WEBVTT 00:00:09.467 --> 00:00:15.181 My name is Samuel Mettaweskum, I’m from Nemeska. 00:00:15.724 --> 00:00:20.520 Long ago while the elders were hunting, 00:00:22.939 --> 00:00:30.572 they’d look around and choose which tree to use in making their snowshoes. 00:00:31.364 --> 00:00:33.825 I’ve seen it happen many times. 00:00:35.201 --> 00:00:37.328 He’d tell me, 00:00:37.871 --> 00:00:41.458 “go take a look at the tree that’s over there.” 00:00:41.458 --> 00:00:43.585 And I would be told, 00:00:43.585 --> 00:00:52.552 “measure the tree by doing this,” which is called hand measuring. 00:00:52.552 --> 00:00:57.599 He’d say to me, “it’ll be good if you’re able to measure 7 times. 00:00:57.599 --> 00:01:06.066 You’ll have to see if the branches are bent evenly and are in the same length.” 00:01:06.066 --> 00:01:11.446 I did what was asked to do and I would only describe how the tree was, 00:01:11.446 --> 00:01:15.283 he didn’t have to check for himself. 00:01:15.283 --> 00:01:20.830 He’d ask, “is it standing up straight or is it bent?” 00:01:20.830 --> 00:01:23.666 and I’d reply, “it’s even,” and he’d say “it’ll work.” 00:01:23.666 --> 00:01:26.544 It was his teaching method. 00:01:26.544 --> 00:01:31.257 When I went to go see a tree, he didn’t have to go with me 00:01:31.257 --> 00:01:40.767 but later on he would and he’d say, “it’s good,” at times he’d cut down three white birch. 00:01:41.142 --> 00:01:52.695 When you’re looking for white birch to use for carving, 00:01:52.695 --> 00:01:58.326 you have to check the tree rings. 00:01:58.326 --> 00:02:07.418 If you see it’s rings are wider than this, 00:02:07.418 --> 00:02:11.506 the snowshoes you’ve made could easily bend. 00:02:12.215 --> 00:02:16.511 It’s better to find one with smaller tree rings, 00:02:16.511 --> 00:02:21.307 it’s tougher and won’t bend as much. 00:02:21.307 --> 00:02:27.689 I was told it was good for travelling long distances. 00:02:27.689 --> 00:02:31.734 I haven’t completed carving this one, 00:02:31.734 --> 00:02:34.988 this side needs to be the outside frame 00:02:34.988 --> 00:02:43.371 because it will push out this way, it’s from this part. 00:02:43.371 --> 00:02:48.168 You know it’s the outside frame because you see this over here. 00:02:48.168 --> 00:02:55.216 Some don’t carve all of it because they don’t want to make a mistake. 00:02:56.634 --> 00:03:00.305 You see over here, 00:03:00.305 --> 00:03:17.030 the snowshoe should be this thick and the tip thinner which can break easily. 00:03:17.572 --> 00:03:26.998 Others who come here to try out snowshoeing are careless because they're not aware. 00:03:26.998 --> 00:03:30.418 The tamarack is fragile. 00:03:30.418 --> 00:03:40.303 So it’s good to make larger ones and the same goes for this one. 00:03:40.303 --> 00:03:48.561 You should be cautious with thinner snowshoes to travel long distances because they can break easily. 00:03:48.561 --> 00:03:53.942 That's how I was taught. 00:03:54.776 --> 00:04:02.575 A youth can’t learn what they’re taught right away, I went through it too. 00:04:03.910 --> 00:04:09.207 Before finishing with the carving, we tie them up. 00:04:11.209 --> 00:04:16.089 Stephan will carry on the Elders traditions. 00:04:18.716 --> 00:04:33.690 When youth pursue learning, they plan and set personal goals. 00:04:33.690 --> 00:04:46.703 Others try harder to learn because it's essential for them. 00:04:48.830 --> 00:04:58.923 It’s how carving can come back. 00:05:00.508 --> 00:05:11.436 The piece is tied like so, it should be at this length. 