Balls Deep (2016–…): Season 1, Episode 5 - Alaska Natives - full transcript

[ Native American chanting ]

Most American lives
operate the same way

in the 48 contiguous
United States.

People go to their jobs,
and the jobs give them money,

and the money goes
to the grocery store,

and that's how they get food.

No one's really kind
of living off the land

unless they're, you know,
out to prove something,

including,
you know, most Native Americans.

There is still one part
of the country, though,

where the natives are at the
mercy of the land they live on.



That's here at the ass-edge
of the continent in Alaska,

where local Inuit
and Eskimo people

still kill to eat or suffer
a pretty hungry winter.

[ Woman vocalizing ]

Kotzebue is a little Arctic town

on a barren, kind
of tree-less peninsula

out on the Bering Sea.

It's a host to an airport,

about 3,000 people,
80% of whom are native,

and it's where President Obama
came to visit the Arctic Circle

in the second to last year
of his presidency.

The majority
of the natives are Inupiaq,

which is a form
of either Inuit or Eskimo,

I'm not sure which term
is accurate or acceptable.



Regardless, one of these Inupiaq
is name Dom Ivanoff,

and he is about to go
on his last caribou hunt

the fall season
before freeze-up.

And so am I.

Me, too.

There she is, all of Kotzebue.
Ah.

[ Church organ plays ]

So out that way is what we call
the old dump road.

Then that direction
is the mouth of the Noatak.

THOMAS: So if we go to the Noatak,
that's the way we're gonna go?

Yeah, we'll head that way.
Hopefully, we'll -- we'll see some caribou.

If they do, they'll come down
along this way and migrate inland.

You know, early November

when all this is frozen
out here, it's not uncommon

that the last of the herds

will walk right on the ice right
here in front of town.

I've seen as many as 5,000,
6,000 walk through here once.

[ Sizzling ]

Here's the...

- Oh.
- Heart and tongue.

Yep.

How long ago was that
in the caribou?

This was two, two and a half
weeks ago we caught these.

You try to fill your freezer
before winter comes in?

Oh, yeah.
The price of meat is outrageous.

There are no roads
connecting Kotzebue

with the rest
of Alaska, not even ice roads.

So anything that can't be caught
or grown in the area

has to be flown
in from Anchorage

or shipped up from Nome at cost,
hence grocery store specials

like $5 tomatoes
and $60 chuck roast.

This is why subsistence
hunting up here

doesn't come
with finger quotes around it.

If you didn't hunt,
you'd pretty much have to be

pulling in a six-figure salary
just to stay fed.

Now we'll let this cook
for a little while,

then we'll throw
some penne in there.

I don't know
if that's how you say it.

I don't speak Italian.

I think that's right.

Yeah, might as well
just do the whole thing.

One of the funny things you hear

when you go
into an elder's house,

they'll say things
like, "You better eat.

You're gonna get cold."

You better eat
if we're gonna go out hunting.

You're gonna get cold.
- Okay.

As the latitude dictates,

life in Kotzebue
leans towards the mundane side.

Dom works in the I.T. department

of the town hospital
during the week,

hunts on the weekends
when he can,

and otherwise has to come up
with his own fun,

especially during
the indoor months.

Who is that?

DOM: Oh, that's me
with my Hammer pants.

I was bored.
- [ Laughs ]

That seems to be the root
of a lot of things up here.

All the bars in Kotzebue
were shut down in the '80s

after townsfolk overdid it,

so night life
is pretty much nil,

though there is
a city-run liquor store

next to the town jail
where you can buy a daily ration

of booze to take
to a friend's house.

Yeah.

You want in on some of this,
Thomas?

THOMAS: Oh, yeah.

None of it's very traditional.

It's all just mixed with,
like, other recipes.

WOMAN: Like, we've eaten all
the caribou.

I kind of figured enchiladas
weren't...

- Alaskan native?
- Yeah.

Do either of you speak Inupiaq?

No.

I know when I'm getting yelled
at by my mom.

I never grew up in
a Inupiaq-speaking home, so...

They don't teach it in schools?

Uh, you get one class
once or twice a week and...

We learn words.
- Yeah.

I can't -- I can't string
a sentence together.

You know?

[ Laughter ]

So Dom, despite hunting
out of boats,

doesn't own a boat.

In fact, his Inupiaq name

translates to
"man without a kayak."

