Original subtitles

[ominous music]

That mound, that's roughly, 98, 99 yards.

Here we go.

[gun shot]

I want to do a little bit of target practise.

I'm really interested in getting one of these

bigger-bodied caribou that I think I see over to the east.

I did manage to get one caribou, earlier in the season.

But the caribou migrated out.

They're called ghosts of the tundra,

because you're looking at 'em, you see 'em.

It's wide open, there's not a lot of places to hide

and suddenly, you blink and they've disappeared.

[gun shot]

But they're coming back in.

If I don't get some more protein,

I'm gonna come out a lot less healthy than I want

at the other side.

[gun shot]

I got it. It's time to go get some meat.

[dramatic music]

I have to have a bull.

It's not either sex.

It's not like just shoot one, have some meat

and go make a potluck dinner.

No. It has to be a bull.

I have to make sure it's got dangly bits.

I mean it's nice to be all hippie

and say size doesn't matter,

but when you're looking at filling your freezer,

sorry boys, it does.

[ominous music]

Okay, where are you guys?

Definitely two boys.

Get myself a little elevation.

Oh, my god.

I see what I would say is three that I feel fairly,

fairly confident are bulls.

There are no guarantees until I see the danglies.

But, how the hell do you surprise you 'em across the tundra?

There's, like, no real way to get on 'em,

that's the problem.

What I think I need to do, is kind of get up the hill,

come at 'em from behind and hopefully, maybe get a sneak.

It might be a distant shot but,

but hopefully they'll still be there.

I definitely have some opportunities.

That's all hunting is.

[dramatic music]

This is my dream, and I'm living it.

Right here, right now.

So many people dream, but don't get to live their dream.

[dramatic music]

[ominous music]

All right, I'm gonna pile up all the things I need,

and figure out how to pack it efficiently,

on the four-wheeler.

Got a head lamp.

Got my gun for personal protection, my handgun.

Definitely need the handgun out there, bears are still up.

So you never know what can happen.

Wolverines, moose, angry moose.

I mean, big giant yetis.

Wild country where we're going, definitely

could be some hairy man lurking around.

I'm gonna head out in my four-wheeler,

heading towards the mouth of Brushkana,

where it runs into the headwaters of the Nenana.

It's wild country out there,

and it's really my first time getting to get out there

and see what tracks and what animals are moving around.

I really want to just get out there

and spend some time studying the landscape,

studying the tracks, studying the river crossings.

I don't get a lot of time to get out

and do things like this.

This whole two and a half months I've been here in Brushkana

have been all about preparation.

And now, that preparation starts paying back.

I didn't just set out here to build stuff,

and work my butt off 14 hours a day.

Now I'm gonna go enjoy my time out in the wilderness

and see what the wilderness has to offer.

[dramatic music]

There's a lot of things that I need to learn

about this country out here

and I'm looking for signs of animals,

firewood, water crossings, fishing spots.

Everything's new to me out there,

so I'm just super excited to get out there,

spend a night out there, get to know this country.

Whenever I go out there, I'm blazing my trail

and that's gonna be my trail.

I'm establishing my trail system out of my backyard.

[dramatic music]

Cool, man. There's an old cabin here.

[dramatic music]

Man, what a place to live.

Person wouldn't be living out here unless

this was great country to be living in

that provided them a lot.

And it's just interesting to think of the stories

this old cabin has.

Now I'm gonna go in here and check it out.

[ominous music]

Wow. This is an old cabin.

It doesn't look like anybody's lived here in a long time.

Brushkana cabin number two.

Wow, there's a lot of history on this door.

Looks like people have been kind of recording things

on here.

I'm gonna sign my name, put my name on this history.

[ominous music]

Symbolic of my beginnings on Brushkana River.

From here on out, all of the country I'm heading,

I'm studying for all my future out here.

I'm gonna keep moving down the trail

and see what's around the next bend.

[ominous music]

We have to keep our thumb on the pulse of nature.

[ominous music]

Here, I think we can work here.

The ladies were butchering caribou back here.

[Preston] Uhum!

