[DRUMMING]

[WOMAN SPEAKING UNANGAM TUNUU LANGUAGE]

- THE STORY THAT I'M GOING TO SHARE RIGHT NOW IS A STORY

THAT BELONGS TO OUR PLACE AS OPPOSED TO BELONGING TO ANY

ONE PERSON.

[SPEAKING UNANGAM TUNUU]

TRADITIONALLY, WHEN WE HAVE A STORY OF THIS NATURE,

IT DOESN'T BEGIN WITH "ONCE UPON A TIME."

IT BEGINS WITH THE PHRASE "TANAM AWAA," AND "TANAM AWAA"

MEANS "OUR COUNTRY'S WORK."

[SPEAKING UNANGAM TUNUU]

THE FIRST TIME THAT OUR PEOPLE HAD ANY INTERACTION WITH THIS

ISLAND CAME IN THE FORM OF AN ALEUT HUNTER, AND HIS NAME

WAS IG,ADAGAX,.

IG,ADAGAX, WAS OUT IN HIS SINGLE HATCHED IQYAX, ON HIS OWN WHEN

HE WAS SWEPT AWAY IN A STORM AWAY FROM THE SHORELINES

OF THE ISLANDS OF HIS VILLAGE.

HE CAME FROM WHAT WE NOW CALL

THE ALEUTIAN CHAIN, ISLANDS

THAT STRETCH FROM ALASKA

TO RUSSIA ON THE EDGE

OF THE BERING SEA.

HE TRAVELED A LONG PERIOD OF TIME ON HIS OWN, AND HE ENDED

UP ON THIS ISLAND.

HE CAME AND HE STAYED LONG ENOUGH TO SEE HOW LIFE EXISTED

HERE, LONG ENOUGH TO SEE THAT THERE WERE FUR SEALS HERE,

THAT THERE WERE SEA OTTERS HERE, THAT THERE WERE MANY SEA

BIRDS HERE.

SO HE PROBABLY STAYED A WHOLE YEAR, ONE WHOLE CYCLE.

IG,ADAGAX, TOLD THE STORY TO HIS BROTHER, TO HIS SON, TO HIS

RELATIVES, AND HE SAID THAT HE ALWAYS WANTED TO COME BACK.

IG,ADAGAX, WANTED TO COME BACK, AND HE DID, THROUGH US,

BY US BEING HERE, AND BEING THAT WE ARE A PEOPLE THAT LIVE

GENERATIONALLY, YOU CARRY ON WHAT HAS BEEN PASSED DOWN FROM

PEOPLE BEFORE YOU.

WE HAD TO COME, IF NOT ONLY TO FULFILL IG,ADAGAX,'S NEEDS,

BUT ALSO TO PROTECT THE FUR SEAL.

WE HAVE HAD TO BE KEEPERS OF THE SEALS AND MAKE SURE THAT

THEY CONTINUE TO LIVE HERE BECAUSE IF THE FUR SEALS

AREN'T HERE, THEN WE WON'T BE, EITHER.

- [CHATTER]

[HORN BLOWS]

- WHOO!

- [CHEERING]

- SO WHO ARE WE, THE PEOPLE OF THE SEAL?

NOW WE'RE AMERICAN CITIZENS, ALASKAN NATIVES.

- GO, GO, GO, GO!

- MANY OF US STILL BEAR OUR RUSSIAN HERITAGE IN OUR NAMES,

LIKE MERCULIEF, ZACHAROF, MELOVIDOV, BOURDUKOFSKY, AND MY

LAST NAME, LESTENKOF.

AND WE'RE ALEUTS, OR AS WE CALL OURSELVES IN OUR OWN

LANGUAGE, UNANGAN, NATIVES OF THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS AND

OF A CULTURE THAT STRETCHES BACK AT LEAST 9,000 YEARS.

WHO WE ARE WEAVES TOGETHER AT LEAST 3 VERY

DIFFERENT TRADITIONS.

OURS IS A STORY OF SURVIVAL, OF ADAPTATION, AND A CONSTANT

THREAT OF EXTINCTION.

WHAT'S HAPPENING ON THESE REMOTE ISLANDS IS BEING

REPEATED ALL OVER THE WORLD.

NATIVE CULTURES AND NATIVE SPECIES ARE FIGHTING TO KEEP

FROM DISAPPEARING.

MY NAME IS AQUILINA DEBBIE LESTENKOF.

