in northwest Alaska...

-There it is!
-[gunshot]

Yee-haw.

[narrator] ...travelling across
frozen terrain and uncertain waterways

to subsist and survive.

[Chip] You know, you can pray, you can
hope, you can wish, it's all the same.

[narrator] But in order to continue
their way of life,

they must pass on native traditions,
knowledge and techniques

to a new generation.

On the Hailstones' journey
of survival in the Arctic,

thriving off the land as a family
is the ultimate freedom.

[Chip] I wouldn't
trade this life for anything.

[theme music playing]

[Chip] I'm Edward Hailstone
and my friends call me Chip,

and I've been living in this region
for 25 years.

I'm Agnes Hailstone
and I'm a Kobuk Iñupiaq Eskimo.

My tattoos are traditional style

and when I pass away I would like
to go to the happy hunting ground

where my grandparents are
and then I can be recognised.

[Chip] We got five daughters
and a couple of sons.

We live here on Kobuk River in the Arctic.

What brought me to Alaska
was to go see my mom and my brother.

They were living in Kotzebue.

-You know what I'm doing, I'm filming.
-Oh. [chuckles]

-You need any...
-[Chip] Yeah.

Then, got to know Agnes.

Not only did I like her, but she liked me.
Liked me right back.

And we had a lot of fun together.
We still do.

And then I just integrated myself slowly
into what other folks were doing.

They took me along or I went myself.

Is it still alive?

-Yeah, it does flap.
-[Chip laughs]

[Chip] I have a big family here now.
That's what keeps me here.

Or I'd be roaming around.

I don't think he'd ever get away
from me if he tried.

[laughs]

-Never thought of that threat.
-Like you just saw.

-I was just holding a harpoon.
-[laughter]

-You'll pull me back in with a rope.
-[chuckles] Pull you back.

[Chip] I'd never purport myself
to be Eskimo,

but I definitely live a lifestyle

that most of these Eskimos up here do.

My wife's heritage
is a heritage of hunters,

and they say,
"When in Rome, make like a Roman."

[narrator] For the Hailstones, living
a subsistence lifestyle in the Arctic

depends on their ability

to harvest Mother Nature's
most plentiful and elusive resource,

wildlife.

[Chip] We're hunters, not farmers.

If I wanna hunt something,
I either get it or I don't.

There's no, "You'll get it in two weeks."
There's no layaway plan.

You can't say, "Oh, I need
a caribou today because I'm bum broke."

You gotta get out there and earn it.

[narrator] Freeze-up marks
the beginning of winter in Alaska.

And in Noorvik,
a remote village on the Kobuk River,

the Hailstones begin another
yearlong quest to feed their family.

[Chip] Late fall's one of the last chances
to get a large bunch of white fish.

And setting the nets on thin ice

is probably one of the more dangerous
things that we do during the year.

From a far side, it's one-inch ice.

One-inch ice we don't put our weight on,
because it's highly dangerous.

This has killed my wife's mother,
has killed my wife's brother,

this killed my wife's
brother's girlfriend.

A lot of people every year.

So, we just gotta be... Be careful.

It's pretty risky.

Nobody will grab you
because you'll go into the ice

and the current will take you.
It's a strong, fast-running river.

There's no coming back.

-I feel over one inch.
-[Agnes Hailstone] Okay.

-That's as far as we go.
-[laughter]

That's as far as we go.

I lost my mother, my brother
and his girlfriend to the ice.

Ever since then,
I'm real cautious of where I step.

[Chip] We're hoping to get
a couple hundred fish a day.

This is an important time of year

because it's the one time
of year that they have eggs.

Our preference right now,
while they're here,

are the egg-laden whitefish.

And that's why we use
such a large mesh on our net.

It's because we want the smaller,
skinnier ones to pass through

and the big, fat ones to get caught.

[grunting]

Grab that corner, son.

Hey, dolphin.

[child] Pull that one that was real...
[Chip] Yeah, that was real timid.

Look, he's on the inside of the net,
Agnes.

I do this the way the folks
around here do it,

because the way the folks around here
do it is the right way to do it.

So, of course I copy them.

I learn from them, I emulate 'em

and I teach it to my kids.

Right now, we'll be eating the fish
and someday they'll come for theirs.

We're all gonna die.

Can't be scared of death.