They left the table.

We'll just gather the materials over here.

And, uh, there's the extension cord.

[Man] Yeah.

Get a little bit of power going.

I got a pen.

Me and Preston are making swings for the babies.

One for him and Mary's baby,

and I'm gonna help out Ting and make her one

for her and Dom's babies.

[Narrator] As winter conditions overtake Noorvik,

the Hailstones will need to make things more comfortable

for the family's new additions.

Chip has enlisted the help of Mary's boyfriend, Preston,

to build a device for infants that natives have used

in the region for generations.

[dramatic music]

Basically, the idea is to have a nice, large,

wide platform that's very stable.

And we keep 'em a foot or two off the ground.

And they stay nice and warm.

Up here, you know it's the Arctic.

We're kind of notorious for cold floors.

It keeps the baby in a nice warm area, above the floor.

It gives them a good place to sleep.

And you can move them around if you have various eyehooks up

and around your house.

Let the baby swing back and forth

and stay warm and off the ground.

[dramatic music]

There we go.

Coffee Dad?

Oh, excellent, Mary.

We were just working on yours and Ting's babies' swings.

Preston got on to making baby Rose one, so.

Preston and Mary and new baby Rose,

they're staying in the house with us right now.

She had Rose about a month ago.

She's a squiggly-wiggly little girl.

She got big eyes and a nice smile.

Little cute little baby.

She's gonna be a great mom, that Mary.

Dollop some glue on these corners and I'll whack

and smack it with a bright-finish nail

[dramatic music]

[wood hitting]

That's about it.

After an hour or two, these should be nice and dry,

and we'll go get the canvas out,

and we'll go fold some canvas corners and do all that stuff.

We'll be back out here.

Let's go have lunch and coffee.

[Preston] Yup.

[Chip] All right. You're doing good, man.

[Man] I'm as natural to the land as the trees

and the animals in it.

I have to honour that culture and honour that tradition

that I came from.

[ominous music]

Okay, you got the door?

[Skyler] Yup.

[dramatic music]

Thank you, Sky.

Okay, we got 22 and a 410.

[skarlett groans]

Skarlett, you could use the 22.

Skyler, you use the 410.

I got the 375 in case we see any bears

or anything dangerous.

And the most important thing is the fish trap.

It's freeze-up, so basically we have to stick around

the village kind of close,

because the lakes are frozen over.

The creeks are frozen over, and the ice is running

on the river.

So, I'm gonna bring the kids out,

we're gonna look for spruce chicken.

We're also gonna go to this spot where I want to put

a fish trap in.

Hopefully have some fish in there,

and if there is, hopefully come away with some.

Okay, you guys ready?

[Both] Yup.

Let's do it.

Right now, it's a good time to use the fish trap

because a lot of the fish are in the lakes

over the summer season.

And right now, it's fall and they're trying to get back out

to the river.

So now is a good time to put that fish trap

in one of the creeks that lead from the lakes to the river.

First thing we're gonna do is find a safe way to get

to the place I'm gonna put this fish trap in.

[Child] Uh-huh.

And when we find a spot,

we're gonna make a bridge across the creek.

And once we get the bridge built, we'll come back.

We'll get this fish trap carried out there

and hopefully have the fish trap set

and hopefully come away with some fish.

[dramatic music]

Just stay right behind me.

Oh, it's going through right there.

[Skyler] It is?

[Ricko] Remember, not too close to me.

Scoot. Scoot, scoot.

That's pretty thin right here.

But, um, from what I can see,

this looks like the best place right here.

'Kay, carry it out.

There you go. Keep moving.

Skyler is running with his.

Skyler, wait. Don't go too far out there without me.

[Skyler] Okay.

[Ricko] Careful Sky. Follow the ice pick marks.

Watch out. Coming through.

Leave it right there.

'Kay, you guys stay right here. Don't go any further, okay?

[Children] OKay.

[dramatic music]

[Ricko] I'm trying to find a place where it's frozen thick

on each side.

[Skyler] Uh-huh.

And also it's got to be, uh, deep enough down there.

