Oh, yeah. My name is Marcus Krasko, M-A-R-C-U-S-C-A-R-R-A-S-C-O. I'm a lab aide and just here to cut up fish.
My title is a lab aide, because I'm aiding him in his studies.
We also do a lot of other things.
Yeah, whatever the work with the tribe, the river or something.
It's good for anything that I've done, like that has been with Glyphwick.
Glyphwick, once you're in here, they tend to want to use the employees that they got.
So it's like if something comes up like shocking, stuff like that, they'll ask internally who's available for how long.
And that's where I got connected with butchering them on that.
Because we had a little bit of a lull when we were getting fish.
So I did the fish for the lakes that we got.
And then it was, I got to go shocking for a couple weeks.
That was a cool experience and everything.
Like I said, I learned a lot doing that.
And, yeah.
You're also a bold number of deaths.
Yeah, I'm a bold member. I've lived here my whole life.
So I was trying to say for doing stuff like this really means a lot to me.
It just makes me feel like I'm making a difference.
I guess everybody kind of wants to feel like they're doing something positive, you know?
But yeah, doing this type of work really makes me feel like I'm doing something positive.
What's the difference between you when you were younger and you guys would harvest and then share with the community
versus the feeling now when you're out of this setting?
I still do that.
If I'm hunting or fishing and I'm getting a lot, I was always taught like you share.
Like you share with your family.
And it's just, I guess being on this side of it, I'm more aware of the consumption end of it.
Because again, it was just like load up on fish, like have all the fish you need, you know?
Like have enough fish that, you know, it's going to last you a year.
But now it's like I'm learning about how much is like, how much is safe?
Like a safe amount to consume.
How much is not a safe amount?
Like, again, I used to think eating fish twice a month was like normal.
Or even more like maybe like four times a month was normal.
But it's really not.
Like you shouldn't be doing that.
It's just not good for your body.
It's not good for your family and everything.
And I didn't know until like talking with Josh and everything more and reading about mercury and methyl mercury and stuff.
But that doesn't just affect you.
It affects your descendants.
Like your kids and like their kids are going to be affected by the mercury intake from you.
So it's, yeah, so it's a little different.
But again, I feel like it's important to know, it's important to be part of.
It's got to be a better feeling not only helping provide when you're dealing knowledge with.
Yeah, exactly.
Like I was telling my wife and my kids, I was like, I used to think we can just sit here and max on the fish because it's like we got it, you know.
But I always tried to give them the smaller fish, you know.
But now it's like, dang, like we got a bunch of fish and we can't eat it like we used to.
Like we already, for this month, we already had fish, you know.
So it's like, now we got to wait.
But again, it's not, I might have a lot of fish, but it's not just for me.
Some, some might come up or somebody might pass away.
There you go.
There's some fish for that or somebody, somebody has like a ghost feast or sell.
Maybe it's not something like that.
Maybe it's somebody's birthday.
They really wanted a fish fry.
So here you go, man.
Like do it, have that or so.
Yeah, I, I just, yeah, I just, I was taught to share.
I was taught to like, don't, don't be greedy.
So where does walleye break?
What's the importance of it being a walleye that's here?
Walleye is a walleye.
Like I don't know.
Like it's this, walleye is just, it's just the, it's just very important.
It's been a very important resource.
When I just my family, but like everybody's family, like in the Indian community, like forever.
Like it's been here.
It's just like, like sturgeon.
Sturgeon is very important too.
But the walleye is, it's, everybody wants to eat walleye.
Like nobody, like, because sturgeon's like a, it's, it's like a bottom feeder.
Not looked at as like, primo, you know.
So, but walleye, everybody wants to eat walleye.
It's, it's a, it's top notch A1.
This guy, he never, he never had a walleye before.
I was like, are you kidding me?
I was like, dude, you're, you'll boil any other fish.
I'm, I don't care how you prepare.
It smokes any other fish out of the water.
Like it could be salt water, fresh water.
Like don't, it's just the best fish.
Okay.
And it's just, it rakes high because it's just so good.
I don't know how to, it's, it's just a very important commodity.
Like, and it's because of that being, it's, it's just hard to describe.
It's just, it's like deer.
Like deer is just something that's, it's just been part of our, our culture forever.
Like, it's like, you just can't take it away.
Like, it's all, yeah, I don't know.
It's just, it's hard to describe, but it's just, if I was to put it, it's just because
taste alone, you know, like just taste wise.
Like you, you can put it up against any fish out there and it's going to blow them off
the, off the market.
Like off the mat, like just, you can.
You can, you can fry it.
You can bake it.
You can saute it.
You can, you can poach it.
Like you can do like anything you want with it and you can make that taste incredible.
Like you can, you can even burn the crap out of it.
And I'm telling you, like, we went fishing one time.
Don, she, she's one of, she's the, a, a treaty specialist here.
She made fish tacos and burned the crap out of the meat and it was still bomb.
Yeah.
I'm telling you, it's just, it's just a great fish.
It's a, yeah.
Like I'm, I was telling, like, tell me before, people don't worry about smelting stuff in
the springtime.
It's like, man, we're all about our walleye.
Like, you, yeah.
Growing up, kids were always like, oh, smelting season's right around the corner.
It's like, smell it.
You know, we got, man, we're wearing up a walleye over here, man.
Like, I'll save some for you.
But yeah, um, it's just something that, it's just been part of our, our people.
Creator gave it to us to help sustain us.
So it's just, it's very important, again, just like deer or anything else.
Like, it was placed here for us to sustain us so we can make it and to carry on the next
generation, you know.
Again, I, I want to be able to guarantee my kids I can catch them something, you know.
Like, so it's, yeah.
It's all about sustainability, I guess.
It's like why it's so important.
Like, you, we want to be able to provide the next generation with, with this, you know.
Like, I never thought about it, but, um, that my ancestors really fought for
it.
So my, my ability to come out here and go set in that, then harvest fish.
So it's, yeah, it's just been, it's just important.
I don't know what else to say, man.
It's just, it's just very, it's just part of who we are.
Just, it's like anything else.
You got all, like, the trees and stuff too.
It's just part of who we are.
Like, maple trees, part of tapin trees, you know.
Like, we were making our syrup and our sugar and stuff.
It's just part of who we are as a people.
So that's why, that's why it's important.
It's just, it's a resource that creator put here for us to sustain us.
Like, man, we've been taking advantage of it for thousands of years and I, I would like to see it continue as long as possible.
Doing stuff like this, doing work like this really does make me feel like I am providing that, you know.
So.
Great.
Yeah.
Sorry if I was just landblowing on there for a little bit, but it was just, yeah, it was just like, I had.