WEBVTT

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(no sound)

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(gentle music)

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(dogs barking)

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- [Joe] That a girl,
it\'s all you baby,

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let\'s see something out
there today, baby, let\'s go!

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(mouth clicking)

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Get \'em, get \'em!

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Good girl!

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Oh there\'s my superstar,
there\'s my superstar!

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Let\'s go, girl, let\'s go, girl!

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We gonna shock the world,
we gonna shock the world!

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(whistling)

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Oh, Grandpa ain\'t
gonna believe that,

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he ain\'t gonna believe that.

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Let\'s go, baby, who\'s the
best team on the planet?

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Let\'s get \'em, let\'s get \'em!

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- [Announcer] Four, three, two,
one, go!

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(inspirational music)

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- [Announcer] Here it is,
George Attla!

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The world champion
musher coming in,

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he\'s in the incoming shoot,

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driving those dogs
home and what a sight.

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- From the time they say go,

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my mind is always on the dogs.

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I don\'t see nobody,
I don\'t hear nobody.

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All I think is just dogs.

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You have to be dedicated,

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you have to be out to win
whether you do it or not.

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Just go as fast as you can.

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- [Announcer] And here he
comes, ladies and gentlemen,

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we\'re going to have some real,
there\'s no two ways about it.

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- [Announcer] Now, the
only 10-time champion

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this race has ever had, George
Attla, the racing legend.

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- [George] It\'s my whole
life, dogs is my whole life.

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- [Joe] Let\'s go, let\'s
go, fellas, let\'s go.

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Second team tryin\' to beat us,

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second team tryin\' to beat us,

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they can\'t beat us, let\'s
go, baby, let\'s go, let\'s go!

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- [Kathy] Good boy!

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How\'d he do?

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- [Joe] He doesn\'t
get tired, this one.

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- [Kathy] Awesome.

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- [Joe] Good boy, Bob,
good boy, good boy.

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- Today\'s run, average
speed of 17 miles an hour.

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That\'s fine on a training
run, but in the race?

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For me, that would be too fast.

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If I was running them.

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\'Cause it\'s called a sprint
race but in reality, it isn\'t.

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25 miles is no sprint.

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- [Joe] Yeah it\'s a
marathon, for humans.

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- I think if you
have a good run,

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hopefully you\'ll
make the top five.

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That would be an accomplishment.

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That\'s what I think.

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I haven\'t done it for

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20-some odd years
I think, you know.

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So I may be just dreaming.

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(laughing)

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- Tough race, huh?

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- [George] Uh huh,
a really tough race.

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(inspirational music)

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- [Joe] You know, there
had been little talk,

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about how Grandpa George
was interested in seeing

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how these dogs could
do in the major races.

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It could be like one
of their last years,

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\'cause he was getting old.

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He calls me up, asks if I
wanted to stay in Huslia

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this winter and run dogs,
and spend time with him.

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So I couldn\'t say no to that.

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- Are you thinking about like
being on campus this semester

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and then being off
campus for a semester?

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- Actually this was kind of
just like a one year thing.

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All the elders are
starting to pass away now

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in my village, in Huslia.

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And Grandpa George is,
you know he\'s still here,

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so I thought I might as
well spend a year with him

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and learn from him, and then
we\'re gonna try to train

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for the world championship.

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- Okay.

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- So, it\'s like a once in
a lifetime opportunity.

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- Yeah, yeah.

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- And I wanted to also
stay in school,

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I didn\'t want to like
take a year off,

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so, that\'s where the
distance education came in.

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- The English degree here
is primarily literature,

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Shakespeare and American
literature, British literature,

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these two classes you could
do by distance education,

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but once you get
into these classes,

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you\'d have to be on campus.

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- [Joe] In the schools nowadays,

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they don\'t really
teach about our culture,

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instead, learning
about somewhere
thousands of miles away.

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Back in the village, we\'re
losing a lot of knowledge,

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and stories, our history.

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(intense music)

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- Years ago, in my time,

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everybody is listening to
the world championship.

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All these kids wanted
to be champions.

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- In those days, Natives
used to go in and race.

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Oh man, they went so fast.

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They were competitive.

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And I\'m not talking
about the Iditarod,

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this was sprint race,

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there was no such thing as
distance race in those days.

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- It\'s the whole Alaska!

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All over the village,
everybody have table radio,

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no matter how poor we are.

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- [Announcer] More dogs
coming in

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and more Rendezvous race
coverage in just a moment.

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- Everybody is listening to
find out who\'s going to win?

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Could it be one of us?

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Or, could it be them
white guys in city?

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- [Announcer] We\'re over 4th
Avenue now at the corner,

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Dr. Lombard crossing 5th Avenue.

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- Here in Huslia,

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there was a tremendous
amount of pride

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that went into a dog
team from the village.

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Of course we were
producing champions.

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- [Interviewer] Do you remember

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your first race that you did?

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Going to Anchorage and
doing the Fur Rendezvous?

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- [George] Yeah, but I
didn\'t have the money,

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and I didn\'t have the dogs.

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I really didn\'t have anything.

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- [Interviewer] At that
point you were a guy

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who hadn\'t won any races, right?

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- [George] Yeah, plus
I had one stiff leg.

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You know, from being sick
back when I was a kid.

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It was kind of a dream,
a secret dream.

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To go to Anchorage, we figured
it would cost 600 dollars.

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The village actually
furnished that, the people.

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They put this 600 dollars
together, to send me in.

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- George made it to Anchorage.

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All of a sudden here\'s somebody
we know that start to race.

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It was a real big deal for us.

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- You take off, you\'ve
got traffic, tunnels,

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people out handing out a
hotdog, or offering you a beer.

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Of course, we never
grabbed no beers,

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we were trying to
win the race, you know.

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And ladies and gentlemen,
we\'re going to have some,

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there\'s no two ways about it
as Tim Reddington pops out.

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- George wasn\'t racing
just his dog team,

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he was racing the
village dog team.

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Those dogs were so well trained.

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Trapping dogs, you know.

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They know what to do.

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- [Announcer] He\'s moving
very well.

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- I didn\'t worry about
how it was gonna come out

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before it happened.

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Even if I haven\'t
never raced before

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it was possible in my mind.

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- I was downtown.

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I remember some kind of a
sign at a bar that said,

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we don\'t serve Indians or dogs.