You just gotta be scared of the pain
it takes to get dead. [laughs]

[Agnes] The little things
that get thrown at you,

but when you're out here, you just
have to keep moving forward

and keep on, keeping on, keep on hunting.

We're opportunists.

-Oh, bright.
-[Chip] Yeah, it is bright.

I'll bet you the caribou
are closer than they were yesterday.

[Agnes] I probably should take sunglasses.

-You'll suffer if you don't.
-[narrator] For Chip and Agnes,

harvesting and utilising
all parts of a caribou

provides a major source of food
to survive through the harsh winter.

But sneaking up on caribou
migrating across the tundra

makes for a difficult hunt.

[Chip] Let's head up
to the, erm, to the trail

and take the hard trail.
We'll save gas that way.

-Okay?
-[Agnes] Yeah.

There should be a small herd of caribou

roaming around, so we're just gonna go
check out the flats in the lower hills

and, er, see what we come across.

After three, four days, we pretty much
consumed all our extra food we brought.

[Chip] There's a lot of caribou
going our way.

[Agnes] Yee!

Pretty much going to stay down low
where it's not too windy,

not too cold. We just go right round
to the back and watch the herd

and er, just make a game plan from there.

I'm on top of a ridgetop,

and the caribou were
slowly eating their way up this way,

so any moment, they should be coming soon,

so I just keep my eyes open.

Whichever direction they come from,

I just pretty much have to be ready.

Whether it's scouting around
looking for different things

or we're going directly to
where we know what the conditions are

and we can hunt the area,

-we're always hunting.
-They're coming straight to us.

That one right there. Come on, turn back.

-[gunshot]
-I got 'em.

[Chip] We didn't get defeated
on the caribou. We're able to ride,

we're able to, erm, come up about

maybe 2,000 caribou here
and we had to pick out a good one.

[Agnes] Huh! We got one.

[Chip] This is a good
piece of meat right here.

There's no mistake in shooting this one.

He's fat, too, so...

I can't complain. He's a young bull.
We thought a cow, but he's a young bull.

There's always more caribou around,

so we just have to work on meat
and try for another one

and keep your eyes open
'cause there's a lot of fur around, too.

Leave the gut pile for the birds.

[Chip] Yeah, and the foxes
and whoever else.

We'll come back tomorrow
and hunt some more.

You know, I wanna
show my kids every season.

I want them to learn winter,
I want them to learn spring,

I want them to learn summer,
I want them to learn fall.

I want them to learn freeze-up,
I want them to learn break-up.

And there's a different skill and
a different way of doing things each time.

If you can't teach 'em
how to make a lot of money,

you can teach them how to live without it,

and be proud and happy.

That's really the best education
you can give a kid.

Carol, we've got to get you a, erm,
weapon of your choice.

[narrator] The Hailstones spend
their summers along the Kiwalik River,

harvesting the area's vast resources

in order to survive
the harsh winter ahead.

[Agnes] Whoo!

There's not very many ducks
or geese flying, so they must be no...

Moulting, so we're gonna
go out and go, erm,

take a walk towards the lakes and ponds
back there, and, er,

go see what the, erm, birds are doing.

[Chip] Basically, what happens
in summertime,

the females are off raising their babies,
and the males, when they moult,

they're flightless for about
maybe a week or so.

[Agnes] We're not gonna use
any firearms, but I am gonna carry some

in case bears
or other animals come around.

But erm, we're gonna take
our clubs and our paddles.

This is actually, erm,
a legal way to hunt.

It's way cheaper to do a hunt this way

'cause we don't have to use
any ammo or, erm,

anything but our energy
to try to catch them.

-Shall we?
-Yup.

[Agnes] Yeah, moulting ducks,
we're getting close.

[Chip] That's close.
[Agnes] Oh!

You girls, just follow me.

Even if I pass 'em up, you girls
hit the ones that I pass, okay?

Come on, Carol, Qutan.

[Agnes] Come on, Qutan.

[Agnes] Go, Carol, you can make it!

[Chip] Come on, baby girl! Right there.

Hurry!

Yeah, get it in the head.
Clean in the head.

That's a good job, Carol.

[Agnes] There's one.

[panting]

-[gunshot]
-Hey!

Baby, stop. Right in front of you.
Right there!

