Inukun

Do you hear the airplane suddenly overhead? do you hear what happens when the ATV drives by? All along Chip has said the Alaska State Troopers both alterd their audios, and, if you listen, you can hear a cut in the recording. A digital recorder would restart with a new recording, not carry on after interruption. http://www.thearcticsounder.com/article/1249noorviks_hailstone_sentenced_seeks_appeal Chip was indicted and convicted with the Troopers audio, which has interruptions. Do you think the Troopers removed audio because Chip did what they said he did? Or did they remove what would have proven his words true? Why would cops need to edit recordings? I think its plain to see, or hear.

Wow! Chip has a Youtube channel with one home video, only about 30 seconds long, you can understand his court case now.... and what he is up against.

It would be interesting to know how long back his parents died, and if there are15 kids, (his siblings) and no one used the house, they must have several camps, as people often do. If he is going to fix it up and use it, then he is there at the perfect time of year. Im sure he brought supplies, and ''living off the land'' happens year round, its the various things we do thats constantly changing. If it were me, I would have my husband work up a pile of firewood while I work on weatherizing the house, then move onto putting in a trap line and placing an ice net, maybe have him hunt around and find Beaver lodges, clear trails and find signs of animals. While he is busy, I would finish my skin tanning and get to sewing things for us and Christmas gifts, etc. Theres nothing weird about going to a camp and settling in for the freeze up, you do what you can when you can. Indians do things their own way for their own reasons, but the Arctic is the Arctic. Ive seen Chip and Agnes's daughter Ting on Instagram with Rico. I wonder who else knows who on this show...?

http://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com/showthread.php/110992-A-calander-of-my-life-as-a-Subsistance-Hunter-Fisher-Gather-r This is a very interesting post made on Alaska Outdoors forums. There are old home videos too around page 6. Agnes is quite the artist, Chip quite the Hunter. What an excellent combination of wife and husband gathering wild foods and materials , ending up with great health and art works for cash money, all while keeping things as traditional as the seasons and weather allows.

If the new guy is Koyukon, and hes at a family house, who is to say it is not only used seasonally? Sort stays insted of full time occupency......Dark winter/freeze up is no time to hunt or gather, its time to sit down and make your gear for winter ahead; sew, build/repair sleds, snowmachines dog harness's, tan skins, set traps and fish, etc, ect....that's what you do in dark winter. Perhaps this Rico guy is using the house as a turn around point in a trap line? Often , trappers change routs or leave an area for a number of years so a population can rebound. http://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com/showthread.php/110992-A-calander-of-my-life-as-a-Subsistance-Hunter-Fisher-Gather-r This is a very interesting post made on Alaska Outdoors forums. I wish I had found it long ago. Chip hunted and trapped, Agnes made clothing and arts for a sizable income. There is home videos too on page 6 a lot of the small pictures can be clicked on to activate the video.

While nobody ever can have 100% approval in a community, I can say Chip and Agnes are fine for who and where they are , in their community. Our Inupiaq peoples are circumpolar, Alaska Inupiaq and Inupiat,, Canadian Inuit and Greenland Inuit, as well as Y'upik, C'upik, Siberian Y'upik and Aleut. Im sure there are some, somewhere around the world that dont like Chip LOL!! When your here, walnut, introduce yourself. You are in Northern Alaska, right? And yes, manufactured products have been making our lives better. It would be stupid not to. No Eskimo want to live 'primitive', and no matter what the changes are in clothes and housing, transportation, the culture remains intact and changes like it should. The food is the same, and so is the need for heat. The animals havent changed, either, nor has the way they are processed and eaten......... Trade for goods has been going on since mankind started, and across our Bering straights for thousands of years. Skins, metals and other trappings have been trade items and when money came along, we use that too. Everything is made somewhere and alot is shipped here and we PAY $$$$ to have those items, because they make life easier.. When outboard motors were invented, Eskimo bought them. Guns too, as well as sewwing machines, etc. No culture owns the exclusive rights to use these things, just because somebody with a simular skin color invented them. Nobody, not the state Of Alaska for sure ''Pays' to get things made and shipped here, its America and who ever bought it , payed for it, and we pay Tax's, too. How about the fact that America doesnt manufacture nearly what it did before? From across the ocean, 1/2 way around the world, Imported from CHINA , at great expense, and used by Americans..................a wallmart clerk told me.... LOL! The Hailstones , like the others, work for money. They take their catch and make arts and crafts, and skip spending money by getting their heat and food from nature. While getting that food and heat they participate in traditional cultural activitys. Prehaps many dont have a culture they can draw 10,000 years of knowledge and heritage from. Where would the Italians be with out Spaghetti and wine, chatting in their language in the hot Mediterranean? ''Free resources''.......... Yes, its ''Free' out there to take, but it takes hard work. If theres not enough to go around its because commercial entity's have destroyed it......Wood, Animals, fish, etc. How do people think commercial fishermen, Timber companys, and hunting guides, etc, etc. for example, get what they do? Commercial Fisherman catch way more than they, themselfs can eat, lumberjacks kill more trees than they , as a single person, would ever need...... Th efact is, in Northwest Alaska, we do not have many intrusive roads, no fences, no commercial logging of our forests and our ecosystem is intact, so , yes it can and has supported more people than today, as there were more Inupiaq bfore 1880 than today, and they all had dogs to feed. These subsistence gathering people just go get it for themselfs and skip the $$, and thats still work.