00:05:11.436 --> 00:05:25.992 This wood clipper should be attached like so, along with this piece. 00:05:29.245 --> 00:05:44.510 Once tied together, it’s soaked in hot water then you’re able to bend it like so using a stick. 00:05:45.219 --> 00:05:57.023 While soaking it in hot water, you bend them by placing the crossbar in the middle. 00:05:58.691 --> 00:06:07.408 You tie both of them together like so. 00:06:08.743 --> 00:06:14.957 You tie them up together and shape the tip like this, which looks like that one. 00:06:14.957 --> 00:06:26.511 Then you tie a rope from the front and back ends, and the same goes for the other side. 00:06:26.803 --> 00:06:34.727 You first tie the clips around with a rope. 00:06:34.727 --> 00:06:40.817 At first, the front end is longer. 00:06:41.776 --> 00:06:53.579 Then, you wrap around using a thin canvas because there won't be rope marks. 00:06:53.579 --> 00:07:01.421 He’d make these wood clippers, it looked like it had antlers once it would be tied on the snowshoes. 00:07:01.421 --> 00:07:11.305 Eventually he would attach this like so and these over here would be on both sides over here. 00:07:13.391 --> 00:07:20.189 You thoroughly wrap it around here, then it would be bent. 00:07:23.025 --> 00:07:26.863 That’s how it was attached. 00:07:26.863 --> 00:07:37.707 For these, they are attached over here once the snowshoe is bent. 00:07:38.416 --> 00:07:48.509 To place the back cross bar, it was placed like this aligning along this curve over here. 00:07:48.509 --> 00:07:53.014 Not many people touch this part with their heels. 00:07:53.014 --> 00:07:57.310 If the cross bar is too short it won’t work 00:07:57.310 --> 00:08:01.898 and cause blistering and an injury to someone’s heels. 00:08:03.774 --> 00:08:12.658 It’s then decorated by using paint. 00:08:14.577 --> 00:08:20.833 The youth’s snowshoes weren’t decorated until they were around twenty years old. 00:08:20.833 --> 00:08:25.963 Once they were twenty-five years old, then it was decorated. 00:08:26.589 --> 00:08:36.307 Elders said to me this this was done when they could travel long distances. 00:08:36.307 --> 00:08:47.693 They drew this design and painted it in red. 00:08:47.693 --> 00:08:57.119 I was always told, “don’t touch the snowshoes that are painted.” 00:08:58.120 --> 00:09:05.586 When I was about sixteen or seventeen years old, I would be told, “don’t wear those,” 00:09:05.586 --> 00:09:11.759 it wasn’t until I was told that I haven’t reached the age to wear them yet. 00:09:12.802 --> 00:09:15.346 I learned how they viewed things. 00:09:15.346 --> 00:09:20.351 Some of the youth respected that and some secretly wore them. 00:09:21.185 --> 00:09:26.774 I use these large snowshoes for myself to copy. 00:09:26.774 --> 00:09:31.320 You see how large they are? 00:09:33.197 --> 00:09:41.539 I have larger ones back at my place but I didn’t bring them. 00:09:42.248 --> 00:09:50.047 The snowshoes were made by a man from another community, 00:09:50.631 --> 00:09:58.264 he showed me how to make them and he would use his woodstove 00:09:59.015 --> 00:10:04.812 to really warm up his cabin and boil water in a pot. 00:10:04.812 --> 00:10:13.904 He covered it using a material like this, like a white blanket. 00:10:13.904 --> 00:10:22.705 He soaked it where he wanted to bend it. 00:10:23.247 --> 00:10:32.340 When he finished bending it, he didn’t bend it all the way, but bent it going up. 00:10:32.340 --> 00:10:35.051 That's how he would do it. 00:10:35.051 --> 00:10:42.141 When he’d go hunting, he’d ask his wife to leave them outside. 