Okay, hit it! There you go. Good job.

Break its neck.

[Agnes] I got two right here.

Hey, I got it.

-I got one, Dad.
-Good job, girl.

I got one more right here
coming directly at me.

I got it.

These are fat geese.

He couldn't... What's going on?
Did you round any up?

-I found two over there.
-Oh, they get away?

It's all teamwork. Even though my
daughter, Qutan, didn't kill one,

she was making her presence
by running back and forth,

and the geese didn't wanna go to her,

so, it made them lay down, and me
and Carol were able to go catch them.

[Chip sighs]

-[Agnes] Qutan.
-Over here, baby.

-Oh, yeah, we did quite a bundle.
-[Agnes] Quite the collection.

[Chip] I'm pretty happy for my daughters.

They're gonna learn where to
go get food when there's no birds flying,

maybe no fish in their net.

There's no store out here.
We ain't got no money,

but, erm, this is the store.
This is what was in the aisle today.

We just had a good time.
I'm pretty happy with my kids.

You girls know this place now.

-You'll never fail if you come here.
-[Agnes] Yup.

[Agnes] I enjoy teaching my girls.

Being real young, my mother passed away.

So I try to teach them as much as I know

before anything happens to me.

There is many different ways
to hunt the seal

and, er, it's a kind of difficult hunt,

but my son Jon's gonna be
here with me, and, erm,

we're gonna try to go
do this hunt together,

because, er, my husband's not a native

and he can't participate in this hunt,

although we would love to
have him out there.

Erm, so, you know, it's a challenging hunt

but, erm, it's a pretty good,
exciting hunt.

[Jon] Such a beautiful day.

[Agnes] I hope I can get lucky
and catch a seal today.

It kind of costs a bit much
to fly down this way

to Kotzebue and get in a boat
and go out hunting.

We need to at least get one seal

to make up for the money that it cost me
to fly down here.

Something on top the ice.

We're way far, halfways to land.

We're like six miles and two bends away.

[Agnes] Oh, son.

[gunshot]

[Jon] Where did it go?

Harpoon, harpoon, harpoon!

[grunts]

There we go. Now let's go and grab him.

You got to go below, below.

[Jon] Here we go.
[Agnes] Up this way, up front, up front.

[Jon] Here you go.

-Ready?
-[Agnes] One, two, three, go.

[grunts]

[Agnes] Hey! We did it.
[Jon] Freaking awesome.

I'm real grateful for the seal.
I'm glad it gave itself to us.

-Okay, kids, ready? Shall we head home?
-Ya.

[Agnes] There's a lot of things
you have to face up here

with Mother Nature doing what it does.

I know in the back of my head, "Hey,
there's all kinds of dangers out here."

You can do so well with so little,
it's crazy.

Erm, a long time ago
possessions were a burden, literally,

'cause you carried everything you own.

And if those folks
could live with everything they own,

be able to be on their back, so can we.

And when we started out, what did we have?

Couple of rifles.

A boat.

A snow machine, a sled,
and we lived out of it all.

I love you.

But erm, you know,
you can be as primitive as you want,

but when you have other people
counting on you for support

and you have other people counting on you
to give them a rich life, basically,

then you've got to step back
and say, "Hey, I need some help."

I get help by chainsaw.

An outboard motor, a snow machine.

I take mechanical advantage.

I have other people that have to eat,

and doing it without
mechanical advantage is foolish.

I'd lose them all, I'm sure.

[narrator] In the Arctic,

living a nomadic lifestyle means
staying ahead of the seasonal changes.

For the Hailstones,

existing in an unpredictable
and uncontrollable climate

requires transportation,

a key element
to their success and survival.

[Chip] We are two weeks from everywhere,

so folks here,
they have to choose between food

or gas. I choose gas

'cause with the gas, I can probably
go out and catch something.

This is gasoline for snow machines.

The gas is pretty important to us.
It's precious, it's like, er,

liquid gold.

[narrator] Each winter,

the Hailstones travel 85 miles south
from their home in Noorvik

to gain access to hunting grounds.

This is Agnes Hailstone.
I'm here to pick up my 9.97 gallons gas.

[narrator] Gas is crucial
for their travels.

But hauling barrels of fuel

across treacherous frozen ground
is a difficult task.

And any loss of the valued resource
is a threat to their livelihood.