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You know, in other words, we\'re
equivalent to dogs to them,

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but things like that
kind of motivated George.

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It made him drive harder.

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- [Announcer] People
are waving and cheering,

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it\'s a great race, he\'s
overtaken on the right side.

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Gareth Wright has just rounded.

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- Going up this one hill by
a road, my dogs quit on me.

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That\'s how he
ended up passing me.

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- George was the cripple.

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He\'s the one that was
not supposed to make it.

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So, we never expected
him to win, you know?

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But he did.

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- [Announcer] See George Attla
and here comes the big hand,

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as he is over!

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The world champion, just
listen to this roar,

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for George Attla.

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- It was a dream run, created
by the dogs themselves.

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Beautiful performance, I mean,
unbelievable performance.

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- [Announcer] These are our top
five, George Attla, 3:10:53.

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- Dad said, \"George won!\"

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Mom said, \"No!\"

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\"But he won!\"

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\"He did?\"

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\"But he won!\"

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Well there was no end to it.

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The two of them, well
they didn\'t believe it.

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\"No, that poor crippled boy?

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\"He did it?

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\"He did it!\"

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- There was a big party,

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and of course everybody
that loaned dogs got paid.

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The whole Koyukuk River
was his backbone.

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That\'s just the way
it was in those days,

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you could still borrow dogs.

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I had a dog in there too,
I loaned him one dog.

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Oh man was I proud.

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The whole state was.

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(traditional music)

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(mouth clicking)

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- Okay, okay.

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One minute.

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Good boy, good boy.

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Let\'s go, Happy.

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Good girl, good girl.

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Get \'em, get \'em.

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Let\'s go home.

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Who\'s the best dogs?

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And you guys are
the second team,

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let\'s go baby, let\'s go baby!

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You can turn the
sound off if you want.

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- No, it\'s good to hear you.

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It\'s good for Grandpa

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to hear how you\'re
talking to them, Joe.

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- Good girls, who\'s the best
dogs, who\'s the best dogs?

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Broke their new course
record, new course record.

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You guys are the second team,
you guys are the second team?

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- The other day you
pushed them a little bit.

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Today they finished faster.

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- But I need to slow
down a little bit, huh?

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- Yeah, if you hold them back,

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the first four, five miles
just a little bit, you know,

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they\'ll run much
faster at the end.

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And that\'s the way the North
American should be run.

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You come home faster.

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(whistling)

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- [Joe] Good girl, Raven.

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(soft music)

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- One day, George
was eight years old.

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He was playing outdoors,

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he hit with his knee on
the corner of the house,

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that\'s a log house.

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Everybody thought he\'s just
like that for a little while

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and then he\'ll get better.

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We didn\'t know he had TB.

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- I would wake up in the morning

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and my leg would be drawn up.

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I couldn\'t straighten it out.

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My dad sent me to the hospital.

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The nurses were all white,

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I came from a home
that spoke just Indian.

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I couldn\'t understand anything.

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- They told him he got TB,

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which was a death sentence
back in those days.

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- They did surgery, fused
his leg and it got straight.

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But he was crippled.

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- I stayed in Sitka for
a long time, you know.

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So, you know, I was a little
over 17 when I, came home.

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- He was in the
hospital like 9 years.

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They landed on the river.

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The first thing I noticed
was the way he walked,

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his one leg was stiff.

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We all had to introduce
ourselves to him,

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because he\'s been gone so long.

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- They\'re on the Yukon River.

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George kind of look around and,

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he don\'t know
what they\'re doing.

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Because we talk Indian,

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and he didn\'t understand
the Indian language no more.

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Mom said he was pretty confused.

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He don\'t understand their ways,

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he don\'t - and they
don\'t understand him too.

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- I didn\'t know how to
trap, didn\'t have a trade,

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so I was caught
between the two cultures.

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- My brother Bob remembers
George being treated like,

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you\'re not going to
amount to anything.

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Bob said he, he
saw that, and he said,

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that\'s what I think George
is trying to overcome

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that he want to be somebody

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to be successful
as a Native person.

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(dogs barking)

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(wood chopping)

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(soft dramatic music)

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(mouth clicking)

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- [Joe] Go!

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(whistling)

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- Oh almost, see?

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- That a girl,
Jewels, that a girl!

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They automatically
just took off,

00:19:53.725 --> 00:19:57.362
I only told them to get up
once, that was at the end.

00:19:57.396 --> 00:19:58.363
- Oh yeah.

00:19:58.397 --> 00:20:00.966
- [Joe] Let\'s go, game
time, it\'s game time,

00:20:00.999 --> 00:20:02.668
let\'s go, let\'s go.

00:20:18.817 --> 00:20:20.319
- When you hit
that trail tomorrow

00:20:20.352 --> 00:20:21.653
and tell them to get going.

00:20:26.391 --> 00:20:27.993
Because you want
to know the limit,

00:20:28.927 --> 00:20:30.529
you know, the limit of the dog

00:20:32.698 --> 00:20:35.067
and the only way you\'re
going to learn that, Joe,

00:20:35.100 --> 00:20:37.869
is by pushing them
every now and then.

00:20:48.480 --> 00:20:52.484
- Oh I got you, I got
you girl, I got you.

00:20:52.517 --> 00:20:53.585
There you go.

00:20:56.355 --> 00:20:58.457
I\'m gonna fatten you up, Ruby,
I\'ma fatten you up, girl.

00:20:58.490 --> 00:20:59.490
Oh-wee.

00:21:14.439 --> 00:21:17.042
(engine revving)

00:21:25.450 --> 00:21:28.120
Training for the
world championship

00:21:28.153 --> 00:21:29.955
all your focus is on the dogs,

00:21:29.988 --> 00:21:31.990
and that\'s what
you want to focus on,

00:21:34.426 --> 00:21:37.129
but that\'s not always possible.

00:21:37.162 --> 00:21:39.431
- And as a community I think
we need to come together

00:21:39.464 --> 00:21:41.433
and stop bootleggers
and stop drugs

00:21:41.466 --> 00:21:43.835
from coming in
because it\'s hurting us,

00:21:43.869 --> 00:21:46.104
and we\'re seeing this firsthand.

00:21:46.138 --> 00:21:48.807
This is what we\'re
teaching our children,

00:21:48.840 --> 00:21:51.743
we\'re better than
that, you know.