00:10:42.141 --> 00:10:48.314 Once he'd come back, he'd do the bending again. That’s what they did. 00:10:48.314 --> 00:10:54.862 Nowadays, when people are done making their snowshoes, they use them right away. 00:10:54.862 --> 00:11:00.576 What's happening right now is that people make things in a rush. 00:11:00.576 --> 00:11:10.378 I would always see him tie it up and untie it to look like this, 00:11:10.378 --> 00:11:19.720 and it was good, including the sides over here. 00:11:20.388 --> 00:11:24.809 While he was carving, he didn’t want me to leave until he was finished. 00:11:24.809 --> 00:11:32.233 Once he did, then he’d say, “now you can go,” 00:11:32.233 --> 00:11:34.360 it wasn’t until he hung it up that I’d stand up. 00:11:34.360 --> 00:11:39.323 A long time ago that’s how kids were taught, they would sit and watch, 00:11:39.323 --> 00:11:42.076 the kid didn’t make it. 00:11:42.076 --> 00:11:49.959 He’d always say to me, “by watching what I do, you’ll be able to do it too.” 00:11:49.959 --> 00:11:57.383 Once I started carving, many times he’d throw my work away, but I still kept trying. 00:11:57.383 --> 00:12:02.805 I wasn’t insulted nor ever looked at it like that 00:12:02.805 --> 00:12:08.060 because I listened and understood that it didn’t look right. 00:12:08.477 --> 00:12:12.231 He did the same thing when he’d ask me to make paddles, 00:12:12.815 --> 00:12:20.865 he’d say to me “you’ve reached the age where you can make your own paddle”. 00:12:20.865 --> 00:12:27.621 I’d carve my paddle, hand it to him and he’d toss it in the bush and say, “get another one.” 00:12:27.621 --> 00:12:34.295 He’d then laugh, but I never saw it as an insult, 00:12:35.921 --> 00:12:46.640 because I understood why he told me to get another paddle, because it didn’t look right. 00:12:46.640 --> 00:12:49.560 He did the same thing when I made these. 00:12:49.560 --> 00:12:52.897 I became better at making them. 00:12:52.897 --> 00:12:57.693 Once he became sick, he told me, 00:12:57.693 --> 00:13:05.367 “bring in a paddle that you’ve made, I heard you’re now selling things that you’ve made.” 00:13:05.367 --> 00:13:10.706 I went home then brought them over to him and he told me, 00:13:10.706 --> 00:13:16.712 “you’re now very good with your carving.” 00:13:17.797 --> 00:13:21.967 Then I told him, “now you can toss them in the bush,” 00:13:21.967 --> 00:13:26.847 and he’d always move his hands like this whenever he laughed. 00:13:28.140 --> 00:13:35.105 These are two types of snowshoes. 00:13:36.065 --> 00:13:44.907 These are bigger in the front. 00:13:44.907 --> 00:13:56.293 But these are not because they are for long-distance travel. 00:13:56.293 --> 00:14:04.844 I can’t remember which ones were used for running. 00:14:04.844 --> 00:14:10.266 I think it’s this one over here, 00:14:10.266 --> 00:14:18.190 the elder said that the smaller ones were used for running 00:14:18.190 --> 00:14:22.778 because you’d press downwards on the snow. 00:14:22.778 --> 00:14:26.782 He said that, “a snowshoe like this one 00:14:26.782 --> 00:14:31.120 will press down because it’s 2 inches less at the front and 2 inches more at the back.” 00:14:31.120 --> 00:14:34.331 This is how they measured it. 00:14:34.331 --> 00:14:42.047 For this one over here, it’s 2 inches more at the front of the snowshoe. 00:14:43.382 --> 00:14:46.802 They figured this out when they were walking with them 00:14:46.802 --> 00:14:51.849 and these snowshoes over here didn’t really go down the snow. 00:14:52.516 --> 00:14:57.813 There were different snowshoe frames, people made them differently. 