WHEN I WAS LITTLE, GROWING UP, I JUST REMEMBER THAT ALL THE

ELDERS CALLED ME BY AQUILINA, AND FOR THEM IT WAS RESPECTING

MY BAPTISM IN THE ORTHODOX CHURCH.

DEBBIE MEANS BUMBLEBEE, SO MY ALEUT NAME IS AANASNAADAX,,

AND AANASNAADAX, TRANSLATES INTO ENGLISH AS BUMBLEBEE.

THIS IS SAINT PAUL ISLAND.

THIS IS WHERE I LIVE.

PRESENTLY WE HAVE ABOUT 450 PEOPLE RESIDING ON

SAINT PAUL ISLAND.

PEOPLE COME AND THEY SAY, "OH, THAT'S IN THE MIDDLE

OF NOWHERE," BUT REALLY, IT'S IN THE MIDDLE OF IT ALL.

SAINT PAUL ISLAND AND ITS SISTER ISLAND SAINT GEORGE ARE

CALLED THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS.

THEY ARE 300 MILES WEST OF THE MAINLAND OF ALASKA, 250 MILES

NORTH OF THE ALEUTIAN CHAIN, AND WAY CLOSER TO RUSSIA THAN

TO ALASKA'S STATE CAPITAL IN JUNEAU.

WE'RE DRIVING ON MAIN STREET, WHAT WOULD BE CONSIDERED MAIN

STREET DOWNTOWN, AND IT'S NOT WHAT IT WAS WHEN I

WAS YOUNGER.

WE SEE BUILDINGS THAT ARE BOARDED UP.

WE HAVE A HISTORIC HOTEL THAT IS NOW BOARDED UP AND NO

LONGER USED, AND WE HAVE WHAT WAS AN OLD GOVERNMENT OFFICE

WHEN THE GOVERNMENT MANAGED THE COMMERCIAL FUR SEAL

INDUSTRY, AND IT'S ALL BOARDED UP.

FOR ALMOST 200 YEARS, WE UNANGAN PEOPLE HAVE HAD OUR

LIVES RULED BY ONE THING: THE COMMERCIAL HARVEST OF FUR

SEALS TO MAKE FUR COATS.

IT WAS AN INDUSTRY WORTH MILLIONS AND MILLIONS

OF DOLLARS, BUT IT ALL CAME TO A CRASHING HALT IN 1983.

THAT'S WHEN PRESSURE FROM ANIMAL RIGHTS GROUPS LED THE

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT TO PUT AN END TO THE COMMERCIAL

HARVEST OF FUR SEALS.

WHAT WAS MEANT TO PROTECT THE FUR SEALS INSTEAD LED TO

THE FUR SEALS BEING IGNORED.

[FUR SEALS GRUNTING]

SOMEONE ONCE SAID THAT THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS ARE

A MICROCOSM.

THIS IS A PLACE WHERE WE CAN LOOK AT HUMAN INTERACTIONS

WITH THE PLANET IN GENERAL.

WHERE ARE WE GOING TO GO NEXT?

I CO-DIRECT THE ECOSYSTEM CONSERVATION OFFICE

FOR THE ALEUT COMMUNITY OF SAINT PAUL ISLAND'S

TRIBAL GOVERNMENT.

IT IS OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO ENSURE THAT NOT ONLY

THE ENVIRONMENT BUT ALL THE SPECIES THAT HAVE PROVIDED

FOR OUR PEOPLE CONTINUE TO EXIST IN ORDER THAT WE AND OUR

CULTURE CONTINUE TO EXIST.

[FUR SEALS GRUNTING]

MY FIRST MEMORIES OF THE FUR SEALS ARE KIND OF LIKE YOUR

VERY BEST FRIEND.

YOU DON'T REMEMBER WHEN YOUR FRIENDSHIP STARTED.

THE SOUNDS OF THE FUR SEALS HAVE HAD TO BE EMBEDDED

IN MY MEMORY.

EVEN WHEN THEY LEAVE HERE IN THE WINTER, THE SOUNDS ARE

STILL WITH ME.

[FUR SEALS GRUNTING]

WE CAN ONLY FATHOM HOW LONG THESE ISLANDS HAVE BEEN HERE,

AND THE FUR SEALS, THEY'VE BEEN HERE MANY, MANY YEARS

BEFORE HUMANS HAVE COME TO THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS.

FUR SEALS ARE MIGRATORY.

THEY SPEND THE WINTERS OUT AT SEA.

THEY DON'T COME BACK ASHORE TILL LATE SPRING.