I'll try right here.

[dramatic music]

So what I want to do is throw the board across right here.

Yeah, that spreads our weight out.

See, if we just try to walk right on that ice right next to,

we'll fall in.

Okay, see, Skyler? Skarlett, look.

Now I'm able to put that trap straight down here.

[Skyler] You are?

Yeah, let's go bring the trap out.

[dramatic music]

Careful.

Don't go too close to the edge.

What I think we should do is set it on top of willows

so it won't go as deep as it, it could.

So hey, Skarlett, Skarlett, Skar.

Don't go over there. Come back here.

You can't go over there, 'cause what happens?

It goes like this.

And when you go in, you try to climb out,

yet that current's gonna grab you.

It'll pull you right into the current.

It don't look dangerous, but it is dangerous.

Okay, now you got to throw the willows down

so that the trap doesn't go all the way

under the water.

See, these are gonna go in first,

and this just makes it so that

when the trap goes down,

it doesn't sit all the way at the bottom.

-Holy shit. -[Ricko crashes]

[Skyler] You're good?

[Ricko] Yeah, I'm good.

[Skyler] Ah.

[Skarlett] Did you fall in?

[Ricko] Okay, I'm good.

[Skyler] Did you have rubber boots?

Yeah. A little bit went over the top, though.

Hold on.

Oh, yeah. I got a little wet.

How do you sink in?

I stepped in a spot that wasn't frozen as much

as the other spots.

Even though it's frozen good here,

there could be like air bubbles coming up

like where I just stepped.

There's so many little things that can go on,

or there could be little bit of water streaming through here

and it makes it hard to freeze.

So, as long as I don't fall in right here, I'll be okay.

[upbeat music]

Okay, I'm gonna do this by myself, okay?

[Skyler] Okay.

[Ricko] Or at least I'll try.

[Skyler] Oh, jeez.

I just got to find the balance on it, without falling in.

Okay, right there.

[water ripples]

What I want to do now is fence it off on each side,

so that if the fish are coming down this stream,

they'll hit that fence and they'll be more likely

to go into the funnel.

You're getting cold?

[Skyler] Yeah.

Let's get willows so you move around, warm up.

[indistinct]

[child crashes]

Careful. Hey.

Move back, move back, move back.

[dramatic music]

-You all right? -I don't wanna go over there.

[Skarlett] Yeah.

Don't walk off to the side.

Remember what I was saying about there being bad spots?

I'm gonna work fast so that we get Skarlett back

in the truck.

Skarlett, she kind of strayed off to the side.

She went through the ice.

Was no risk of drowning,

but a little sketchy.

You know, at first when it happens is,

I can't help but be alarmed.

But I think overall it's a good thing for them

to learn the hard way.

Basically to remember, when they're walking around

out there, it isn't always safe.

Right now's a sketchy time of the year,

so they have to really be careful.

And, they're able to come away with a wet foot

but a lot of knowledge.

And now, we're done.

Just gonna let it soak.

[Skarlett] Okay.

Hopefully get a fish swim in there and get caught.

My foot's wet. Skarlett's wet.

Let's get out of here.

Before we freeze in.

When you see a woman with her knife,

she's deadly as a man with a rifle, I'd think.

[dramatic music]

[ominous music]

We're getting ready to do a sewing project.

We're going to be making swaddles for the baby.

So when it's below zero outside,

the baby will be warm.

While I sit here, I just work on these sinews

of the caribou.

We break all of this down, clean it up

and turn it into usable thread.

We like to use this kind of threads

for our winter clothing that we use outdoors.

That way, when we make a little rip

or the clothing gets wet,

the sinew actually swells with the hole so it doesn't rip.

[Woman] Since we have these sea otter skins,

one could be for hers and one could be for mine.

[Agnes] Uh-huh.

Hi there, little babies. Oh, so cute.

I'll put a liner. And make it come up little bit.

Up to this line. See the line?

[dramatic music]

This is the beginning of the sewing season.

Inupiaq women don't usually start sewing

until the first snow flies.