00:21:54.112 --> 00:21:55.647
That\'s hurt.

00:21:55.681 --> 00:21:58.984
- [Joe] Our culture was
basically attacked

00:21:59.017 --> 00:22:00.952
when my grandparents were young.

00:22:03.922 --> 00:22:08.460
Fast-forward to now, I can\'t
speak my language fluently.

00:22:09.428 --> 00:22:12.764
- We have elders here, that
if you sit down with them,

00:22:12.798 --> 00:22:14.900
talk to them, one-on-one,

00:22:16.935 --> 00:22:19.671
they\'ll tell you what
happened a long time ago,

00:22:19.705 --> 00:22:22.040
what they used to go through.

00:22:24.543 --> 00:22:27.746
That we have to keep and
cherish our traditions.

00:22:47.866 --> 00:22:50.736
(dogs whimpering)

00:22:53.972 --> 00:22:55.574
- [Wilson] Floyd caught
a bear yesterday.

00:22:55.607 --> 00:22:56.508
- [Curtis] Huh?

00:22:56.541 --> 00:22:57.876
- [Wilson] Floyd caught
a bear yesterday.

00:22:57.909 --> 00:22:58.877
- [Curtis] Oh he did?

00:22:58.910 --> 00:23:01.146
- [Wilson] Yeah, or the
day before yesterday.

00:23:16.728 --> 00:23:18.964
- [Joe] You got four
dog teams now in Huslia?

00:23:18.997 --> 00:23:20.098
- [Wilson] Yup.

00:23:20.132 --> 00:23:21.933
- [Joe] Long time ago, everybody
used to have a dog team?

00:23:21.967 --> 00:23:24.736
- [Wilson] Oh yeah,
15-20 teams here.

00:23:26.938 --> 00:23:29.941
(adventurous music)

00:23:41.920 --> 00:23:45.924
- When I was a kid, all of
us in Huslia were raised

00:23:45.957 --> 00:23:48.593
with dogs around us.

00:23:50.829 --> 00:23:55.901
We used dog teams to get our
wood in, in the winter time,

00:23:55.934 --> 00:23:57.869
go out in the country and trap.

00:23:58.770 --> 00:24:02.107
They were necessary
to get through life.

00:24:10.248 --> 00:24:13.652
- George had to learn
to live with his leg.

00:24:14.953 --> 00:24:19.958
The dogs made it easier for
him to go from place to place

00:24:21.593 --> 00:24:24.930
like they did everybody
else, but especially him.

00:24:26.965 --> 00:24:28.700
They were like his legs!

00:24:34.639 --> 00:24:38.176
- Dogs accept you as you are.

00:24:39.110 --> 00:24:40.278
They don\'t care
what you look like,

00:24:40.312 --> 00:24:44.149
they don\'t care what you sound
like, they\'ll accept you.

00:24:46.117 --> 00:24:49.988
(dogs whimpering and barking)

00:25:06.104 --> 00:25:09.841
- The biggest change is
when snow machines came out.

00:25:09.875 --> 00:25:13.011
It shot the dogs
right down, you know,

00:25:13.044 --> 00:25:14.713
there was no more need for them.

00:25:20.151 --> 00:25:23.154
- People decided it was
cheaper to have snow machines

00:25:23.188 --> 00:25:24.656
than to have a dog team.

00:25:26.324 --> 00:25:29.227
Not too many people
had dogs after that.

00:25:32.831 --> 00:25:35.000
- People were actually
giving up their dogs.

00:25:36.134 --> 00:25:40.872
So I had access to the
best dogs in the world,

00:25:40.906 --> 00:25:42.607
championship dogs.

00:25:47.679 --> 00:25:52.050
I learned everything
I can by listening,

00:25:52.083 --> 00:25:55.287
listening to the greatest
dog men out of Huslia,

00:25:55.320 --> 00:26:00.292
like Jimmy Huntington,
Bobby Vent, Cue Bifelt.

00:26:05.897 --> 00:26:08.934
I had a lot to learn, you know.

00:26:08.967 --> 00:26:12.637
So the way to run
dogs was handed down

00:26:12.671 --> 00:26:14.673
from one person to the next.

00:26:17.108 --> 00:26:19.978
That\'s how you learn how to
run dogs, from somebody else.

00:26:25.884 --> 00:26:28.753
(engines revving)

00:26:47.138 --> 00:26:49.274
(sipping)

00:26:57.749 --> 00:27:00.085
(soft music)

00:27:05.757 --> 00:27:08.293
(phone ringing)

00:27:11.262 --> 00:27:12.464
- [Kathy] Joe, we\'re
here in the hospital,

00:27:12.497 --> 00:27:17.836
and the doctors aren\'t sure
what\'s going on with Grandpa.

00:27:20.505 --> 00:27:22.340
But the transfusion went good.

00:27:26.411 --> 00:27:27.846
Grandpa wanted you to know.

00:27:27.879 --> 00:27:30.148
We\'re going to be back
in Huslia for the races.

00:27:31.516 --> 00:27:34.319
(dramatic music)

00:27:49.200 --> 00:27:53.004
- [Joe] This isn\'t Grandpa\'s
first health problem,

00:27:54.039 --> 00:27:56.441
but it kind of
caught me off guard.

00:28:04.783 --> 00:28:08.853
He\'s proven that he\'s a fighter,
he can get through this.

00:28:17.529 --> 00:28:20.331
(birds chirping)

00:28:23.234 --> 00:28:25.370
(wrench cranking)

00:28:25.403 --> 00:28:28.073
(upbeat music)

00:28:36.247 --> 00:28:38.450
(scraping)

00:28:41.152 --> 00:28:45.290
- [Announcer] 18 minutes
to race time, 18 minutes.

00:28:46.291 --> 00:28:48.827
- [Announcer] 10 minutes
to race time!

00:28:48.860 --> 00:28:51.563
- [Announcer] Copy that,
at the starting line.

00:28:51.596 --> 00:28:53.798
- [Announcer] Race time.

00:29:11.483 --> 00:29:14.085
- Get off the trail, please!

00:29:14.119 --> 00:29:16.888
- [Announcer] Five, four,
three, two, one, go!

00:29:16.921 --> 00:29:18.990
- [Joe] Let\'s go, get up!

00:29:26.431 --> 00:29:28.900
Atta girl, atta girl!