[Chip] This is a time of year
when we are out for fur.

It's very well worth the ride, the gas,
the effort, to come down this way.

[Agnes] Hey, what is that?

-On it?
-[Chip] Yeah, gas leak.

Aw, shit. It's leaking.

Man, I can smell that.

-[Agnes] On it?
-Okay, we got a pinhole crack right here.

I can see it plain as day
right here where it's coming from.

It's leaking real bad?

It's leaking bad enough if we're gonna get
to where we're going with it.

Where we live,
this stuff's eight bucks a gallon.

If we lose everything,
then it was all for nothing.

Gonna save as much of this as possible.

It's like losing blood.

This is just like a real
race against time.

All right, well, the first thing
I'm gonna untie is this damn fuel.

Well the gas has survived, but we're about
five or six gallons less than before.

We're gonna siphon off as much fuel
as we possibly can.

The holy drum.

[Chip] The consequences of not having
the gas that's in here

is a lot less hunting.
Yeah, I didn't come this far for nothing.

There we go.

It took gas, it took money,
and now we're here, and we're happy.

Probably make ourselves some dinner
and go to sleep.

That's the next plan.

We are kind of isolated,
and it's a little harsh sometimes.

At any time, something can happen,

and you don't want to have to walk home
at 30 below.

[narrator] In Kiwalik, Chip and Agnes

need to make the most of their
final days of their winter harvest.

Their snow machine is a vital tool
to hunt and gather

before warmer weather
forces them to return home.

[Chip] What the hell?

Yeah, I think it fucking locked up.

Mechanicals up here
can be a long time fixing.

And we're right on the verge of excellent
hunting, and look what's happened to us.

What's up?

[Agnes] What'd you do? Gee whiz!

You crash like me?

-[Chip] No.
-How come you're walking?

-[Chip] I think it's my crank.
-Now that sucks.

I'm gonna make two into one.

-[chuckles]
-That's my plan.

[narrator] After a recent crash,

minor field repairs
remain to Agnes' snow machine.

But with one machine down,

they must now get the other one
in full working order.

Since my machine's burnt up, and hers

has a good engine, and will run,

I'm gonna take her machine and go drag
my machine back here.

One or the other,
I'm ended up with a working ride.

-Are you ready?
-[Agnes] Yeah.

It could be that crank burst in half.
Let's have a look.

Yeah, it's got metal all over it.

It's toasted,
so it's not gonna do me any good.

But I'll use it for
spare parts for right now.

My wife will have a good ride.

I'll scrap mine till summer
and then figure something else out.

Well, we're getting closer.
The gas tank's going on.

We'll get all the stuff
bolted back together and fire her up

and get the wife happy again.

I took two machines and made one.

Here you go, tested and approved.

We are back on the road and now we have
a pile of parts to choose from.

-[Agnes] This will work?
-Yes, it will.

-We're back in action.
-[laughs]

Yes, that's how it ought to be.

Oh, nothing we can't
always work through, huh?

I'd never live in the lower 48 again.

Well, as opposed to down south,
we don't have,

er, roads, we don't have speed limits.

We don't have stop signs, we don't have
flashing red lights or green lights.

And we're not highly regulated.
If I wanna build something, I'd build it.

If I wanna drive somewhere, I drive.

We can hunt year round.
You can't do that down south.

Not having a boss or someone telling us
how we can use something or do something

or when to be there,
or when not to be there,

that makes us the boss.

So, being our own bosses, that's the best.

He just don't know it, but I'm the boss.

[chuckles] Except when
something goes wrong,

-then he's the boss.
-Maybe I just didn't want you to know it

-but I knew it anyway.
-That way when someone

or something goes wrong,

-we can always have someone to blame.
-[laughs]

[narrator] Choosing a life in the Arctic

means choosing to rely on Mother Nature
for food, heat, water and shelter.

For the Hailstones, to maintain
their traditional native lifestyle,

and survive in brutal conditions,

they must work together as a family

to harvest the surrounding resources
of the vast region.

[Chip] You got to
get out there and earn it,

but the fact is it's all out here.

So, you get out here, you find a way to
get it and you make a living that way.

You ready, bun?

I gotta flip over my shoes
so they don't get rained on.

Okay, girls, let's go to the greens.