So now that the snow is out there,

starting to gather, the best place to be is inside.

[Mary] Oh, baby baby.

[Woman] Looks nice.

You don't want it to be like a hood,

but it'll curve up.

So that it's around her, like this.

Should be good, eh?

It's a lot of fun.

Um, this is what my mom did

and this is what I plan to teach my girls,

how to keep their children warm.

Because I know there's more girls and more babies,

grand babies to come.

So, might as well teach them how to keep their babies warm

and with real useful things that are around us already,

and we don't have to purchase from someplace else.

Mary just has to sew this piece on right here

and then she's done.

Wow, she's happy now.

Everything I do, I'm gonna do better every time.

I'm a high achiever. I'm growing every moment, every day.

[dramatic music]

[upbeat music]

[Narrator] Jessie Holmes is scouting the land

around his new property.

He's heading to the mouth of the Brushkana River,

in hopes of finding areas that are abundant with animals,

and could be used for future hunting grounds.

But he must remain wary of the dangers

that lurk in this unknown wilderness.

Wow. Looks like a bunch of wolves went through here.

Oh, definitely.

There, you got some caribou tracks over here,

some caribou tracks coming from in here.

There's about seven or eight wolves going through here,

it looks like.

Chasing a pack of caribou.

They're definitely hunting right now.

Wow, that's about as big as my hand.

I'm not the only thing hunting out here.

These wolves just went through here.

Pretty fresh.

There's caribou sign coming out of the woods.

They're definitely chasing the caribou.

You can see where they've been hunting.

That is so cool to me.

So far, I've seen a lot of sign. A lot of wolves.

That means there's a lot of game out here.

That's what I'm wanting to see.

I'm excited to get it forward,

and see what else is down the trail.

I haven't went very far but I've seen a lot of stories

in the snow and I'm heading on down to see the next one.

[dramatic music]

Well, this is, looks like where the trail goes.

It looks like it must cross across the river here.

I don't see any other way to go.

You know, I don't want to swamp my machine

and have it cut out on me.

And I don't want to get wet. It's cold out.

From what I can see, it's not too deep right here.

It looks like I can make it across there.

[machine engine starts]

Only one way to find out.

I want to keep exploring where this trail goes.

So, just gonna lock it into gear,

throw the feet up on the dash and hit the gas.

[dramatic music]

Main thing I'm gonna do is make sure

I look through the water, don't see any boulders

that I can get hung up on in there and keep my feet dry.

[dramatic music]

Woo.

Just made it across. Nothing got wet on me.

Now I can see where this trail goes.

This is the world that I live in.

There's a crystalline beauty to it.

But, uh, it is brutal.

[ominous music]

Oh, they're running. They're running hard.

Yeah. I think they saw me.

[Narrator] With dark winter approaching,

Sue Aikens is in desperate need of stockpiling meat

and protein for her survival.

After spotting caribou on a hillside,

she is now in pursuit of the herd.

But caribou are an elusive prey,

and tracking them on the wide-open tundra

will be challenging.

Unfortunately, they hear me, they move. It happens.

I can't cry about it.

Um, I just need to keep looking.

[upbeat music]

Alls I see right now is one.

And it's definitely looking at me.

[Sue mooing]

That's actually a cow and calf sound.

Alls it does is it gets 'em to stop.

And there's nowhere to hide.

Doesn't have much for horns.

But caribou are a species that both and the female

get antlers.

I have to make sure it's got dangly bits.

[Sue mooing]

See it come closer.

Let me see that big, beautiful set of danglies.

[Sue mooing]

Can definitely see the velvet. It's a female.

Oh, look at you strutting.

I'm not into it dude, I don't got danglies either.

[dramatic music]

Well, there's one.

I saw, I saw a mess of 'em together,

so there's lots of tracks all through here.

Somewhere in this thick brush,

the rest of them are sleeping.

Or they're close to the river bottom.

I don't know.

But I want to go find out.

I don't know why it's here by herself.

I mean there was a decent group out here.

If she can't hook in with the rest of 'em,

the wolves will be eating well.