00:29:28.933 --> 00:29:29.601
(mouth clicking)

00:29:29.634 --> 00:29:32.103
(whistling)

00:29:35.440 --> 00:29:37.976
Atta girl, Jewels, atta girl!

00:29:42.313 --> 00:29:44.182
Two miles to go,
baby, this is nothing!

00:29:51.089 --> 00:29:52.257
- [Announcer] Horseshoe
hill, you got a copy?

00:29:52.290 --> 00:29:55.260
- [Announcer] Copy that, Joe
just passed the Grass Lake.

00:29:55.293 --> 00:29:58.029
Joe Bifelt just
went by seven mile.

00:29:58.062 --> 00:29:59.898
- [Announcer] Rocky
says Lois Vent just went

00:29:59.931 --> 00:30:01.533
past seven mile.

00:30:01.566 --> 00:30:04.102
- [Announcer] Copy that.

00:30:04.135 --> 00:30:05.970
(radio chattering)

00:30:17.382 --> 00:30:20.618
- [Announcer] Total time,
first place is Lois Vent,

00:30:20.652 --> 00:30:25.056
second place is
Joe Bifelt, third place...

00:30:25.089 --> 00:30:25.990
- Oh!

00:30:26.024 --> 00:30:28.927
- [Announcer] At 1:06:25,
Nicole Gregory.

00:30:31.229 --> 00:30:32.997
- [George] She got you!

00:30:33.031 --> 00:30:34.532
- [Joe] Five seconds.

00:30:34.566 --> 00:30:37.235
- [George] Five seconds,
yeah, I could kind of tell

00:30:37.268 --> 00:30:40.171
she was going to get you,
you were going too slow.

00:30:40.205 --> 00:30:41.406
- [Joe] Uh-huh.

00:30:45.543 --> 00:30:47.345
- 50 minutes.

00:30:47.378 --> 00:30:49.614
(laughing)

00:30:49.647 --> 00:30:53.484
Oh yeah that\'s pretty
slow, God damn.

00:30:53.518 --> 00:30:55.220
- [Joe] Yeah, I never
went that slow in months.

00:30:55.253 --> 00:30:56.621
- Yeah, uh huh.

00:30:56.654 --> 00:31:01.326
You have to race like
your life depends on it.

00:31:01.359 --> 00:31:03.595
Like you\'re hungry.

00:31:03.628 --> 00:31:07.498
At least that\'s the way I
used to think, you know.

00:31:07.532 --> 00:31:08.900
Every time you lose,

00:31:10.101 --> 00:31:14.105
you gotta figure out how could
I have improved, you know.

00:31:18.176 --> 00:31:21.412
In the North American, you have
to let that be in your mind.

00:31:26.150 --> 00:31:29.287
(fireworks exploding)

00:31:33.224 --> 00:31:35.960
(horns blowing)

00:31:37.562 --> 00:31:39.497
- [Man] Happy New Year!

00:31:43.601 --> 00:31:45.670
- [Woman] Happy New Year.

00:31:59.017 --> 00:32:01.152
- [Reporter] You have a
lot of people behind you,

00:32:01.185 --> 00:32:03.588
I\'m sure you\'d like to thank
some of those folks right now.

00:32:03.621 --> 00:32:04.522
Of course a top sponsor,

00:32:04.555 --> 00:32:07.525
the Atlantic Ritchfield
oil company for...

00:32:07.558 --> 00:32:11.329
- After I won my first
race, I thought that

00:32:11.362 --> 00:32:13.731
I had really accomplished
something, you know.

00:32:13.765 --> 00:32:14.866
- [Reporter] Some great
mushers in the villages

00:32:14.899 --> 00:32:17.068
gave him dogs, you were
running down some names for me.

00:32:17.101 --> 00:32:20.004
Alfred Attla, for one, are
you going to speak to Alfred?

00:32:20.038 --> 00:32:21.673
- But when I came home,

00:32:21.706 --> 00:32:24.575
there was an old guy that
talked to me and he said,

00:32:24.609 --> 00:32:29.480
in my mind, you haven\'t
proven anything to me.

00:32:29.514 --> 00:32:31.749
All those dogs that you ran,

00:32:32.617 --> 00:32:35.586
were all trained
by someone else.

00:32:38.723 --> 00:32:42.193
So I trained dogs for four years

00:32:42.226 --> 00:32:44.595
before I decided that
I wanted to go back

00:32:44.629 --> 00:32:46.064
to race in Anchorage.

00:32:54.739 --> 00:32:57.775
It\'s the work you do with
your dogs before the race

00:32:57.809 --> 00:32:59.477
that wins the race.

00:33:01.312 --> 00:33:06.317
Every winter I
trained dogs, until 1962...

00:33:09.420 --> 00:33:10.788
and I won again!

00:33:10.822 --> 00:33:14.325
- [Announcer] Go!

00:33:14.359 --> 00:33:17.562
(announcer chattering)

00:33:18.796 --> 00:33:21.799
- You have to make the
dogs believe in themselves

00:33:21.833 --> 00:33:25.103
that they\'re fantastic dogs.

00:33:25.136 --> 00:33:27.538
God we must be good, you know,

00:33:27.572 --> 00:33:30.375
the musher\'s happy
with us, you know.

00:33:31.376 --> 00:33:33.378
So they get to believing that.

00:33:33.411 --> 00:33:36.280
- [Announcer] George Attla
just coming up on 5th Avenue,

00:33:36.314 --> 00:33:37.482
just coming up on 5th.

00:33:37.515 --> 00:33:39.250
- He kept winning the race.

00:33:40.284 --> 00:33:41.753
When it\'s race time,

00:33:41.786 --> 00:33:44.622
people start pouring
in from the villages.

00:33:45.590 --> 00:33:47.291
- Native people all over Alaska

00:33:47.325 --> 00:33:49.293
would be cheering for one guy.

00:33:49.327 --> 00:33:51.496
That\'s our man, you know.

00:33:51.529 --> 00:33:52.363
(laughing)

00:33:52.397 --> 00:33:53.631
He was our man.

00:33:55.466 --> 00:33:58.636
I heard this guy, he said
those god damn Natives

00:33:58.669 --> 00:33:59.837
are taking over.

00:34:02.173 --> 00:34:05.309
And sure enough,
I guess we were.