We can start with sour docks
since the sour docks are ready.

[narrator] To harvest food sources
that are essential to their diet

and unique to their native way of life,

the Hailstones depend on knowing
when and where to find such foods

in an ever-changing landscape.

Well, you can spot these.
Red stalks are up, and around them

there'll be nice, succulent greens.

And they're pretty tasty, actually.
I like them.

[Agnes] You girls got to make sure
you pick the right, correct greens

so we don't get sick.

One year we thought we picked
all greens, and then

there happened to be a few
poisonous flowers mixed in with those,

and I happened to eat them
and I got really sick.

So it's very important for the girls
to know what they need to look for.

It's important for them to know

where to go to pick these things
and how to preserve them.

If they don't have this experience

and if they don't know what flowers
to eat, they might go hungry.

Being out here, there's no reason to
go hungry if you know what you're doing.

[Chip] I like taking my kids along,
so they're not only seeing it,

they're gonna get to pick it,

then they're gonna get to
cook it and eat it.

And that's the whole process
from beginning to end.

But I want them to know where to find 'em.

You find them in these drained areas
right next to lakes

and creeks and rivers and stuff.
It's a good place to do it.

These are minerals and vitamins
all winter long for us.

It's a lot of roughage for your guts.

And it tastes good, you know.
Everybody likes a salad.

Let's go back towards the boat, ladies.
We'll see what we can do from there, okay?

Well, I think we pretty well
ravaged this area.

I have a lot of respect for animals.

Anything that can live outside 24/7's
got my respect, because we can't.

When we write their names,
we capitalise them.

Ptarmigan, Caribou, stuff like that.
You got to be nice.

You have to think kindly of your food.

We're going downriver.
We're going towards the ocean

to a place where there's lots of islands

where the seagulls like to lay their eggs.

We're trying to see if there are
seagulls sitting on their nests.

Goal for the summer is to get eggs
and save them up.

We like to eat the fresh eggs.

I wanna show my kids
where to go get these eggs.

I want them to have the knowledge
of where and when.

We just got to these mud flats,
and my kids are all dispersing.

We need to go out here and go egg-hunting.

Really hope I run into something good.

[narrator] The Hailstone family
employs the knowledge

gained from generations
of native hunter-gatherers in the area.

Knowing the seasonal behaviour of animals
is crucial to their diet,

and seagull eggs are a delicacy.

They can only be harvested
this time of year.

Er, there's no nest here.

Probably one was making one,

but I don't think they finished through.

So, here's a nest.

It's still being worked on
but there's no eggs yet.

Sometimes we have to walk for
miles and miles just to find one nest.

[Chip] Seagulls like to be in these
little patches in between here,

all this water, these mud flats.
And they make their nest.

[seagulls cawing]

Oh, I can see eggs, Tin!

Six of them. Six eggs.

Oh, finally.

This is the first time Qutan's
ever looked for eggs so, erm,

this is kind of a fun time for her.

Erm, I'm glad she found a few. [laughs]

We didn't count yet.

Come on over and count.

This is really exciting
when everybody gets together

and we get to count everybody's eggs
and see how much we come up with.

-I have eight.
-[Chip] Yeah, I counted mine.

[Agnes laughs] Okay, then.

[Chip] I had 12, but one broke.

-We got 20!
-[cheering]

When we wake up in the morning,
we'll be having some real good breakfast.

Fresh eggs.

-Fifty-one.
-Fifty-one eggs.

-Awesome.
-Yeah.

[Agnes] Whoo, fun, good day.

[Chip] The value of being resourceful
is it, erm, makes us rich.

We're resourceful in the food that we get

and then we also use the skin,
and then we also use the antlers.

And our income is often taking, like, furs
and making them into hats and clothing

and trading it off
for stuff that we don't have.

And it buys us more gas
to turn around and go do it again.

So, to us, it's a big circle.

Let's go, because
she ain't gonna wait for us.

[narrator] The Alaskan tundra
forces its residents

to learn unique skills in order to
thrive in the harsh environment.

For the Hailstones,

employing native methods
of utilising resources

and passing them onto their daughters

is a traditional way of life
and means of survival.

This is how we used to put it
when I was a little girl like you girls.

[Chip] I don't really know of a place
other than northwest Alaska

where people actively
learn their natural resources.