Good luck, girl.

I got to keep going.

I'm off to find a boyfriend.

I try to teach the kids everything I know

about living in the woods,

because it's a foundation of survival.

I want my kids to be able to survive no matter

what the situation is.

[dramatic music]

Something running up ahead.

Oh, right there,

-you see a fox. -Fox.

Try to squeak.

[Skyler Squeaking]

[Skyler] Oh, ran off.

Well, there might be spruce chicken

if that thing is still out hunting.

[Narrator] After setting their fish trap set in the creek,

Ricko must now impart a vital hunting lesson

to his children, Skyler and Skarlett.

They will maximise their time by hunting for small game,

along the road system in the Huslia village.

The kids are real excited about

spruce chicken hunting right now,

and I want to get them out there with a 410 and a 22

and see if we can run into some action.

[solemn music]

Okay, we're gonna grab the shotgun.

Skyler, you're gonna carry that, okay?

[Skyler] Okay.

You always got to treat it like it's loaded, remember?

Yeah.

Okay, you can carry this one.

[Skarlett] Okay.

Okay, let's go.

[dramatic music]

If there's spruce chicken, they usually move a little bit

before they take off.

So, kind of walk a little bit slow.

And just kind of look around on the ground.

If they see you, they'll move.

Sometimes they're up in the tree.

There's a little bit of tricks to hunting spruce chicken.

I want to teach the kids that,

and kind of get them into the element of whatever animal

they're hunting, to kind of think like the animal

and put themselves in the spot that the animal might be in.

So, kind of like hunting 101.

Even though it's small game, they learn a lot

that can pass on to the bigger game

when they start hunting that animal.

[dramatic music]

Over there. Dad.

[Ricko] Right here, Sky. Look.

[Skyler] Where?

You see it? Look right under the tree.

You see it's moving it's head?

[Skyler] Oh, yeah.

Okay.

[dramatic music]

-Oh, good shot. -[gun shot]

[Skyler] Got it?

[Ricko] He got it.

Good job, Sky.

You hit it right in the head.

That's it's nerves, you got it good.

You got it right in the head.

Here, Dad.

[Ricko] Awesome job, Skyler.

That scared me. Oh.

Skarlett, man.

Good job on spotting it.

Good job on shooting.

At first, we couldn't find the spruce chicken

and Skarlett was able to spot it,

and then Skyler got a shot off and we got lucky and got one.

I'm proud of my boy.

This is kind of building blocks for the future.

If he starts to learn to act and react

to whatever situation out here,

then he can easily bring home food when he's older.

[dramatic music]

All right, so we got a spruce chicken to eat now.

[Skyler] Yup.

Next one, Skarlett gets to shoot. Okay?

[Skyler] Okay.

Look, there's another one down there, look.

Skarlett, come here.

Just put the sight right in the middle

and squeeze real slow.

[Skarlett] Okay.

[Ricko] Don't let it move around.

[dramatic music]

[gun shot]

I think you're shooting above it.

Let's go over here. Come.

[Skarlett] Oh, I can see it.

Come.

When a spruce chicken takes off,

it flies in a straight line and it doesn't go far.

So I want to teach the kids to kind of follow that bird.

If you move too fast and too direct,

these birds will fly away.

So the best thing for us to do

is walk with the sun behind us, and kind of move slow.

Give it a chance to settle down and keep eating

whatever it's eating out there.

See, oh, it's right here, you see it?

[Skarlett] Yeah.

[Ricko] Sky.

[Skyler] Huh?

[Ricko] You got the 410?

Yeah.

Okay, Skarlett, you try this 410.

Okay, right there.

[gun shot]

Oh, you got it.

[Skarlett] Oof.

Ow, that hurt, that hurt, that hurt.

Good job. Hurt your finger?

You okay? Sorry, Skar.

I should have been holding on to it harder.

When Skarlett used the 410,

she made the shot but nicked her finger a little bit

with the trigger guard.

And she's a tough kid.

She was able to bite down and just go through the pain.

I'm real proud of her.