00:34:05.343 --> 00:34:07.578
- [Announcer] And look
at the lead dog, Trot.

00:34:07.612 --> 00:34:11.416
- When I came home, the
same guy that told me

00:34:11.449 --> 00:34:12.750
you haven\'t proven
anything to me,

00:34:12.784 --> 00:34:16.187
he walked up to me and
shook my hand and said,

00:34:16.220 --> 00:34:19.157
by God you are a dogman!

00:34:19.190 --> 00:34:21.459
You know it took me
four years to earn that.

00:34:38.810 --> 00:34:41.546
(phone beeping)

00:34:44.949 --> 00:34:46.617
- [Automated Phone Voice]
Join your conference.

00:34:46.651 --> 00:34:47.452
- [Man On Phone] Good evening,
everyone.

00:34:47.485 --> 00:34:48.352
Let\'s see who\'s here.

00:34:48.386 --> 00:34:52.323
Trevor, Philip,
Miranda, Ashley, Eric

00:34:52.356 --> 00:34:53.491
- And Joe.

00:34:53.524 --> 00:34:54.892
- [Man On Phone] We
only have two

00:34:54.926 --> 00:34:56.494
that are giving speeches
tonight, but we will go,

00:34:56.527 --> 00:34:58.496
hopefully a couple
more will join us.

00:34:58.529 --> 00:35:01.532
Joseph, let\'s hear your
persuasive speech.

00:35:01.566 --> 00:35:03.734
- If a racer wants
to be a champion,

00:35:03.768 --> 00:35:06.871
they have to go into the race
believing that they\'ll win.

00:35:06.904 --> 00:35:11.909
Champion sprint sled dog musher
George Attla never gave up,

00:35:12.977 --> 00:35:14.779
even if his body
wasn\'t telling him so,

00:35:14.812 --> 00:35:16.681
his mind was there
to keep him going.

00:35:18.449 --> 00:35:21.252
Growing up,
basketball was my life.

00:35:21.285 --> 00:35:22.220
Good shot, Sarah

00:35:22.253 --> 00:35:26.357
Michael Jordan, Dwayne
Wade, Lebron James,

00:35:26.390 --> 00:35:30.461
I looked up to
them as my heroes.

00:35:30.495 --> 00:35:31.662
Let\'s go baby, get
on him, get on him.

00:35:31.696 --> 00:35:32.696
Watch over.

00:35:33.764 --> 00:35:36.934
When I was in eighth grade,
I seen a newspaper article.

00:35:36.968 --> 00:35:40.838
And it\'s like, this world
champion, George Attla.

00:35:40.872 --> 00:35:45.476
I remember like standing
there for like a half hour,

00:35:45.510 --> 00:35:49.413
wow, this is Grandpa George
that I\'ve known all my life.

00:35:49.447 --> 00:35:51.415
I knew he was a dog musher,

00:35:51.449 --> 00:35:53.618
but I didn\'t know he
was a world champion.

00:35:56.521 --> 00:35:58.990
In our culture we don\'t like
to brag about ourselves.

00:35:59.023 --> 00:36:01.959
We\'re not going to be bringing
up all our accomplishments.

00:36:04.662 --> 00:36:06.531
No one really talked about it.

00:36:12.036 --> 00:36:13.738
I didn\'t really have
too much experience

00:36:13.771 --> 00:36:17.275
with like champions that are
Native, like me basically.

00:36:17.308 --> 00:36:18.743
- [Man On Phone] Alright,

00:36:18.776 --> 00:36:19.977
that concludes our
speeches for tonight.

00:36:20.011 --> 00:36:21.712
- [Joe] That was the
first time that I felt

00:36:21.746 --> 00:36:24.882
that rich history of
where I come from.

00:36:28.319 --> 00:36:30.454
- [Interviewer] Dog mushing
has always been a sport

00:36:30.488 --> 00:36:32.456
considered uniquely Alaskan.

00:36:32.490 --> 00:36:34.525
We have with us George Attla,

00:36:34.559 --> 00:36:37.895
the 1975 winner of the North
American Championships.

00:36:37.929 --> 00:36:39.030
Welcome to the show, George.

00:36:39.063 --> 00:36:39.931
- [George] Thank you, Moe.

00:36:39.964 --> 00:36:41.198
- [Interviewer] I\'ve
gotten some word

00:36:41.232 --> 00:36:43.768
that you don\'t want to let out
your secrets to your success.

00:36:43.801 --> 00:36:47.505
Do you think you might let
out some of that secret

00:36:47.538 --> 00:36:49.006
for us here tonight?

00:36:49.040 --> 00:36:51.375
- You know from
the time they say go,

00:36:51.409 --> 00:36:53.911
I don\'t see nobody,
I don\'t hear nobody,

00:36:53.945 --> 00:36:56.414
all I think is just dogs.

00:36:56.447 --> 00:37:00.017
But you have to be dedicated,
you have to be out to win,

00:37:00.051 --> 00:37:01.452
whether you do it or not.

00:37:02.420 --> 00:37:04.922
Just go as fast as
you can, you know.

00:37:06.023 --> 00:37:08.960
- [Interviewer] What kind
of advice would you give

00:37:08.993 --> 00:37:13.431
to a potential dog musher,
one that\'s just starting out?

00:37:13.464 --> 00:37:15.900
- Actually, keep
out of it, I guess.

00:37:15.933 --> 00:37:17.735
(laughing)

00:37:17.768 --> 00:37:20.871
Actually it\'s really hard for
the village teams to compete.

00:37:20.905 --> 00:37:25.409
My son races and
one of my brothers races.

00:37:25.443 --> 00:37:26.777
Actually we\'re a racing family

00:37:26.811 --> 00:37:28.980
but we don\'t have enough
dogs to go around.

00:37:29.013 --> 00:37:33.918
The sport of dog racing is,
I think, is going to be,

00:37:33.951 --> 00:37:37.722
going to go the same
way the horse race went

00:37:37.755 --> 00:37:40.458
it\'s going to be a rich
man\'s sport, I think.

00:37:40.491 --> 00:37:43.461
(adventurous music)

00:37:46.731 --> 00:37:47.632
- [Interviewer] The
Alaska state sport

00:37:47.665 --> 00:37:49.367
has been on a decline recently,

00:37:49.400 --> 00:37:52.637
because of the high cost
of maintaining a team.