Kids elsewhere, I don't see that.

[narrator] As winter approaches,

Chip works on a necessary vehicle

that will help him and his family move
across the frozen landscape of the Arctic.

[Chip] If I'm gonna get ready
for winter coming up here,

I'm gonna need a sled.

Snow machine, it's a machine that meets
the conditions that we have here.

They take quite a beating.
You're going through

trails and places that have no roads.

You can rely on these to pull
up to 1,000 pounds total.

So, this here makes my ride,
or my wife's ride,

or my daughter's ride
into a pickup truck.

There's a division of labour
between men and women.

I'm taking care of canoe freight sled,

and my wife is making
a sled bag out of caribou skins.

It'll be windproof, it'll be warm,

and she'll make it custom fit.

So right now we're just threading all the

needles we're gonna be using.

The more girls that sew,
the faster we get done.

It's real important for these girls
to learn how to sew.

It was real important that I learnt to sew

that I can pass this on to my girls
and hopefully

they'll be able to pass it on
to their daughters.

[Chip] Well, my runners are on straight.

My wife and me have been working
on the sleds,

getting ready for dark winter to come.

And she's made a caribou-skin bag

that is specifically made
for our basket sled

for the girls to travel in
safely and warmly.

Ah, it almost weighed too much.

I held this side, so I get to sit here.

Wow, I really like it.
It's just right sled.

It's not too big and not too small.

Feels real good to have the caribou pad
on the sled and the kids riding in it.

Now they understand what it was all about

and what process we take to make it.

[Chip] We got the projects taken care of.
Freeze-up is almost over.

So, it's time to bust loose.

It's not only using the materials.

It's knowing how to get it.

I don't want my daughter to be stuck.

I want her to be able to do
whatever she needs to

with whatever she has at hand.

-Hi, Dad.
-What's up, pie?

-What you doing?
-I'm gonna make gorges

out of these antler pieces here.

Gorges are a traditional kind of hook.

And, erm, I'm gonna go set them down here
on the river

for what we call Tiktaalik.

I'll show you how to make Tiktaalik traps.

Okay. My parents aren't gonna be here
throughout my whole life, so,

as they teach me now,
I'm gonna get hands-on experience

and I could teach my younger sisters
or my kids

or anybody that's willing to learn.

That looks really good.

[Chip] What we need to do is make 20 more

and, erm, we'll go set
Tiktaalik lines tonight.

What I want my daughter to do
is know how to fall back on

the materials around her to keep her life
what I consider above survival.

And, erm, I learnt it
from the people around here.

And she's learning it from us.

So, we take a gorge

and put it in.

You just flip it down the deal there.

And you can leave it like this.

And then tink and jig.

Don't be discouraged, girls,

just 'cause we didn't get nothing
in the last hour.

Sometimes you gotta wait
for the next school to come.

But when the next school comes,

our lines will be in the water
waiting for them.

[Agnes] We haven't caught any fish

so we're just gonna
leave our hooks down here

and er, call it a night.

This froze at least a couple of inches
since last night.

It is kind of like Christmas.

It's one of those things.
You'll never know what you'll get.

You can't predict it.

Oh!

-Check that one out.
-[girl] Oh, Dad's got one!

[Chip] The gorge more than did its job.

The gorge not only caught the fish,
it killed the fish.

Give it a jerk. Pull out your bait.

Oh, oh, oh, oh.

[cheering]

[Agnes] I think we have enough for dinner.

It's really cool
that I learnt how to make something

and I actually caught a Tiktaalik in.

It was something I didn't think
was gonna happen, but it did.

Ah. Two fish ain't bad.
Two fish is real good.

Not bad for gorging, huh? Now you know
how to make your own fish hook.

Yeah, and I did catch my own fish.

[Chip] Well, let's go eat 'em, huh?

We basically live a subsistence lifestyle.

It takes knowledge
and then it takes hard work,

and we started out
with limited knowledge, of course,

and we asked our elders,
we asked older people,

"Hey, how did you do this and what
was it like before this was going on?"

We asked that intensively.

We asked a lot of different people,
"How would we do this better,"

and they're always glad
to share the information.

And then when we'd
go do things the wrong way,

we'd get corrected or laughed at
or however mechanism

came along to make it better.

And the wisdom came after we learnt to do

things more using our head
than using our backs.