It's apropos.

Uh, so we're borrowing a boat
from a neighbor named Harley.

The whole deal
is whatever meat we catch

comes back to the community,
so, you know,

everybody pitches in,
everybody gets a little.

[ Boy yells indistinctly ]

Yes.

That might have been Inupiaq.

Whoo!

Well, this is definitely
a meat wagon.

One year, I put 20 caribou
in this boat.

The caribou were stacked
about that high over the ridge.

Oh, man.

There's a lot
of elders around here

that doesn't get meat,
so I go out,

and I make sure
I get enough for everybody.

THOMAS: While hunting
is the cheapest way

to eat in Alaska,
it's nobody's idea of cheap.

Gas, gear,
and time spent prepping

are all a major investment...

$45 for 7 1/2 gallons.
[ Chuckles ]

That's rough.

...one that will hopefully net
enough meat for the hunter

to make it all the way
through winter,

as well as his family
and some elders of his choosing.

Kotzebue is a pretty drab town.

It's actually maybe
one of the homeliest places

I think I've been to in America.

It seems like basically a point
of embarkation

for the wilds all around us,

and that's
exactly what we're doing.

Going upriver.

Hans came along, too,

to try to shoot some caribou,

maybe some seal...

so we'll have meat this winter.

It's Swan Lake.

[ "Swan Lake" playing ]

The Swan Lake.
It's in Kotzebue.

Bet you didn't know that.

It's what Tchaikovsky
was clamoring about.

[ Grunting ]

- All right, you ready?
- Yeah.

Yukon, ho.

[ Man singing in Native
American language ]

Morning.

Just fetching Dom's
Rockstar Energy Drink,

which he refers to
as his pre-coffee.

It's pretty misty.

I don't know,
it's gonna be the hunt.

Is this mist
with us for the rest of the day,

or is it gonna...?

Normally, we would hike up
one of these ridges

and look in this valley.
- Yeah.

But you're not gonna be able
to see anything.

You know,
this is probably the first time

I've ever cooked a breakfast
next to a... bear scratch post.

[ Laughs ]
- That makes two of us.

You notice that grizzly?
Right here.

Comes right along here,

and then there's a kind
of a trail through the willows

right there.
- Oh, that's a bear trail?

Yeah.

So should we be camping here
if this is on a bear trail?

Um, usually you just
have to take your precautions.

Isn't that one
of the precautions?

Normally, you wouldn't want to
be on the -- on the bear trail,

but this is part of the land
that we're looking at acquiring.

That's bear shit.
A polar bear's.

Is it?
I saw that, okay.

I thought that was just
crunched-up flowers.

No, bear shit.

Okay.
Been stepping all in it.

[ Laughs ]

What's the deal with
the land ownership out here?

What we're on
is a native allotment.

- Yeah?
- And, yeah, we got permission

from the guy
that owns it to use it.

Native allotments
are one category

of land ownership
in the confusing pizza pie

that is the map of Alaska.

Native lands were divided up
through a series of laws

starting in 1906 and ending

with the Native
Claims Act of 1971,

which established
all the native corporations

and gave them 44 million acres
of Alaskan land

to split up between themselves
and their members.

My mom, her family
just wasn't proactive

when families were allowed

to pick out
traditional lands used.

I don't think people realized
that that was their chance,

you know?
- Yeah.

If we could go back...

Be like, "Grandma...
pick out that land!"

Do you guys see anything
up there?

No.
A lot of bear shit.

Fresh?

Uh, how fresh was it, Hans?

Old. Old.

I couldn't tell.

Neither Dom nor Hans
are full-blooded Inupiaq.

Dom is half, and Hans is,
I believe, a quarter,

which may sound
a little eugenics-y

for us to talk about,

but it's a big deal
in Native communities.

Blood quantum is the measure
of what percent

you are native by birth,
and it's used to determine

who can and can't legally join
Native corporations,

which grants you
access to things

like scholarships and dividends
from the State Permanent Fund.

The blood quantum requirement
is usually 25% or higher,

which seems reasonable
to start with,

but gets tricky
a few generations down the line.

In a few generations,

we're just gonna be
no shareholders left.

You're just gonna have
to have kids with your cousins.

[ Laughter ]

[ Grunts ]

Yep, caribou.

Oh, I see it.
Like, right there.

There's a...
group of caribou there.