00:37:52.670 --> 00:37:54.705
The Huslia hustler,
George Attla,

00:37:54.739 --> 00:37:56.440
has recently been selling dogs

00:37:56.474 --> 00:37:58.909
mostly to other
mushers in the lower 48.

00:38:00.011 --> 00:38:03.047
- Money was so hard to
come by in them days,

00:38:03.080 --> 00:38:04.515
I didn\'t have much of a choice,

00:38:04.548 --> 00:38:06.684
I had a big family
that had to eat

00:38:06.717 --> 00:38:09.520
- [Interviewer] So um,
have you ever sold a dog

00:38:09.553 --> 00:38:10.755
that you were sorry you sold?

00:38:10.788 --> 00:38:12.923
- Yeah, there\'s only one dog
that I\'ve ever sold in my life

00:38:12.957 --> 00:38:15.593
that ever came back to beat
me, her name was Nelly,

00:38:15.626 --> 00:38:18.496
she was a once
in a lifetime leader.

00:38:19.463 --> 00:38:21.799
That dog beat me
for six, seven years.

00:38:21.832 --> 00:38:23.868
- [Announcer] Go up to
the chopper again, Jim.

00:38:23.901 --> 00:38:25.369
- [Announcer] Okay,
from the chopper,

00:38:25.403 --> 00:38:27.004
it\'s George Attla who is
falling back a little now.

00:38:27.038 --> 00:38:29.373
George Attla, I don\'t think
in any way now can pick up,

00:38:29.407 --> 00:38:31.709
he\'s just not going
to be able to do it.

00:38:31.742 --> 00:38:34.612
I\'ve never seen
anybody trying so hard.

00:38:34.645 --> 00:38:36.881
George is not going to be
able to make up enough time.

00:38:36.914 --> 00:38:38.983
- The expense of racing just
kept going up and up and up.

00:38:39.016 --> 00:38:42.053
The prize money certainly
doesn\'t cover everything.

00:38:42.086 --> 00:38:45.923
It just could not be done
without the sponsors.

00:38:45.956 --> 00:38:48.893
And the only way you\'re
going to get sponsors

00:38:48.926 --> 00:38:50.027
is by winning races.

00:38:56.967 --> 00:38:59.070
- George came in to see me.

00:38:59.103 --> 00:39:02.807
I said, well, George,
if we sponsor you,

00:39:02.840 --> 00:39:04.675
you\'re going to
have to wear our colors,

00:39:04.709 --> 00:39:06.477
\'cause that\'s the
way we get our benefit.

00:39:06.510 --> 00:39:10.481
We want the public to see
Tesoro and George Attla,

00:39:10.514 --> 00:39:11.749
we\'re together.

00:39:11.782 --> 00:39:12.817
One and the same.

00:39:14.118 --> 00:39:15.686
You\'re going to be selling us,

00:39:15.720 --> 00:39:17.455
and we\'re going
to be selling you.

00:39:19.724 --> 00:39:24.495
- These companies don\'t sponsor
a dog team that\'s a loser.

00:39:24.528 --> 00:39:28.199
I had to work at being a
winner all the time, you know.

00:39:28.232 --> 00:39:31.769
Whether it was talking to
the public or racing dogs,

00:39:31.802 --> 00:39:36.674
I presented myself as
a champion, you know,

00:39:36.707 --> 00:39:38.876
the champion dog musher.

00:39:38.909 --> 00:39:41.145
- George Attla at the World
Championship dog races.

00:39:41.178 --> 00:39:43.547
- [Announcer] The Fur
Rendezvous 77

00:39:43.581 --> 00:39:44.915
and the North American race.

00:39:44.949 --> 00:39:46.617
- After he won
the first race for us,

00:39:46.650 --> 00:39:49.186
we were toasting and a lot
of people were coming over

00:39:49.220 --> 00:39:50.855
asking for autographs.

00:39:50.888 --> 00:39:54.091
And I said, George,
you won it, you won.

00:39:54.125 --> 00:39:58.562
And he said, pal, we own the
city tonight, we own the city.

00:39:58.596 --> 00:40:03.501
I said, George, no, we own
the state, we own the state!

00:40:04.201 --> 00:40:07.071
- [Announcer] George
Attla, sponsored by Tesoro.

00:40:07.104 --> 00:40:09.907
(intense music)

00:40:14.712 --> 00:40:16.013
- [Joe] That\'s the guy you beat

00:40:16.046 --> 00:40:17.715
by two one
hundredths of a second?

00:40:17.748 --> 00:40:19.049
- [George] I think so.

00:40:20.985 --> 00:40:21.886
- [Joe] Who\'s that right there?

00:40:21.919 --> 00:40:24.522
- [George] Number one,
I think that\'s me.

00:40:24.555 --> 00:40:26.023
(laughing)

00:40:31.729 --> 00:40:33.531
- [Announcer] The Huslia
Hustler has finished

00:40:33.564 --> 00:40:35.599
another North American run.

00:40:35.633 --> 00:40:37.034
- [Interviewer] Downtown,
you like running downtown?

00:40:37.067 --> 00:40:38.135
- Yeah, that\'s
where the money is,

00:40:38.169 --> 00:40:39.937
so I like running downtown.

00:40:39.970 --> 00:40:41.672
- [Announcer] Congratulations,
continued success,

00:40:41.705 --> 00:40:42.873
and many more years, George.

00:40:42.907 --> 00:40:44.175
There you have it, George Attla

00:40:44.208 --> 00:40:45.009
- [Announcer]
Perennial favorite,

00:40:45.042 --> 00:40:47.278
many time champion,
George Attla.

00:40:47.311 --> 00:40:48.245
No one has won
it any more than him.

00:40:48.279 --> 00:40:50.281
- [Announcer] George, best of
luck to you

00:40:50.314 --> 00:40:51.515
in this new racing season.

00:40:51.549 --> 00:40:52.616
And congratulations to your
new sponsor, British Petroleum.

00:40:52.650 --> 00:40:55.553
- [Announcer] George has
won more world championships

00:40:55.586 --> 00:40:58.055
than any other musher today.

00:40:58.088 --> 00:41:01.759
- [Announcer] George Attla
is over!

00:41:01.792 --> 00:41:03.894
- Every weekend there
was a new dog race.

00:41:03.928 --> 00:41:06.897
In order to make it from
this place to the next place,

00:41:06.931 --> 00:41:08.032
we had to win.