Funny, I saw the same episode and iirc, Chip said ''most people dont know their neighbors' and it did not strike me as anything all inclusive, just his opinion. I have never heard him, even once, say "we live so much better than everyone else". LOL!! I do understand that you seem to take his every word as a personal communication to you, but he is actually talking with the cameraman. If you really listen, Chip compares himself today to what he was like yesterday, and always looking to improve. And if you ever get up this way, you will see that the Hailstone are pretty well off for their circumstances and even more so after the show came along, because they work hard and have been for 30 years. If you go to Noorvik, noone there has a bad opinion of Chip, but then again, they know him very very well.. Thats the same way Andy got all his stuff, working hard for a barge company piloting up and down the Yukon for 20 years. That got him a paycheck and a free cargo to his front door with the big stuff.

There is no oil money in our region. Marry an Eskimo here and you will work to make money like the rest of us. Chip was referring to there not being many nets because dog teams are nearly all gone. 1/2 a salmon a day and other meats keep Huskys warm and healthy at -40 and a dog eats as much as a person each day. When every house had a dog team, 12-24 dogs, the fishing never ended. Now its all for people food and , in truth, there are fewer nets out. Subsistence living is the replacement to ''work'' or employment for someone else. Make $ 'working' or get the food and heat yourself and skip the money. Funny, isnt it, how doing that makes a body feel like they have actually 'worked'... Wildlands firefighting, trail staking, firewood sales, commercial fishing, mining and oilfeld 2wwek on 2 week off are most of the seasonal work that come around, and in Kotzbue here are many jobs. Before the Hailstones were on tv they lived like they do and made museum displays and arts and crafts. Funny, anything an Eskimo makes is now ''Art" and Agnes , to her credit has Inupiaq clothing displayed in many prominent museums. She took the skins Chip caught and knowing the tradional cuts , filled out collections that had parts and items returned to tribes for repatriations in the 1990's. Agnes is a much respected skin sewing woman. There is an excellent 4 person display in the Maniilaq Elders wing Agnes made, a baby, a little girl and a man and woman in full regalia and life sized. It had to be in the hundreds of thousands. When you look at stuff in the yard its the same as the neighbors, with 20 years of used/crashed/recycled snowmachines and outboard motors. Parts are hard to find and by every house in a village there is usually a small ''shop'' for repairing things out of the weather, welding or whatever. Parts piles for recycling are better than trash on the tundra. People like the hailstones always have a running snowmachine and outboard, and they get a new one, they buy the same models so they can use parts from the machine when it gets replaced after wearing out. A new snow machine is about 7-8,000$, every 3-5 years, depending on what happens to it. No groomed trails here. An outboard engine is cheaper and last 5-10 years, also depending on what happens to it. Some people save their money, some take a bank loan and pay them off. I think the Hailstone bank their money and at least one daughter is currently in collage. The hailstone girls instagrams show they were in camp fishing with their parents after a summer of commercial salmon fishing in Kotzebue Sound

And Chip is not a Felon now. They do not have expungement in Alaska, but his case has been set aside. Good for them, the whole Hailstone family, where ever the are today. Chips daughter sent me his link.

I do not think Chip has any prior criminal history, and from what I have read, he can say hes not a felon, and can purchase and use all kinds of guns now. From what I understand, Agnes and the girls were right there when the ''incident'' happened, and they all agree that Chip told the truth about the Troopers assault on their daughter. I understand that Agnes was supportive of Chip because she was there and knew he told truth in court, I think she testified on his behalf. Besides, Agnes nor Chip had to tamper or edit with any audio tapes made,, so they didnt have anything to hide, unlike the two Alaska State Troopers. I bet Agnes is relieved Chip is hunting again, without any restrictions, as he was a very successful Hunter before the conviction and before the show. Ill ask people what they think, I havent seen the Hailstones in quite awhile, but they keep to themselfs still.

I got this link from his daughter; Chip has had his Felonys set aside. There's no expungement in Alaska, but he is no longer a felon. Good for him.