Mostly cows and calves,

maybe one bull
that I see right now.

Probably at least a dozenish.

Yeah, they --
they're looking this way.

Is that a good sign
that there's that many?

Uh, that's not a whole lot,
actually.

There's uh... roughly
200,000 animals

in this herd, they figure.

And that's 15.

- Oh.
- They're trending downward.

Why is that?

They ebb and flow,
like everything else.

Okay.

Uh-oh, they're standing up.

Yep, there they go.

Caribou is the main meat
for fall subsistence hunters.

But it's also season for moose,
musk ox, and seal jacks,

which are like baby seals,
but a little older.

So I guess teenager seals.

[ Gunshot ]
Was that low?

MAN: You were
just about on it.

[ Gunshot ]

He went down.

[ Man chanting in Native
American language ]

My foot's cramping.

Right in front, right in front!

- Right over it.
- Turn it around.

[ Gunshot ]
- Way over.

This one's been shot at before.
You can tell.

Right there, to the right.

Went down.

Yeah, it would have been nice
if we would have been able

to chase him
where there's no waves.

Yeah, when you're looking
in the scope,

it's doing this, you know?

So I'm not holding a gun
right now, or a harpoon,

not because I've got
a problem with seal hunting --

I don't, seriously.
I'm getting used to things.

But because it's illegal

for not just non-residents
of Alaska to hunt seals,

but I believe non-Natives, too,
right?

Yeah, you have to be
Alaskan Native.

THOMAS:
Because of where they live,

the Inupiaq were
some of the last natives

to come in contact
with the white man.

While Russians, then Americans

spent centuries brutalizing
the bottom half of Alaska,

nobody really bothered
coming this far north.

It wasn't until
the Nome Gold Rush

at the turn of the 20th century

that white folks began
invading Inupiaq turf,

mostly prospectors looking
for treasure in said turf

and slightly more savory
missionaries,

looking
for the Inupiaq themselves --

specifically their souls.

[ Moose call sounds ]

That's how I was taught
to do it.

THOMAS:
Some fog's kind of come in,

which screws with our ability

to see caribou or moose --
or even seals, really.

With this level of fog,
kind of using the moose call

as an optional last resort.

And having some snacks,
you know. I think.

I think Hans has some muktuk,

which is whale skin
with blubber attached.

It's a delicacy.

Some beluga muktuk.

Just grab it, hand or fork.

- Oh, by hand.
- Yeah.

Try it first.

Yep.
Go raw and then dip.

That is distinctive.
It's good.

It barely tastes edible.
It's good, though.

What I imagine candle
tallow would taste like,

if you were allowed to eat it.

- Okay, one more.
- Yep. It's all you.

- It's pretty good, actually.
- Cook that up.

[ "Swan Lake" plays ]

DOM: That's a small bull.

Oh, Hans, where are you at?

HANS: I'm over here. Do we try
and go after that moose?

It's up to you, man.

Okay, we'll put on over to you.

Okay.

Is...?

Yeah,
he was standing right here.

Right here?

I wonder if I should run back.

Fresh moose tracks right here.

[ "Swan Lake" plays ]

There's nothing up there,
not that I could see.

Yep.

Well?
Well, is he back?

Yeah.

It's a little rough.

Been a nice hunt,
but it would be sad

to come back without anything --

not just, you know,
for our pride,

but this is, you know, meat that
they live off of all winter,

which elders in the community
live off of, too.

Dom's ex-mother-in-law, Marlene,

isn't quite an elder yet,

but she was also promised
some meat from our trip.

Fortunately,
there are traditional fallbacks

for when individual hunts
like ours go tits-up.

In the olden days,

Inupiaq hunters would dig a hole
in the permafrost,

called a sigluaq, to store extra
food in case of hunger.

Marlene's sigluaq is more
of an ice box than an ice hole,

but it still serves
the same purpose.

As for the actual elders,
Cyrus Harris started a program

where he takes in
in hunters' surplus meat

and chops them up
for hungry elders.

By the way, you want to guess
what his program's called?

He calls it Sigluaq, you know,
like the hole.

What's this
you've been working on?

That's trout
for our elders pot luck

at the long-term care
this evening.

Here we got
some of our caribou carcasses.

This is the hindquarters,
the back half.

That's amazing. Why does it
smell so sweet in here?

It's a -- it's a scented aroma
of wild game!

I guess so.

