Compelling interviews with Alaska Native elders, wildlife biologists, local fur buyers, skin sewers and trappers convey the complex values held by individual Alaskans regarding Alaska's fur heritage and its importance today. Every trapper wants to get the most value for their furs. This video will help you, whether you're just starting out or are a trapline veteran. Even if you've trapped for years, you may be interested in the Yupik Eskimo style of mouth skinning for marten and mink and an efficient, clean method for beaver skinning. Details of preparing large furbearers for the lucrative taxidermy market are also covered.
Trapping is rooted in the lives and traditional cultures of Alaska's people.
Trapping provides northern people with food, clothing and income. Using family traplines handed down across generations, village trappers support traditional ways of life that are close to the land. Alaska's Steller sea lions are in trouble. Once numbering over 200,000 animals, the population has plummeted in recent years, in some areas by as much as 80 percent. This program will take you on a field trip to sea lion rookeries in remote parts of the Gulf of Alaska and Aleutian Islands.