00:41:09.567 --> 00:41:10.801
Our life was nonstop.

00:41:10.835 --> 00:41:13.804
- [Announcer] It\'s going to be
close for total elapsed time,

00:41:13.838 --> 00:41:17.141
but we still got a lot
more racers to come.

00:41:19.310 --> 00:41:24.515
- I remember my grandma sitting
back and kind of smiling.

00:41:26.016 --> 00:41:29.854
I could tell she was thinking
about what my dad was doing,

00:41:30.721 --> 00:41:31.789
and if it was good.

00:41:35.693 --> 00:41:39.263
- My mom told me,
don\'t win too much!

00:41:40.998 --> 00:41:44.068
In the Indian belief,
if you win too much,

00:41:44.101 --> 00:41:47.238
people will think bad
thoughts of you.

00:41:49.673 --> 00:41:52.576
But I wanted to prove to myself

00:41:52.610 --> 00:41:56.814
that I could win
more championships...

00:41:57.948 --> 00:42:00.885
than any man alive

00:42:00.918 --> 00:42:03.687
or any man that\'s
going to live after me.

00:42:11.195 --> 00:42:14.698
- In order for my
dad to be the best,

00:42:14.732 --> 00:42:18.969
he had to not think about
what they were thinking about

00:42:19.003 --> 00:42:22.873
in the village, or what anybody
else was thinking about him.

00:42:23.908 --> 00:42:28.579
Being in two different
worlds, you learn to adapt.

00:42:31.248 --> 00:42:35.819
- Lots of people think
he loved being famous.

00:42:36.754 --> 00:42:41.759
But he loved to win,
and he\'s gonna win,

00:42:41.792 --> 00:42:43.160
that\'s the way he looked at it.

00:42:43.193 --> 00:42:44.328
He\'s gonna win.

00:42:52.102 --> 00:42:54.305
- The more he became famous,

00:42:54.338 --> 00:42:57.775
the more it was a fight
for my dad\'s attention.

00:42:59.343 --> 00:43:01.812
My mom and dad
had a lot of challenges

00:43:01.845 --> 00:43:03.280
because of his career.

00:43:05.683 --> 00:43:10.054
There was always people
coming around, partying.

00:43:12.189 --> 00:43:15.059
It\'s hard work keeping
up with all of that.

00:43:18.896 --> 00:43:22.199
We all make mistakes
in our lives, my dad,

00:43:22.232 --> 00:43:24.868
one of his biggest
mistakes was drinking.

00:43:27.705 --> 00:43:32.076
It was tough for all of us
kids, tough for our family.

00:43:35.879 --> 00:43:38.682
(dramatic music)

00:44:17.888 --> 00:44:22.893
- In my life, after so many
years of racing and winning,

00:44:27.064 --> 00:44:31.468
I realized that it is a
sacrifice to the family.

00:44:36.206 --> 00:44:41.211
It may not seem like a
sacrifice to you, but it is.

00:44:45.215 --> 00:44:46.884
It\'s a hard lesson.

00:44:51.422 --> 00:44:54.024
(dog barking)

00:45:05.069 --> 00:45:09.039
- In his later years,
George told me, you know

00:45:09.073 --> 00:45:10.941
I have a second chance.

00:45:11.942 --> 00:45:16.313
I really enjoy parenting
these younger kids.

00:45:25.456 --> 00:45:28.926
- He got to spend
more time with Frank

00:45:28.959 --> 00:45:32.096
than he got to spend
with any of us because

00:45:32.129 --> 00:45:33.797
of his dog mushing career.

00:45:34.598 --> 00:45:38.902
He got to give a
different part of himself

00:45:38.936 --> 00:45:40.771
that we didn\'t get.

00:45:42.606 --> 00:45:44.842
He got to teach!

00:45:56.520 --> 00:46:01.291
My dad had big
hopes for my brother.

00:46:02.526 --> 00:46:06.463
Him being a dog musher, and
him carrying on the name.

00:46:11.935 --> 00:46:15.839
- I had a son, my late son,

00:46:16.573 --> 00:46:21.211
that was 20 years old and
he had an asthma attack.

00:46:33.323 --> 00:46:36.193
- I remember when I had to
tell Dad he passed away,

00:46:36.226 --> 00:46:38.295
that was the
hardest thing I ever did.

00:46:38.328 --> 00:46:39.963
I told him, hey Dad, hey Dad,

00:46:39.997 --> 00:46:41.465
I\'ve got to tell you something.

00:46:43.000 --> 00:46:45.235
He knew something was
wrong, he said tell me.

00:46:45.269 --> 00:46:47.437
And I said no Dad,
I need you to sit down.

00:46:48.372 --> 00:46:50.340
And he sat down
and I told him that

00:46:50.374 --> 00:46:53.143
brother Frank passed away.

00:46:55.412 --> 00:46:57.481
He broke down crying right
there.

00:47:03.387 --> 00:47:07.624
- After achieving what
he wanted to achieve,

00:47:07.658 --> 00:47:10.594
he all of a sudden lost the one

00:47:10.627 --> 00:47:15.933
he thought he was going to
train to take his place like,

00:47:15.966 --> 00:47:18.135
or something like that.

00:47:18.168 --> 00:47:19.970
I wouldn\'t know.

00:47:21.538 --> 00:47:25.242
But I know it devastated
him, that\'s for sure.

00:48:06.316 --> 00:48:08.085
- [Announcer] Hello Huslia,

00:48:08.118 --> 00:48:10.654
I just got a call
that George Attla

00:48:10.687 --> 00:48:14.291
was admitted to
the ICU in Anchorage.

00:48:14.324 --> 00:48:17.127
I\'m asking for prayers.

00:48:29.373 --> 00:48:32.476
- [Joe] Hi Grandma,
how are you doing?

00:48:32.509 --> 00:48:33.710
- I feel just bad.

00:48:36.146 --> 00:48:41.151
Everybody is going to Anchorage
to visit him last minute,

00:48:41.518 --> 00:48:44.187
but I don\'t even got
that much strength.

00:48:45.289 --> 00:48:49.993
I can\'t, and I
can\'t face it too.

00:48:50.027 --> 00:48:51.027
Yeah.

00:48:57.601 --> 00:48:59.136
Things is going pretty bad.