IN THE MIDDLE OF WINTER, THE ROOKERIES ARE EMPTY.

YOU CAN WALK OUT AND YOU CAN SMELL THEIR PRESENCE.

THEN BY MARCH, THE BULL SEALS START TO COME.

THEY HANG AROUND ON THE SHORES.

AND IN THE SUMMER, WE HAVE AN INCREASE OF SOUNDS, OF SMELLS,

KIND OF LIKE TURNING UP THE VOLUME.

[FUR SEALS BARKING LOUDLY]

NEVER A DULL MOMENT.

RIGHT NOW IT'S FALL.

THE CHILDREN ARE BACK AT SCHOOL, AND THE FUR SEAL PUPS

ARE IN SWIMMING SCHOOL.

THEY DO HAVE TO LEARN TO SWIM.

THEY WEREN'T BORN KNOWING HOW TO SWIM, OTHER THAN

HAVING FLIPPERS.

PEOPLE MAY THINK THAT IT IS THE SAME, BUT IT IS DIFFERENT

EVERY YEAR.

IT'S NOT SOMETHING YOU GROW TIRED OF.

IT IS SOMETHING THAT YOU LOOK FORWARD TO AND KNOW THAT

YOU ARE HOME.

WHEN THEY COME HOME, YOU'RE HOME, TOO.

BUT HOW DID THE HOME OF THE FUR SEALS BECOME OUR HOME?

THESE WIND-SWEPT, TREELESS ISLANDS, SEEMINGLY

UNINHABITABLE, SURROUNDED BY THE COLD, ROUGH WATERS

OF THE BERING SEA.

THE TATTOO ON MY FACE TELLS THE STORY ABOUT THE JOURNEY

OUR ANCESTORS TOOK TO GET HERE.

THE CURVES REPRESENT FUR SEALS, AND THE CIRCLES

REPRESENT THE 5 GENERATIONS OF MY FAMILY THAT LIVED ON THESE

UNANGAN ISLANDS.

ALASKA IS HOME TO OVER 200 FEDERALLY RECOGNIZED TRIBES

SPEAKING 22 UNIQUE DIALECTS.

THE UNANGAN PEOPLE COME FROM THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, AND WE

HAVE AT LEAST 3 DIALECTS.

THE FIRST OF MY UNANGAN RELATIVES THAT SHOWS UP

IN THE WRITTEN RECORD

IS MY GREAT-GREAT- GRANDMOTHER NEDEZHDA.

I KNOW THAT SHE WAS BORN ON ATKA AND THAT SHE HAD LIVED

PART OF HER LIFE ON BERING AND ATTU ISLANDS.

- UNANGAN CULTURE WAS SHAPED BY A TREMENDOUS RANGE OF BOTH

CHALLENGES AS WELL AS OPPORTUNITIES, AND RESPONDING

TO AN EXTRAORDINARILY DYNAMIC ENVIRONMENT

OVER THE SPACE OF 9,000 YEARS LED UNANGAN PEOPLE

TO DEVELOP AN AMAZING ARRAY OF TECHNOLOGICAL ADAPTATIONS,

INCLUDING, OF COURSE, THE FAMOUS KAYAK, WHICH WAS

THE FASTEST VESSEL IN THE WORLD.

I MEAN, THOSE THINGS COULD DO 12 KNOTS.

BEAUTIFULLY ENGINEERED TO RESPOND TO

THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT.

WEAPONRY SUPERBLY ADAPTED FOR GETTING SEA MAMMALS.

A DIFFERENT STYLE OF POINT WAS DESIGNED FOR EVERY TYPE

OF SEA MAMMAL.

GUTSKIN CLOTHING SEWED TOGETHER WITH BONE NEEDLES

SO FINE THAT SOME OF THE HOLES WERE BARELY AS BIG AS

A HUMAN HAIR.

A WATERPROOF STITCH WAS DEVELOPED TO HOLD THESE

GUTSKIN GARMENTS TOGETHER.

SO AN AMAZING ARRAY OF GADGETRY IS REFLECTED

IN THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORD.

[MAN SINGING IN UNANGAM TUNUU]

- THAT KNOWLEDGE, PASSED DOWN THROUGH THE GENERATIONS,

IS FAST DISAPPEARING.

TODAY ONLY A HANDFUL OF PEOPLE KNOW HOW TO GET A MEAL FROM

A TIDE POOL.

VINCE TUTIAKOFF IS ONE OF THEM.