I learnt from the guys
that I was hunting with.

I learnt from the people I hung around.

I learnt from my friends.
I learnt by going out and doing it myself,

repeatedly fucking up
and learning from those mistakes.

But the fact is
the wisdom comes much later

and it comes after many trials
and many mistakes.

And we made lots of mistakes
and we worked a lot for nothing.

So I've taken the worst
of what's happened to me

and I've tried to make it into the best.

And the best is that I have to stand back
and let 'em happen.

You learn when to stay home
and not waste your time,

your gas, your ride,
your... Your effort, maybe your life.

[narrator] Survival in
the Alaskan wilderness

depends on gaining knowledge
through trial and error.

Mistakes can have deadly consequences.

And the Hailstones are no exception.

To live and learn for another day,

they constantly fight to overcome
the odds together, as a family.

[Agnes] Really have to know what
you're doing in extreme weather,

in extreme cold,
because it can get pretty dangerous.

Wow, it's gonna be an awesome day.

I'm gonna get ready and go out, Carol.

I just need that hook.

Carol picks up on anything and fortunately
for her, the way that people

teach people around here is for them
to observe and put hands on.

And now that she's old enough and large
enough to compress the spring on a trap,

I got her traps,
and I wanna go show her how to use 'em.

I have traps.

[narrator] Chip must teach Carol
to trap for valuable fur

in the same places that Agnes' family

has been trapping for generations.

But setting traps
in dark and freezing conditions

can be dangerous.

[Chip] Okay, bun, come over here.
I'm gonna need your hands.

'Cause you got to
put the safety on for me.

[grunts, sighs] I can't do this.

I'm gonna show you one more time.

[grunts]

These things are eating my hands up.

It gets pretty tough, having
the strength to compress this fucker,

and hold it while someone's
trying to put the safety on.

God damn it. Are you all right?

My hand.

[Chip] I'm sorry, bun.

-Are you okay?
-Yeah.

Last thing I want to do is hurt you.

You just hit my elbow.

[Chip] I understand.
I felt it go right out of my hand, look.

See my hand right there, same thing.

You wanna just call this good?

Let's call it good with that, okay?

Trapping is inherently dangerous,
but, erm,

more than that, it's something
that we want to teach her

and we want her to enjoy it,

because if you're not enjoying
what you're being taught,

you generally don't stick with it.

I want her to stick with this,
so no matter what,

I'm not gonna make an issue
out of anything

that we do
when it comes to trapping with her.

I wasn't trying to whack you,
but look at me.

When it's that dangerous,
and we're not in control,

we don't set the trap.

What I want you to learn is that sometimes

you can just say
you don't have to do this.

It's okay when things don't work out.

I want my daughter to know
when it's time to walk away.

Part of living out here is knowing
when to quit or when to stay home.

Or knowing when to, er, stay on shore

or when to stay off the ice.

There's a lot of things you do that...
That you learn that you don't do. [laughs]

It's all good.
We'll set those traps tomorrow.

There's a lot of ways
that things could go wrong out here.

I don't wanna die.
I don't want my kids to die.

If you can't go somewhere safely,
just don't go.

Maybe he stopped somewhere and for
some unknown reason didn't say anything.

That wouldn't be him at all.

[narrator] Chip and Agnes' son
Jon, and his young daughter, Avery,

have gone missing, failing to arrive
from a trip across the tundra.

The dangers of travelling
by snow machine are many,

and the Hailstones must keep their calm

as the search for their family begins.

[Agnes] It worries me a lot.

If something happens to them
while they're out there and I just

don't know what's going on out there,
but, er,

I try not to worry too much.

We don't like to go that route.

[Chip] When we're doing
something like this,

first we cover where they're at,

we cover where they're expected to be

and then we cover the in-between.

If you start to panic, then
you're not gonna do things right.

You're not gonna help anybody,
you're just gonna add to the disaster.

Very common things up here
are people get lost

or they go through the ice
and are never seen again.

Huh, somebody's down right down there.
I'm kind of hoping that's my son.

I see him, maybe.

Oh, thank God.

-Overheating, huh? Belt skipping?
-Yeah.

Yeah, my belt was skipping from
my secondary clutch and I was overheating.

When I pulled up to Jon, he had
snow packed all around his engine

and in a glance that just tells me
he's overheating.