Did you want to get a taste
of this sushi?

Sure, yeah.
Oh, that's good.

- Yes.
- That's actually really good.

I like that. Fish simple.
- Yeah.

I'd always heard growing up,
like, like, don't say Eskimo,

because Eskimo means --
is it raw -- raw fish eater?

Yeah.

But that --
that shouldn't be a slur at all.

- No, not at all.
- Raw fish is delicious.

You know, I wouldn't --
I wouldn't think so.

Whoops. Sorry.
How did you end up doing this?

Well, you know, I used to be
able to live out in the country

and make ends meet by trapping,
dog racing, you know.

But gas prices went up,
health prices went down.

So it got somewhat harder
to live out in the country.

Oh.

So I had to come into town
to look for work.

I was just fortunate enough
to find this one particular job.

THOMAS: Serving the elders
traditional food

isn't just important
for sentimental reasons

or because it's tradition.

This is the diet
their people have been eating

for thousands of years.

It's what their genes
are used to eating.

MARLENE: The Western diet
that we've adopted

is taking its toll on us.

We used to actually
eat off the land

and, you know, meat and veggies.

There really wasn't a lot
of starch up here.

And then we don't go out and do
the things that we did before.

You know, we don't walk the
miles and miles we used to go.

Now we have four-wheelers
and trucks.

Thomas, you better eat.
You're gonna get cold.

Yeah, yeah.
I promise I've been eating.

WES: Once again,
here in Kotzebue,

we're looking
at some cloudy skies.

The winds have picked up.
They're still easterly.

East at 15, and the temperature
has jumped up to 43 degrees.

Wes Goodwin here.

We're gonna bring you live music
from KOTZ Studios.

We have LeRoy and Friends,
right here on KOTZ.

* Then sings my soul

* My Savior God to me

* How great Thou art

* How great Thou art

So this is Cemetery Hill.
My sister is buried there.

She passed away last fall.
- Sorry.

And the my father
is two crosses over.

Taught me a lot of stuff.

I told everybody that I know,
I said, "Don't bury me."

You wouldn't have
a casket big enough.

Just... bury me,
spread me,

and have a shot of whiskey
or something in my honor.

That's -- That would be --
That would be what I'd want.

I don't want it to be a sad day.

Are most Natives Christian,
or do --

Yeah, I would say
a good percentage of them are.

We have the Quaker --
Quaker Friends Church

is real dominant religion
in the region, I would say.

Do people
also practice old beliefs?

You hear stories every now
and then of someone that...

says they might practice
shamanism

or something like that,
but I would say that's died off.

It's one of the things I remember
hearing when I was a kid.

You know, shaman would be able
to turn into a fireball

and go to wherever
they needed to go.

That would be nice.

I wouldn't mind us turning
into a fireball right now,

to be warm.
- I was the same bad.

[ Upbeat music plays ]

Well, welcome to the Kotzebue

long-term care
elders pot luck here.

Here we have bearded seal
with blubber pieces.

That's seal meat?

You're gonna love
that, that seal meat.

- Looks like barbecue.
- Yeah, exactly.

Unfortunately,

after our elders moved
into long-term care,

they get restricted of having
their traditional foods menu

because a lot of these foods
are not USDA approved.

- Right.
- And, well,

with the Farm Bill
that recently got passed,

we can now feed
traditional foods

into schools, hospitals,
senior centers.

It is very rich, though.

It is --

It is very strong.

[ Laughter ]

THOMAS: We usually think of
tradition as the part of a culture

with the weird hats
and the dancing

and you jump over
the fire 'cause the spirits.

* He will save your...

While Inupiaq life in Kotzebue

just looks like
rural life anywhere in America,

there's a deeper sense
of tradition

subsumed in their everyday life.

* He's your Savior now

They look out for their elders,

they go out hunting
every weekend

to make sure
the community can eat --

even if they do it with
non-traditional implements

like guns and powerboats.

This all comes
from an environment

where there's really no room
for superfluous traditions.

If a hat or a ritual or a spirit

doesn't help
you survive in the Arctic,

then you get rid of it

and you find something
that works.

Which kind of makes
Inupiaq culture

even more resilient
than some group

with all their old hats
and dances,

when you think about it.

By the way,
Eskimo and Inuit are correct.

But if you want to be classy,
call them Inupiaq,

or friend.

[ Applause ]