00:14:58.022 --> 00:15:04.570 I fixed this one because I want to keep it so I can copy it. 00:15:04.570 --> 00:15:14.204 I made this one while my late dad was still alive, so I showed it to him. 00:15:15.331 --> 00:15:18.834 He told me, “you’re now smartening up.” 00:15:18.834 --> 00:15:25.341 I told him I fixed this one because I want to use it to copy when I’m making snowshoes. 00:15:25.341 --> 00:15:28.636 He told me it was good. 00:15:28.844 --> 00:15:33.515 I used the lightest metal over on this part. 00:15:35.309 --> 00:15:44.401 The elders also talked about the nail that’s on the snowshoe. 00:15:47.321 --> 00:15:54.578 This one has a piece of wood and they said it works much better. 00:15:55.245 --> 00:16:00.542 The elders said that something happens to the ones that have a nail on them 00:16:00.542 --> 00:16:04.296 and maybe it moves too much. 00:16:05.881 --> 00:16:13.180 I wanted to make this one, but never did. 00:16:14.556 --> 00:16:19.645 The elders called this one the big forehead-snowshoe. 00:16:19.645 --> 00:16:24.733 It looks like this, but it could be shorter on this side. 00:16:24.733 --> 00:16:31.365 They are called big forehead-snowshoes and they look like a round-snowshoe. 00:16:32.366 --> 00:16:36.912 I roughly drew a line as you can see. 00:16:36.912 --> 00:16:42.084 I’ll start by cutting from the bottom of the snowshoe and continue cutting 00:16:43.544 --> 00:16:46.505 until I have two of them. 00:16:46.505 --> 00:16:54.805 I’ll make a cross bar which will be attached somewhere around over here. 00:16:54.805 --> 00:17:04.314 It’s going to look like this and the bottom cross bar will be attached around here. 00:17:04.314 --> 00:17:11.196 These cross bars will be smaller and I’ll try and finish them once the ducks arrive. 00:17:12.781 --> 00:17:22.374 This one is called the beavertail-snowshoe and a long time ago, elders preferred using these. 00:17:24.126 --> 00:17:29.256 These were bigger and were used when travelling long distances. 00:17:29.256 --> 00:17:35.721 I would hear them talk about them once the snow hardened in place. 00:17:36.555 --> 00:17:39.558 The late elder George Brien would say, 00:17:39.558 --> 00:17:44.229 “now would be the time to wear beavertail-snowshoes.” 00:17:44.813 --> 00:17:50.736 Many times they talked about how good this snowshoe was to travel long distances. 00:17:51.737 --> 00:17:55.240 This awl tool belonged to my late grandfather, his name was George Jolly. 00:17:55.240 --> 00:17:59.995 When he was still around, I’d ask him if I could have this and he’d respond, 00:17:59.995 --> 00:18:03.499 “don’t touch it, you can have it once I stop breathing.” 00:18:03.499 --> 00:18:05.250 And here, I have it. 00:18:05.667 --> 00:18:14.259 It’s use is to carve holes on snowshoe frames, like over here. 00:18:17.054 --> 00:18:24.937 It’s used to make a hole over here on the snowshoe frame so that the cross bar can be placed like so. 00:18:26.271 --> 00:18:31.652 It’s the same length as this awl. 00:18:31.985 --> 00:18:37.866 He would say to me, “don’t cut any further using the awl.” 00:18:38.242 --> 00:18:43.122 This is an awl, it's important and dangerously sharp. 00:18:43.122 --> 00:18:51.630 The blade is short because it’s to prevent deep cuts, it can only go so deep. 00:18:51.630 --> 00:18:59.388 If it was longer, if it slipped to the leg, it would be a deeper cut. 00:18:59.388 --> 00:19:03.684 I recall elders having different types of them, but most of them had short blades. 00:19:03.684 --> 00:19:12.484 These days you can make a hole in a poking motion whereas before you’d have to twist it. 00:19:12.484 --> 00:19:22.119 Now it looks like a nail and we use it to poke on the snowshoe frame. 