Well, how long till this thing
cools down to go?

-It's just about cool.
-About cool?

-Yeah.
-Are you sure you'll make it yourself?

-Yeah, I'll make it.
-How are you, baby girl?

You want to ride to Noorvik with Ta-ta?

-I should take her, huh?
-Yeah.

Come on, baby girl. I'll take you to
Noorvik with me, behind my windshield.

Dad can row home all he wants.

-You ride in front of us, son.
-Yeah.

You ready?

[Agnes] Oh, they're back.

-You make it home.
-[Chip] Here we go.

[Agnes] Right on.

[sighs] Hi, sunshine.

[Chip] We use every reason
to celebrate, you know?

And erm, a birthday party
is a good time to celebrate.

So we make the most of them all.

-[Chip] Yeah!
-[clapping]

When everyone's alive, no one's injured,
it's all good.

It's stuff you can deal with.
There's 1,000 ways to die out here,

so any time you can celebrate
another birthday is a good thing.

Happy birthday to me.

We want our kids to
have knowledge of the land,

have knowledge of the rivers,
knowledge of the country

and still go to school

and learn medicine or learn to be a pilot,

and then have choices.

These are things that we teach our kids
out here in the country

that they'll never learn at school, and we
look at school as the balancing act.

And it gives them choices.

So, the more we can empower
our children to do for themselves,

the richer we're all gonna be

in health, in happiness,
and maybe in material objects.

Over here, sweetie pies.

This is a place that I like to set up.

Tin, you're in charge.

[narrator] The Hailstones have settled
into their spring hunting grounds.

And today, Chip is allowing
his eldest daughter, Tin,

to take the lead
as they harvest waterfowl.

[Chip] Remember, safety first.

Watch your ammo, listen to your sister.

Anybody that's in their 20s and survived
this long in the country has got brains.

All right, I love you.
I got to go get firewood.

-[girl] Okay.
-[Chip] Love you.

[children] Love you, Dad.

Okay, now all we're gonna do
is sit here and wait.

But until then, we girls need to be
quiet and sit still.

It's the waiting game.

I can see where all the birds
are going to land.

[imitating bird call]

[gunshot]

Little high there.

So I didn't really get a good shot
and I missed. [laughs]

There's Daddy's boat.

It's Dad.

Hi, girls. How's your day going?

-Good.
-[Chip] You girls see many birds?

-Not really, no.
-Not really.

[Chip] When I was getting wood,
I saw lots,

so we'd probably have better luck this way
if you girls want to give it a try.

Mary will take charge of these girls.

Take 'em back to camp
and secure them in your sister's camp.

You two older girls follow me.

You're gonna need a .22
and you're gonna need your 12-gauge.

Okay, girls.

We'll be back.

[Chip] I see geese already.

I'll stay with the boat and watch it,
and you girls just be careful.

So these geese are close.
We'll try to walk wide so

if you happen to scare them,
towards me, okay?

-Go, go, go.
-[imitating bird call]

[gunshot]

Ooh, check it out.

I got it.

I shot a goose.

It's a good feeling
to get my first goose of the year.

[Chip] We're gonna have goose tonight.

Ah-ha.

[Chip] I'm so happy right now.

Now, honestly, I can send her off
to go goose-hunt that way,

while I go goose-hunt that way. [laughs]

And when you're doing that kind of stuff,
somebody's gonna be productive.

And we're all gonna benefit.

So, I see this like
another step in her life

that she's really taken up to really well.

[laughter]

This is kind of like
having turkey for Thanksgiving.

Someday when me and your mom aren't here,

you girls will know how to do all of this
no matter that the job is.

And the best part of that is
that you get all hands-on experience.

Right.

[Chip] This is great.
We've got all the basic things we need.

-Oh.
-Whoa!

[Agnes] I try to live
the most traditional lifestyle I can,

so I hope my daughters pick that up.

It's our responsibility

to our tribe, our culture and our peoples.

[laughing]

Even in the harsh conditions,

we're able to live together,
work together,

and it just makes us even stronger.

[Chip] Someday I'll leave this earth.

But I want my kids to see no boundaries.

And my kids will have knowledge,
she'll have experiences,

and I want 'em all to be happy.

What more could you want?

This is the place to be.

[laughter]