Learning experience, and hopefully I get her out there

and have her practise some with that 410,

so she gets comfortable with it.

There were some tears that came

with her first spruce chicken,

but I'm real proud of my daughter.

She got her first bird today,

and it couldn't be better today.

Okay, you ready?

Both of you got a spruce chicken, so good job.

I own my own house. I own my own vehicles.

I own my own property.

When you have everything you need,

you don't really need much at all.

[ominous music]

Now, this is what I'm talking about.

So we just need a couple of these.

And they got to overlap a bit,

and then we'll trim 'em after we staple 'em.

[Narrator] While his wife and daughters are inside

working on Native-style swaddles,

Chip and Preston will complete the swings

for the Hailstone newborns.

The devices have been used in Noorvik for generations,

and will keep the babies off the cold floor

during the long winter months.

[Chip] There's one.

You get all four of those done

and then we'll spread the canvas before we do the rest.

[Preston] Yup.

I like to build stuff. I like to create things.

I like to make stuff.

It's like a nonstop repair it, build it, make it.

We're planning things all the time.

[dramatic music]

Way back in the day,

they would have been made out of woven willows.

In like a small basket, and then they probably

would have had some hide in there or something.

A little bit of padding, you know,

keep 'em off the sticks.

We just made a frame and then we were able

to tack things around it.

So it's constructed differently of different materials,

but the effect is the same.

A nice little bed up in the heat and off the floor.

Just start from one end and you got to be a little sparing

with the tacks.

We don't have a whole tonne of 'em.

But, there's enough to do things with.

[Preston] Right there.

Kind of thing to do is to pull it tight,

and then go along the lower edge.

It just has to be a little firm, that's all.

You know what I mean?

[Preston] Uh-hmm.

You don't want like a big crease in it or anything

if you can avoid that.

We dress the frame loosely in the fabric.

And we put the tacks all around it

and we put the eyehooks on.

And there's enough for a nice little depression,

to where the baby won't just simply roll out or tip.

And after a while, she'll wear down there a little deep,

and it'll be broke in and everything will be good.

I have an eyehook in the house there in the front room.

When the house used to be small, before we added to it,

and that's where the kids used to hang from.

We would keep these low next to the bed,

and they would crawl back in 'em.

And get on their swing.

We went through two of these actually,

Between all the girls?

We had one with Carol.

And, I made another one for Qutan.

[Preston] This is the last one.

[Chip] These are perfect.

Gonna get these eyehook bolts and we'll go see

how your baby's doing, yup?

[Preston] Yeah.

Let's go inside and string these up

and see what the ladies think.

[Preston] All right.

[ominous music]

The more resources I get, the better I can do

and better job I can do.

[dramatic music]

[Narrator] Jessie is continuing his trek

towards the mouth of the Brushkana River,

in hopes of finding areas where he will be able to hunt

and fish in the future.

But with other predators in the area,

he must stay on high alert.

Holy mackerel.

Wow. That, that is huge.

Oh my God.

I've never seen bear tracks that big before.

Holy crap, that's bigger than my foot.

That's unbelievable.

Man, those look like those are a couple days old.

I tell you one thing, whenever I'm sleeping tonight,

that's gonna be a hard thought to forget.

These are the biggest bear tracks I've ever seen.

This is a monster predator.

And he'll prey on me, too.

I mean, I look like a snack to him.

Man. A big guy's out here somewhere.

He's heading the same direction I am.

Boy, I'm glad I'm heavily loaded, man.

That's a monster.

[dramatic music]

Looks like the trail goes up the steep hill now.

It's looking pretty sketchy.

Just gonna try to give it some gas and make it up.

[dramatic music]

I ain't got no brakes.

[dramatic music]

Oh, shit.

[bike crashes]

Holy shit, man.

Whenever I hit that point

to where that four-wheeler started going back

and not forward,

in an instant like that, there's no time to think.

You've got to do.

I just bail off of it.

Did what I had to do.

If I hadn't made that decision,

I don't think I would have survived that.

It would have crushed me.

Holy crap. It's a pretty scary moment.

