1	00:00:15:14	00:00:17:12	>> In our ceremonies
2	00:00:17:14	00:00:19:15	we have talks
and we let the spirits
3	00:00:19:17	00:00:22:27	in the forest know that our intentions are to go out there
4	00:00:22:29	00:00:25:07	and harvest the Waawaashkeshi.
5	00:00:25:09	00:00:27:08	My name is Biskakone.
6	00:00:27:10	00:00:29:04	I am a hunter from Lac du Flambeau.
7	00:00:29:06	00:00:30:29	I hunt for the
health of my family
8	00:00:31:01	00:00:33:03	and I hunt for
the health of my community.
9	00:00:35:07	00:00:37:07	After the deer
10	00:00:37:09	00:00:39:07	presents himself
to us--
11	00:00:39:09	00:00:41:21	[gun shot]
12	00:00:41:23	00:00:43:11	--and give us that shot
13	00:00:43:13	00:00:47:07	we ask for forgiveness
for taking its life.
14	00:00:47:09	00:00:48:16	We also speak of how
it's going to benefit
15	00:00:48:18	00:00:49:25	our loved ones
and our family
16	00:00:49:27	00:00:54:14	through the feasting
and usage of its hide
17	00:00:54:16	00:01:02:04	and its --,
its meat.
18	00:01:05:27	00:01:09:05	I don't think anybody likes
to see a spirit leaving.
19	00:01:09:07	00:01:10:25	Then we remember
that we're --
20	00:01:10:27	00:01:12:14	and this
is what we do
21	00:01:12:16	00:01:13:26	and this
is how we live.
22	00:01:13:28	00:01:15:08	We're suppose
to do this.
23	00:01:15:10	00:01:16:22	We're supposed
to be in that circle
24	00:01:16:24	00:01:19:07	with that deer and his life.
25	00:01:19:09	00:01:21:22	When he's gone,
when he leaves
26	00:01:21:24	00:01:23:14	we take all his organs out and we keep the ones that we want
27	00:01:23:16	00:01:25:06	the heart,
the liver
28	00:01:25:08	00:01:26:16	sometimes
the kidneys.
29	00:01:26:18	00:01:27:26	Once those insides
30	00:01:27:28	00:01:30:10	those organs and everything,
are out, we make an offering.
31	00:01:35:02	00:01:36:20	That moment right there when you drag that deer
32	00:01:36:22	00:01:38:00	up out of the forest
33	00:01:38:02	00:01:39:17	and you're bringing it home
to your people
34	00:01:39:19	00:01:41:03	that's my favorite part
of the whole hunt.
35	00:01:41:05	00:01:42:19	That little trail right there that you create
36	00:01:42:21	00:01:44:19	from where he fell
37	00:01:44:21	00:01:47:22	to me that's
a very sacred time.
38	00:01:56:05	00:02:00:22	When a person has the ability to hunt part of that
39	00:02:00:24	00:02:02:12	responsibly of hunting
is sharing your harvest
40	00:02:02:14	00:02:04:01	with your people.
41	00:02:04:03	00:02:06:01	We get the hide
42	00:02:06:03	00:02:09:10	and then we get all the different cuts of meat.
43	00:02:09:12	00:02:11:09	Everyone else cuts the meat.
44	00:02:11:11	00:02:13:00	Somebody would like it.
45	00:02:13:02	00:02:14:22	There's an elder
that likes the neck.
46	00:02:14:24	00:02:16:20	I have another friend of mine, he likes the ribs, you know.
47	00:02:16:22	00:02:18:16	A lot of people love the tenderloins
48	00:02:18:18	00:02:20:12	and the hind quarters
and the shoulders
49	00:02:20:14	00:02:23:08	and we save
the hooves sometimes.
50	00:02:23:10	00:02:24:22	There's a lot to use
on a deer.
51	00:02:24:24	00:02:26:06	That venison, 
that Waawaashkeshi --
52	00:02:26:08	00:02:30:07	there's medicine
in there.
53	00:02:30:09	00:02:32:14	All the stuff that
we don't ingest today
54	00:02:32:16	00:02:35:11	all the natural
things
55	00:02:35:13	00:02:36:29	the grasses
and all the medicines
56	00:02:37:01	00:02:38:17	that grow in your waawaashkeshi
57	00:02:38:19	00:02:39:27	he eats that.
58	00:02:39:29	00:02:41:06	We eat him.
59	00:02:41:08	00:02:44:04	He gives that
to us.
60	00:02:44:06	00:02:46:03	We want to spread that medicine to our community
61	00:02:46:05	00:02:47:04	and our elders
62	00:02:47:06	00:02:49:02	and give them
that original food.
63	00:03:01:10	00:03:04:10	Once the hide comes off the deer the tanning process has begun.
64	00:03:06:25	00:03:09:22	The hide can be used for many different applications
65	00:03:09:24	00:03:12:19	tobacco pouches, moccasins.
66	00:03:12:21	00:03:16:05	Those hides are very, very valuable to Ojibwe people
67	00:03:16:07	00:03:19:24	and a lot of other native people.
68	00:03:19:26	00:03:21:13	Say a baby
is going to be born.
69	00:03:21:15	00:03:23:02	We make their first moccasins out of that buck skin
70	00:03:23:04	00:03:25:02	that we just tanned up.
71	00:03:25:04	00:03:27:02	Or a wedding
is going to happen.
72	00:03:27:04	00:03:29:08	A gift is going to be
made out of that
73	00:03:29:10	00:03:31:16	to represent a new life
with their partner.
74	00:03:41:25	00:03:43:25	I work a lot with velvet
and buck skin.
75	00:03:43:27	00:03:46:28	When velvet was first introduced here in the 1700s
76	00:03:47:00	00:03:50:02	it became
a big part of our dress
77	00:03:50:04	00:03:52:06	in our Ojibwe territory,
-- territory.
78	00:03:55:11	00:03:57:21	That represents
a time
79	00:03:57:23	00:04:00:12	when our art
was as its most fantastic
80	00:04:00:14	00:04:01:19	and glorious
81	00:04:01:21	00:04:02:27	That's when
every family did it.
82	00:04:02:29	00:04:06:27	Today there's only a handful
of people left that do that.
83	00:04:16:26	00:04:19:02	When we first
signed our treaties
84	00:04:19:04	00:04:22:02	there was land areas
that we outlined, saying
85	00:04:22:04	00:04:25:21	we'll share the land with you but we're going to retain
86	00:04:25:23	00:04:28:01	our hunting and fishing rights here, forever.
87	00:04:28:03	00:04:32:23	I credit our ancestors for preserving that for us today.
88	00:04:38:25	00:04:40:26	The role here
as Ojibwe people
89	00:04:40:28	00:04:42:26	it's an
important role.
90	00:04:42:28	00:04:45:00	We're the keepers
of the natural world.
91	00:04:45:02	00:04:48:04	It's our job
to maintain
92	00:04:48:06	00:04:52:19	this traditional lifestyle
for our families
93	00:04:52:21	00:04:54:19	and for
our reservation
94	00:04:54:21	00:04:57:27	for our elders
and for our babies.
95	00:04:57:29	00:05:02:07	Without it we wouldn't know
who we are
96	00:05:02:09	00:05:05:29	we wouldn't know
where we come from.
We also speak of how
it's going to benefit