- WHERE WE'RE WALKING, THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO,

THE ALEUTS WERE OUT HERE PICKING THEIR BREAKFAST

AND THEIR LUNCH.

GREEN KELP--THEY'D COLLECT THAT TO COOK WITH THEIR FISH.

THEY'D FISH OFF THESE LITTLE EDDIES IN HERE AND GET POGIES,

BLACK BASS, SEA EGGS, BIDARKIES, BULLHEADS EVEN.

HUNTING IN THEIR LITTLE BOATS ALONG THE EDGES

FOR SEAL, SEA LION.

- MM-HMM. SO, WHAT YOU'RE SAYING IS WE'RE GOING TO

THE UNANGAN SUPERMARKET. HA HA HA!

- UNAGAN SUPERMARKET. YEAH, THAT'S IT.

WATCH WHERE YOU'RE WALKING.

DON'T STEP ON OUR BREAKFAST OR LUNCH HERE.

[BOTH CHUCKLE]

RIGHT NOW THE SEA URCHINS SHOULD START TO BE FILLING UP,

AND THEY'LL HAVE A LOT OF EGGS IN THEM.

A LOT OF PROTEIN AND IRON.

AND THERE IT IS.

THERE ARE SOME EGGS RIGHT THERE.

AND THEY'D SCOOP THEM OUT JUST LIKE THAT AND

OF COURSE EAT THEM.

CARVE THIS GUY.

THIS IS A TONGUE HERE.

- IS THAT EDIBLE, TOO?

- YES. THAT'S THE BEST PART.

THAT'S GOOD EATING THERE.

IF IT WASN'T FOR THE RED TIDE, WE'D HAVE A DINNER.

- YEAH.

- HERE'S THE GRASS THAT ALEUTS FED TO THE RUSSIANS WHEN THEY FIRST GOT HERE.

LOT OF THEM HAD SCURVY OR SOME SORT OF SICKNESS.

THERE WAS NO DOCTORS HERE, EITHER, YOU KNOW, FOR YEARS.

DIDN'T HAVE A CLINIC HERE.

- YEAH.

- GONNA CUT ONE OFF.

AND WHAT THEY DO IS CHOP IT UP AND BOIL IT,

AND WHAT COMES OUT OF THE LEAVES AND OUT OF THE VINES,

THEY DRINK IT.

IT'S LIKE A TEA.

TRY ONE OF THESE HERE. THEY'RE--ONCE YOU CHEW ON THEM--

YOU'LL FIND IT VERY BITTER.

- IT'S KIND OF LIKE IF YOU LEFT SOME SOAP

AND YOU TASTED IT, THAT'S THE BITTER.

- YEAH.

SAVED A LOT OF RUSSIANS' LIVES, AND MAYBE THEY SHOULDN'T HAVE.

OR THERE'D PROBABLY BE MORE OF US AROUND TODAY.

[LAUGHTER]

- [MAN SINGING IN UNANGAM TUNUU]

- ONE OF THOSE RUSSIANS SAVED WAS MY GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFATHER

MIKHAIL LESTENKOF.

HE BEGINS THE RUSSIAN CHAPTER OF MY FAMILY HISTORY.

MIKHAIL WAS BORN DURING THE REIGN OF CATHERINE THE GREAT,

AT A TIME WHEN THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE

WAS GROWING RICHER THROUGH THE FUR TRADE.

MIKHAIL WAS ONE OF HUNDREDS OF YOUNG RUSSIAN MEN

CALLED PROMYSHLENNIKI.

THEY WERE TRAPPERS AND TRADERS

WHO WERE THE BACKBONE OF THIS SOFT GOLD RUSH.

- THE FIRST RUSSIANS WHO CAME TO ALASKA AND THE ALEUTIAN CHAIN

WERE MARINE MAMMAL HUNTERS,

AND MOSTLY WHAT ATTRACTED THEM WAS THE SEA OTTER,

BECAUSE SEA OTTERS BROUGHT EXCEEDINGLY HIGH PRICES.

SO THAT WAS WORTH THE RISKS.

- MIKHAIL TRAVELED OVER LAND THOUSANDS OF MILES...

THEN HE SET SAIL FOR BERING ISLAND,

WHERE HE FIRST ENCOUNTERED THE UNANGAN.

- WHAT THE RUSSIANS FOUND WERE 30,000 HIGHLY ORGANIZED,

SUPERBLY ADAPTED MARINE HUNTERS,