00:19:22.119 --> 00:19:26.456 This tool would be used throughout the day. 00:19:26.456 --> 00:19:33.338 Due to the hard work, men had blisters on their hands. 00:19:33.338 --> 00:19:39.553 These days people use power tools to make things, to save time. 00:19:40.470 --> 00:19:51.273 Because they’re busy with their jobs, people don’t have time to make things anymore. 00:19:51.899 --> 00:20:00.365 Right now we depend on having these items which we use. 00:20:01.617 --> 00:20:08.415 People are preoccupied with their jobs. 00:20:08.415 --> 00:20:18.675 Back then the elders didn’t have cars or fast boats, they had 2 horsepower motors. 00:20:19.051 --> 00:20:28.268 Nowadays peoples’ boats can almost fly because they have powerful motors. 00:20:29.561 --> 00:20:32.231 My late grandfather had a 2 horsepower motor 00:20:32.231 --> 00:20:37.903 and the fastest he had was a 5.5 horsepower and he was happy about it. 00:20:38.528 --> 00:20:43.325 When people use thicker moosehide snowshoe straps, 00:20:43.325 --> 00:20:49.539 it won’t hurt them when they travel long distances. 00:20:50.290 --> 00:20:58.048 Other elders would tie the moosehide strap along the crossbar 00:20:58.048 --> 00:21:04.429 then along the inner sides of the snowshoe frame 00:21:04.429 --> 00:21:07.099 and they called this, "white man's binding." 00:21:07.099 --> 00:21:13.647 The elders said, strapping the feet like this wouldn’t be tiring for the feet. 00:21:13.647 --> 00:21:16.733 But if the feet are strapped like this, 00:21:17.776 --> 00:21:21.780 it would be tiring if they travelled long distances. They would have to loosen it a bit. 00:21:21.780 --> 00:21:25.867 If they wore their snowshoes this way, 00:21:25.867 --> 00:21:34.960 they would attach small sticks this size on both sides around the mukluk straps, 00:21:34.960 --> 00:21:37.963 they did it because the rope wouldn’t loosen. 00:21:38.422 --> 00:21:40.507 They didn’t tighten these. 00:21:41.341 --> 00:21:52.269 One elder told me that if you wear them tightly, you won’t feel that you're cutting off blood circulation. 00:21:52.728 --> 00:22:04.072 Whenever going out hunting, he’d decorate the snowshoe because he wanted to have a kill. 00:22:04.781 --> 00:22:12.289 Someone would decorate their snowshoes by spacing the crossbar with a stick, 00:22:12.289 --> 00:22:23.884 they’d space it by poking between the string hide like this and over here too. 00:22:25.844 --> 00:22:32.893 They always decorated it using red paint so it was always visible when they’d go hunting. 00:22:37.564 --> 00:22:48.241 These snowshoes are for hunting, setting up traps and snares. 00:22:49.368 --> 00:22:56.208 I didn’t bring the ones used for moose hunting and travelling long distances. 00:22:56.208 --> 00:23:02.631 They are large so they won’t go under the snow. Now he could go moose hunting. 00:23:02.631 --> 00:23:12.974 When I wasn’t heavy I went moose hunting with these ones. 00:23:13.183 --> 00:23:22.442 Once winter ended the snowshoes would be stored, they wouldn't be just placed anywhere. 00:23:23.276 --> 00:23:35.205 Other people wrapped it using a canvas like that, they would wrap it up using a coat like material. 00:23:35.580 --> 00:23:39.292 No one should wear snowshoes while they’re chopping wood. 00:23:40.710 --> 00:23:44.965 You could cut the snowshoes accidentally after dropping the axe on them. 00:23:44.965 --> 00:23:47.551 The elders didn’t like seeing that. 00:23:47.551 --> 00:23:51.888 You could also scrape the sides of the snowshoe. 