I mean, that's too close of a call.

If I get hurt out here, that's a big, big deal.

Some of my stuff's all strewn out,

but everything's all right.

Really lucky.

I could try to go back up that a little faster,

but you know what?

I ain't taking that kind of risk out there.

That was enough to scare the hell out of me.

I'm gonna pack my stuff up and see if I can't find

a way downriver to get around this.

Nothing that's up this trail is worth me getting hurt.

I'd rather have destroyed this machine

and walked out of here than end up hurt.

[dramatic music]

The whole reason I'm out here is things like this.

Now I know you don't go up that hill.

That way I don't come out here and wreck my snow machine.

Or go up there with my dogs.

And now, I found another route.

This should cut me over all the way to the river.

Now I know.

Before, I knew nothing. Now I know a lot.

[dramatic music]

[Ricko] If you can't live off the land,

you can't live out here.

Nature is the most powerful thing out here.

[dramatic music]

Okay, you guys ready to check this?

-Yeah. -Yeah.

[Skyler] Is it gonna crack?

I think we'll be okay, but see around the open leads

and around the fish trap, it's gonna be real dangerous.

[Skarlett] Okay.

Okay, I want you kids to stay right here, okay?

Like right here. And right here.

Don't move, don't go, don't go anywhere.

You see it moving right here?

[Skyler] Yeah.

It really thawed out.

I just want to get this trap out and then I'll be safe.

I'll pull these sticks out of the way.

[water rippling]

You got to remember, I stepped in right here.

Do you think we got one?

I hope so. But I don't really know.

[Skarlett] Me neither.

[Ricko] I've never fished this creek before.

Okay. Fish trap coming up.

I can't wait to catch one.

Yes, yes, yay.

Oh, my goodness.

Oh, shit. What do we have?

[Skarlett] Fish. Fish.

Fish, fish, Fish.

Well, I guess our fish trap worked, huh?

[Skarlett] What is it?

It's a small pike.

I think we'll put the fish back.

-No. -No.

When we checked the fish trap, we caught a few pike.

They were real small, young pike and if we're real hungry

and we had to eat them,

I would've took those pike.

But they're young, I just want to let them grow some more.

It's important I teach my kids to have some kind of sympathy

for the animals.

A big part of being Native American is taking care

of the land.

And when we harvest a fish that's too small,

and we can let it back go without harming it.

I think that's more important they learn that instead

of harvesting everything before it's ready.

I really wanted to catch something just so the kids

could see the payoff.

Whether it's a big fish or a small fish, it's exciting.

[ominous music]

That's good right there.

What is that?

The gizzard, and then, Skarlett's favourite.

-Heart. -Heart.

The most important thing I could do as a Native is,

pass on the knowledge.

So I'm getting out here with my kids

and I'm able to show them some of these tricks

that I use when I was growing up hunting.

I survived with knowledge passed on to me by my parents,

and now that I'm a father,

I got to pass it on to my children.

Someday, maybe my kids will teach it to their kids,

and the torch continues to burn

and that's really important because

I got to keep my culture alive.

It's like my duty in life to keep

my Athabaskan culture burning.

[solemn music]

[dramatic music]

There are no guarantees in hunting.

You have an opportunity. You don't have a guarantee.

I got a handful of caribou, probably 600 yards ahead of me.

Might have one decent bull in there.

I'm gonna try dropping down and seeing

if I can close the distance a little bit.

I'm coming out with a plan here.

And I don't know if it's a good plan, but it's my plan.

I'm gonna use the riverbank itself to hide me,

peek over, see where they're at.

Until I get a shot, I can't ask for a better setup.

[dramatic music]

I have to identify a male.

Yeah, that's what I'm waiting on.

It's got a big body

And a shitty rack.

But I can't eat the rack.

Still, it's a male.

I can't bust this one.

This is it.

There are no other caribou that I see running around.

Turn to the side, buddy.

[gun shot]

I got it good.

He's up.

Shit.

Okay.

He's dropped.

Holy cow. Thought he ran off.