Life Below Zero has Won 2 Emmys, last year for Cinimatography, this year for Editing. I bet they win again in 2018 :D

I completely understand about not wanting to watch the actual death of an animal, it is why people 'pay the butcher" to do the uncomfortable but necessary, for lifes needs. My husband has that to do, and while I enjoy hunting, I understand , now, that the rituals my husband gives each animal, like a drink of fresh water to a Seal or cutting the irritation from a Bears tounge are to sooth the spirit of the animal and the spirit of the Hunter, because it was not a death made from hate or anger but out of love for the Family the Hunter will feed and to give respect to the animal, by utilizing it as much as possible. This may not be evident to Christians or other faiths, but in our culture, and beliefs, if you have respect for the animal, and kill them on a nearly daily basis, this is how a Hunter remains a Hunter and not a Killer. "Its the thought that counts" is a good saying for having the proper hunting attitude. I worked night shift in a slaughter house in Oregon, as a sanitation specialist when I went to collage in Washington state, before I met my Husband. I have seen how clean wild foods really are, and if people up here gave up their food, and hunting for it, our culture would be gone.Food is culture. Where would Italians be without their special kind of foods, or Mexican cultures? . Yes she has antlers, Karma G, but no Trophys. Keeping the Antlers for a Trophy is much different than keeping them for materials in carving, building, crafting. From what I see, she keeps very very few of what they actually get, and cuts them up and makes stuff from them, so I dont see them with any "trophy's" Agnes is an artist, she has some of the most beautiful carvings and clothing displays here in Kotzebue, and antler as a material in those arts is common. Plainly she takes home Antlers, horns and hooves if they can be used in her work, but theres no heads mounted in her house, and when they bring home 30 Caribou Bulls each fall, ( like all households here try to do) tear after year for her immediate family, her elder sisters, and Chips mom down the road, you might see a new set or two put up to dry, away from dogs chewing them, or people taking them, but the dry ones on the roof are the ones shes probably cutting up, and I dont see any trophy value at all in that. Ive seen Walrus Heads up there too, but the get cut up after drying, and since shes an artist, perhaps the "looks cool up here while drying" is what is really going on. Here in Kotzebue, people are drying whale bones, and Caribou antlers, Seal skins and everything that they can use from an animal, and not as trophy's. I was in Noorvik for my daughter basketball tournament this last week, and visited her for a cup of coffee, and from the pile of firewood stacked outside the Hailstone house, I think they are ready for next 2 months of the deep cold now. The clothing shes has made and Chip building a sled out of a single plank of wood were really impressive. I hope that they show them on the show. The Hailstones have 2 son's, and 5 daughters. 3 daughters are still living at home, and it was clean, warm and busy in there. The sons have familys, the older daughters have no kids and are either working or going to classes somewhere else in AK. I think they are often changing who lives where according to season and what they want to do, because in Summer we commercial fish for Salon and the two oldest Hailstone girls are Commercial fishing too, we see them out in open skiffs checking their nets too, or staying in camp. I see them in some episodes and not in others. Seasonal and temporary jobs are very common up here. Winter is something else, but its good to see the younger generations living the outdoors life. Have a very nice day.