00:23:51.888 --> 00:24:01.606 I would be told, “don’t scrape your snowshoes, they could break, even when you're far away.” 00:24:01.982 --> 00:24:04.734 This is called the carpenter's plane, 00:24:05.444 --> 00:24:11.032 it’s used for a lot of things and you use it like this. 00:24:20.709 --> 00:24:23.670 It's used for this. 00:24:28.633 --> 00:24:34.806 Back then they didn’t have anything to place their carvings, so they carved it by holding it. 00:24:39.144 --> 00:24:50.113 They would hold it in place by using a log so they could do it this way. 00:24:50.113 --> 00:25:01.291 When someone is about to finish their carving, they file it, they sand it, 00:25:02.709 --> 00:25:06.046 then carve a hole to set in the cross bar. 00:25:06.046 --> 00:25:09.758 This cross bar could be worked on more. 00:25:09.758 --> 00:25:17.641 The tools that were often used by the elders aren’t used anymore 00:25:17.641 --> 00:25:21.102 because nowadays everything is electronic. 00:25:26.107 --> 00:25:31.780 When carving, you don’t carve only in one area, 00:25:31.780 --> 00:25:35.784 you need to stop and see which area needs to be carved. 00:25:35.784 --> 00:25:39.871 If you don’t do that, some parts of the carving won't be good. 00:25:41.164 --> 00:25:45.126 You can stand more on this side. 00:25:49.965 --> 00:25:52.968 You’re going to get too warm from wearing your coat. 00:25:55.095 --> 00:25:57.347 Watch out, this can cut you. 00:26:00.433 --> 00:26:06.523 It won’t matter if you start on this side then continue on the other side. 00:26:06.523 --> 00:26:10.694 - Am I going to make it that way? - Yes, you make it that way. 00:26:14.739 --> 00:26:18.994 When you're shaving the piece, you can hold it like this. 00:26:26.459 --> 00:26:28.670 Then after I shave it over here? 00:26:28.670 --> 00:26:31.423 Yes. Then you start shaving on this side. 00:26:31.965 --> 00:26:37.220 If you finish carving this side, you flip it and continue on this side and this side too. 00:26:37.220 --> 00:26:40.348 Once you're finished you flip it again. 00:26:48.315 --> 00:26:51.318 I can’t really carve it too much. 00:27:06.625 --> 00:27:10.962 That's how it’s done, I’ll have to save it for later. 00:27:13.381 --> 00:27:22.015 It’s really important to sharpen the crooked knife because it needs to be good when you're carving. 00:27:22.015 --> 00:27:29.439 If a crooked knife isn’t sharp, the result won’t be as good, it’ll be uneven. 00:27:29.439 --> 00:27:39.074 It has to be sharp so it functions properly. 00:27:44.996 --> 00:27:51.920 My late grandfather made smaller ones like these and I'd say to him, 00:27:51.920 --> 00:27:56.591 “grandpa, how come you’re keeping those for safekeeping? Why don’t you give them to me?” 00:27:56.591 --> 00:27:59.094 He shook his head and said, 00:27:59.094 --> 00:28:11.356 “you can’t go fast with carving. You do it like this and don’t need to carve it roughly. 00:28:11.356 --> 00:28:16.111 If you do so, there won’t be anything left for you to carve.” It was true. 00:28:17.570 --> 00:28:21.700 This is a women’s job. 00:28:22.283 --> 00:28:29.416 Back then, not many men weaved their snowshoes because it would be women who’d do it. 00:28:29.416 --> 00:28:31.668 The men would do the carving. 00:28:33.002 --> 00:28:37.882 If a woman was with her daughter while the men were out hunting, 00:28:37.882 --> 00:28:42.220 she would teach her daughter to do it, who would eventually do a good job. 00:28:42.220 --> 00:28:51.896 I’ve seen it happen where the daughter would take over her mother's work. 00:28:52.772 --> 00:29:02.282 Today though, it’s harder to teach younger people because they have other things to learn and work on. 00:29:02.282 --> 00:29:09.873 Because of that they don’t learn how to do this. 00:29:09.873 --> 00:29:16.755 Sometimes the only time to learn this is during weekends, so they’re losing the skills. 