But he just flopped and I got my second caribou.

And just as the sun is setting.

So what I need to do now is go and verify,

gut him, quarter him out,

get him home and this is a pretty late caribou.

It's, uh, it's a lucky 'bou.

[dramatic music]

Darkness is coming.

Bears are in the area.

It's cold. My hands are cold, my feet are freezing.

But I've got to do this animal justice.

I've got to get the meat and I want that heart.

In the daytime, I've got a little bit of an advantage,

because I can see and I've got the gun.

At night, I've handed all that advantage

back over to the predators.

They smell the blood, they're getting ready to hibernate,

and alls they can think of is eat, eat, eat.

So I'm trying to get this done quickly.

Gonna try to get in here and get the heart.

Come on. There we go.

And there you have it.

Thank you, caribou.

It's a spiritual thing.

This is my church.

And it's another winter I'm gonna make it.

My main goal out here is my happiness

and health of mind and body.

[dramatic music]

Wow. I see a bull moose out in that meadow.

And he's got about three cows with him.

Man. This is a really good meadow for hunting and for game.

Come next hunting season, it's gonna be a sure thing

because of having a good spot and the good access

to the good game.

Oh, there's caribou out there now.

I can't take any of these animals,

but I'm gonna get a moose come moose season.

I'm gonna get caribou.

This is like the grocery store right here.

[dramatic music]

Alright. This is the Brushkana River here.

I made it, I made it here.

It's beautiful, but, it's not at all what I expected.

I kind of thought it was gonna be rock bottom

and I'd be able to cross and hopefully go back

a different direction.

Looks like I'll have to go back the way I came.

It's not looking that good for fishing right now either,

with all the slush ice coming down.

It's gonna be hard for me to get a reel to go in.

When I set out, my goal was to travel all the way

to the mouth of the Brushkana

and assess all the resources along the way.

I just have a deep feeling of satisfaction,

of a promising future out here.

Of really being able to live that subsistence lifestyle

that has been my dream for so long.

I've found the right country,

where I can really live that way.

[Chip] We all got a skill.

And we all know what each other's doing.

And if we have to, we fill in for each other.

[baby cries]

Oh, she's getting excited to try her little outfit.

You want to check, baby, if it fits?

Oh.

Wow, what'd your mama make you?

Mary finished up Rose's swaddle and put her in it,

she fit really nicely.

Rose seemed to enjoy it.

She didn't cry or anything.

So, I'm pretty sure the little girl's loving her swaddle.

-Wow! -So cute.

Rosaline seems to love it.

She's nice and warm and she's comfortable too.

The skin doesn't bother her.

Wow. That about ready to be strung up?

Uh, we'll string one up.

This one can just be stored for now, until she has baby.

She's ready to try her swing, she's tired of rocking.

Traditionally, up here,

everybody puts their babies in swings.

That way we keep them off the floor and out of the cold.

It gets pretty cold up here.

So my dad went outside and made me a swing,

and Preston made one for his daughter Rose.

It's nice to see Mary and Preston

making their stuff together,

and my dad went ahead and made me one.

That way in a couple months when my son arrives,

I'll have one for my son too.

Are you ready? Check this out.

It looks pretty level to me when you get it up there.

Should be about this high off the floor, eh?

[Agnes] Oh, my.

[Woman] So cute. Uh-hmm.

Now she'll have a swing until the time comes

when she wants to start crawling.

[Agnes] Oh look, she's

-going to sleep. -Going to sleep.

[group laughs]

[Woman] She love it.

It's awesome being a mom.

It's like, she's my whole world.

She's my everything, and she's just getting

bigger and bigger.

Soon, she'll be running around with Wade and Tinmiaq's baby.

Watching my girls grow into mothers

and caring for their own families,

them being happy is really joyful for me.

Every girl I'm sure is gonna come up with their own style.

But you can always tell they're just like mine

and just like y mums,

and just like my grandma's.

And it's nice to see happy families growing.

[Chip] She's happy, look atonement the smiles on her face.

-Oh so cute. -Yep.

[ominous music]