Looks like another crazy thread . First off, regarding our Local IRA's. They give no money to Agnes or any other Inupiaq here is going to get any money out of them. Nobody will or ever will, they simply oversee the Inupiaq Nations local governing bodys. We have a land managing corporation and no one is living off them, unless they are employed by them. Martha is not a Mother load for Eric. In the show it plainly says he owns a guiding business, and is from out of state, and his house is by Wiseman, while she owns a fishing lodge where she was born and grew up at Lake Illiamnia.I think they are a match! If Jesse has any brains, he will have partners that Mush too, Dog Handlers, and when hes gone, they will help feed his dogs too, and he will likely do the same for them in turn. We all have friends with common interests, I'm sure. I dont know Chip well, but I have never heard anyone in this region speak up against him. He may be a felon, but so what. Hes taking on the crooked cops and hes good around here. Agnes I know well ,I have known her since we were little, and shes no different on TV. I think he gets along fine and like any forigner who lives here for a few years, he has to pull his weight or get on the plane. Since I live in the same area as the Hailstones, I can clear up some misconceptions; For the egging episodes you should understand that They can take all the eggs from Seagulls and Geese they want, the birds will lay more until they have a brood. Same as chickens.That is how they cope with predators and high tides, that can flood the nesting areas that destroy the clutches. Its a renewable resource but brief in time. To see if the eggs have a chick or are fresh, they should put them in the close by water. If they float, they would leave the whole clutch , because the babies are developing. If the eggs sink, you should take the whole clutch. This is because birds like Geese and Seagulls dont have breasts to feed their babies and nesting in the open has them move off the nest as soon as they first chicks hatch and can walk, eat and hide. They will leave the rest behind, to die, if they cannot keep up or have not hatched yet. Our Elders taught us this and it is common knowledge, so we take the whole clutch, sometimes again after a couple days. Then we leave them alone and they still have babies. Where the Hailstones live there are thousands of nests and they pick fewer than 100 or them.This has been going on for thousands of years here, with no problem, and alot less people are picking eggs than before. When you club flightless Ducks, its only the male birds, who group up while flightless in large flocks while molting. The females will be off alone , raising the young. If you shoot a flying bird, it can still die somewhere else. The Hailstones either kill them or they get away, no wounded, only an instant kill with a broken neck. Far far more humane than shooting them. Fewer birds are killed and no meat wasted from gunshots. They can effectively hunt without guns, and I know many people who can. The Hailstones didn't get any rabbits in their nets, just watched that one yesterday. I liked the last one where they put up the sign at the point where the river meets the Sea. In a place where the tide hides the land, its a Godsend to be able to get into a river and stay in the channel, so your not running up on the ground or ramming your propeller and motor into it when its only inches deep but actually "underwater" and one big lake. I cannot count how many times I have had to spend hours looking and feeling for a river channels mouth with my boat and motor. Even more time has been wasted getting unstuck and back to deep water, and waiting for a tide to go down so the river can be seen. You can get stuck or break your boat , if your going fast and hit. Somebody should pay them to build one at the mouth of each river that we have here around Kotzebue Sound. Shooting Caribou in the river is for food. What complete idiot would want to give their meals a chance to get away.? How 'noble' would it be to tell your kids you didnt get them dinner because you let it get away? I guess if you don't hunt for a living, you would not know. The fact is shooting Caribou on land is inefficient and cruel in many ways. The Hailstone are very precise in picking out fat healthy , mature bulls. They get as close as a Hunter should, and kill the Caribou instantly with a brain shot. They do not separate the calf's from the cows as can happen in a herd that's being shot at on land, so theres no slow, lingering death for a lost calf, either.. They don't wast the meat that shooting a Caribou in the chest would destroy , and actually kill fewer animals to get the amount of meat they want. No wounded Caribou get away to die elsewhere. The clean the animals at the rivers edge and take them home whole to get through the freeze and darkness we have here in the Arctic.Caribou that are shot in the chest take time to die and its painful and scary for them. What the Hailstones do is very precise with the minimum of waste. Its clean food and made in a clean way , not skinned and drug or carried across the Tundra. The best part is when they leave the upriver hunting places, they leave all the heads and antlers. Trophy's are not edible. The people here who are disgusted with the way my people catch animals should look on youtube and watch how the Beef industries kill them, stunned and skinned alive, heart sliced and bled out. From their wild eyes, I say the beefsteak sold in the stores died in pain and terrified. Pay the Butcher to do it but dont put people down who do it their selfs. At least the wild animals we hunt were not kept in pens all their lives, and no ones beef was hunted and given a fair chance to get away. Its about food.

I would like to add that we do not have oil rigs or oil revenue here in North West Alaska, and my Native corperation does not hand out checks on any regular basis. They do have Red Dog Lead and Zink mine, a great employer in the region with work opportunitys for people, many whom work here and fly home at the end of their shift to lead a subsistence lifestyle, like the Hailstones, and some work here and live in Anchorage on a two week rotational schedual. Our Native corperation pays the largest ammount of tax's for our Northwest Arctic Borough, so bonds for the school district and other govornmental dutys are met and paid for. Kids who have good grades and wish to further their education here can get help with collage funding or on the job training for Industrial type trades and associated education via our Native Corperation. The best thing our Corperation does is manage our lands for Hunters , who go where the animals are in theior respective time of year, as the 225,000Caribou in our Western Arctic Caribou Herd is always on the move. Th epolicy of No fences and no roads keeps our food and our ways viable and unique. The Hailstones are fairly typical, some people do hunt more than them, and some less, most all dependent on need. Agnes grew up getting out and hunting when she could like the rest of us, and getting enough to last a long while, such as Fall time, when many many Caribou are caught, but hunting stops then and does not resume untill late February or March. What may seem too much to some is like money in the bank when the ice is thin and the Polar Darkness 24 hours, whith hunting a very bad prospect during the stormy times. It is not long untill the Sun returns and the meat, fish are gone. Chip does not use Agnes, she seems quite free to be herself, and is really not much different than when we were kids. There are things here that Chip cannot do ,on or off TV, because of his race. I think thats what makes Agnes unique on the show, and shes not being made to do anything unusual that I can see. One thing I would like to see is more of their Sons. Both are excellent Hunters, and would represent Inupiaq Men very well. Prehaps there is not enough time to show this complex and yet happy family at it's fullest.