00:29:16.755 --> 00:29:26.014 However, once a girl, or three or four girls learn how to do the work, 00:29:26.014 --> 00:29:31.352 then they’re able to keep the skills when working on snowshoes. 00:29:33.354 --> 00:29:41.821 The youth are capable of doing this and pass the skills to their peers, it’s how I view it. 00:29:41.821 --> 00:29:47.619 Younger people are able to learn what was made in the past by the men. 00:29:47.619 --> 00:29:52.832 If a young person learns the skills, he's happier. If you know how to do this, it helps you in many ways. 00:29:52.832 --> 00:29:55.752 They’ll be busy working on this. 00:29:55.752 --> 00:30:00.548 Once they find this to be important, they won’t mess around with other things. 00:30:00.548 --> 00:30:08.556 I went through it while growing up and it’s been over 34 years that I’ve quit drinking alcohol. 00:30:08.556 --> 00:30:12.769 This is what I picked up doing and it really helped me. 00:30:14.229 --> 00:30:20.068 I remember the elders that passed away, they’d do their carving throughout the summer. 00:30:20.068 --> 00:30:27.033 They made for themselves what they’d use for winter and be prepared once they left for the bush. 00:30:27.033 --> 00:30:31.454 They made everything, like snow shovels 00:30:31.454 --> 00:30:36.334 and also these clippings for them to use once they make their snowshoes. 00:30:36.334 --> 00:30:43.758 These clippings take a long time to make 00:30:44.300 --> 00:30:47.345 and they're important. 00:30:48.513 --> 00:30:51.850 My late dad would tell me, “if you don’t attach the clipping correctly, 00:30:51.850 --> 00:30:57.689 the snowshoe will not be good.” Which was true. 00:30:58.982 --> 00:31:05.655 Before making caribou string, you’ll need to have a weaving needle 00:31:05.655 --> 00:31:14.414 which is this big and has a hole in the middle. 00:31:14.414 --> 00:31:20.169 You’ll need moose string too, everything is made by hand. 00:31:20.628 --> 00:31:28.595 For some people, it takes them a long time and their hands get tired from making these things. 00:31:28.595 --> 00:31:35.727 Back then people didn’t have a lot of tools to work with. 00:31:36.978 --> 00:31:44.277 One time my late dad forgot his crooked knife, so he made one from a trap. 00:31:44.277 --> 00:31:48.489 I think my mom still has the crooked knife he made. 00:31:48.489 --> 00:31:56.289 The crooked knife he made from a trap looked exactly like any other crooked knife. 00:31:56.289 --> 00:31:59.959 Back then they made things for themselves and used them. 00:32:00.668 --> 00:32:06.507 Whenever doing this work, you're never bored. 00:32:06.507 --> 00:32:15.308 Back then, my late grandfather prepared and made himself the equipment he’d use for hunting. 00:32:16.184 --> 00:32:23.816 It’s a lot of work, the days go by really fast whenever doing this and you don’t get bored. 00:32:23.816 --> 00:32:30.156 Next time I make something, it’ll be better and that’s what a person feels as he improves. 00:32:30.156 --> 00:32:35.912 They always think, even if it’s good, the next one might be better. 00:32:35.912 --> 00:32:39.165 Eventually someone will reach a certain age 00:32:39.165 --> 00:32:43.503 where their skill level goes back to the first time they learned it. 00:32:43.503 --> 00:32:48.549 This is what the elders told me.