00:49:09.513 --> 00:49:12.316
(dramatic music)

00:49:49.286 --> 00:49:50.520
- Thanks.

00:49:50.554 --> 00:49:52.689
- Good luck, Joe.
- Thanks.

00:49:54.358 --> 00:49:55.292
- See you in Anchorage.

00:49:55.325 --> 00:49:58.328
(adventurous music)

00:50:25.722 --> 00:50:28.158
- [Kathy] There he is,
come on in, hi!

00:50:28.191 --> 00:50:31.094
Oh my god, oh
my god, you\'re here.

00:50:31.128 --> 00:50:33.296
Oh my gosh.

00:50:33.330 --> 00:50:34.297
- [Joe] Hi Grandpa.

00:50:34.331 --> 00:50:35.499
- [George] It\'s good to see you.

00:50:35.532 --> 00:50:37.367
- [Joe] Um-hm, you too.

00:50:37.401 --> 00:50:40.771
- [George] I rested up
the best I can for you.

00:50:42.372 --> 00:50:44.541
I\'m proud of you.

00:50:44.574 --> 00:50:49.546
Proud of you for wanting
to learn from Grandpa,

00:50:55.552 --> 00:50:56.720
and you are who you are.

00:51:00.323 --> 00:51:04.561
That\'s why I picked you.

00:51:04.594 --> 00:51:07.497
I know you need a
lot more answers.

00:51:11.234 --> 00:51:13.303
But Grandpa is gonna die.

00:51:17.474 --> 00:51:22.479
I didn\'t last as long
as I thought I would.

00:51:27.517 --> 00:51:29.786
(sad music)

00:52:13.830 --> 00:52:16.366
(chattering)

00:52:43.026 --> 00:52:47.564
- [Announcer] Six, five,
four, three, two, one, go!

00:52:51.968 --> 00:52:54.437
(cheering)

00:52:55.572 --> 00:52:56.573
- [Joe] Hoy!

00:52:57.841 --> 00:52:59.309
Let\'s go, Happy!

00:53:00.777 --> 00:53:01.878
- [Announcer] This is
a legacy right here,

00:53:01.912 --> 00:53:04.714
Joe Bifelt coming
in from Huslia.

00:53:04.748 --> 00:53:06.883
There\'s a lot of eyes watching
here Joe as he goes out.

00:53:06.917 --> 00:53:07.684
- [Announcer] This is
really cool

00:53:07.717 --> 00:53:09.419
to see George\'s
dogs on this team,

00:53:09.452 --> 00:53:11.354
they\'re all George\'s except
three from Floyd Vent.

00:53:11.388 --> 00:53:13.628
- [Interviewer] Do you kind
of feel like you were chosen?

00:53:16.860 --> 00:53:17.961
Before he passed,

00:53:17.994 --> 00:53:19.796
he was here kind of every
step of the way with you.

00:53:19.829 --> 00:53:22.899
What did you really take
away that was important?

00:53:23.833 --> 00:53:24.768
- I remember talking
to him on the phone

00:53:24.801 --> 00:53:26.002
when I was still in Huslia,

00:53:26.036 --> 00:53:29.973
he said he was thankful that
I\'m representing my community.

00:53:30.006 --> 00:53:32.876
And I guess that\'s
exactly what I\'m doing.

00:53:32.909 --> 00:53:35.378
- [Announcer] There\'s a
big group of Huslia here.

00:53:35.412 --> 00:53:36.546
- [Announcer] Yeah, absolutely,

00:53:36.580 --> 00:53:38.415
listen to the crowd
as he goes out.

00:53:43.520 --> 00:53:46.756
- [Joe] Come on, let\'s go home.

00:53:50.760 --> 00:53:53.563
(mouth clicking)

00:54:14.117 --> 00:54:15.117
Atta boy!

00:54:16.720 --> 00:54:19.422
Two miles to go, boy, let\'s
go home, let\'s go home!

00:54:19.456 --> 00:54:21.791
Let\'s get \'em
Happy, let\'s get \'em!

00:54:40.443 --> 00:54:45.448
Before the race,
I had this magical run,

00:54:45.882 --> 00:54:49.753
where I ran like
40 minutes and 16 seconds

00:54:49.786 --> 00:54:52.455
on the 12-mile Huslia track,

00:54:52.489 --> 00:54:54.391
and my grandpa
said that\'s the fastest

00:54:54.424 --> 00:54:56.493
that he\'s ever seen
someone run that track,

00:54:56.526 --> 00:54:57.694
all throughout the years.

00:54:57.727 --> 00:55:00.397
Him, all the
other great mushers,

00:55:08.071 --> 00:55:11.641
he said that was the
fastest time he\'s seen.

00:55:11.675 --> 00:55:15.545
After that, he said I think
you ran your race already.

00:55:23.753 --> 00:55:24.921
- [Announcer] He\'s on
his way in here,

00:55:24.954 --> 00:55:26.923
on the finishing shoot now.

00:55:26.956 --> 00:55:28.658
- [Joe] Come on,
Happy, let\'s go, boy,

00:55:28.692 --> 00:55:30.794
almost there, almost there, boy.

00:55:30.827 --> 00:55:32.162
Atta boy.

00:55:32.195 --> 00:55:34.698
Let\'s go home, let\'s go home.

00:55:49.045 --> 00:55:49.979
(laughing)

00:55:50.013 --> 00:55:50.947
- Olympian!

00:55:50.980 --> 00:55:54.084
Yeah, good for you!

00:55:54.117 --> 00:55:55.819
- [Man] You made it.

00:55:56.853 --> 00:55:57.854
- Thank you.

00:56:13.837 --> 00:56:16.172
(slow music)

00:56:27.717 --> 00:56:30.186
- [Woman] Welcome home, Joe!

00:56:30.220 --> 00:56:32.622
We\'re so proud of you, Joe!

00:56:34.557 --> 00:56:37.594
Good job, man,
we\'re so proud of you.

00:56:41.798 --> 00:56:43.967
- Why is it important
for us as teachers,

00:56:44.000 --> 00:56:47.137
working with young
children in the future,

00:56:47.170 --> 00:56:49.139
to think about
cognitive strategies.

00:56:59.749 --> 00:57:00.917
- Do you know how?

00:57:00.950 --> 00:57:02.150
Or do you want me to help you?

00:57:04.721 --> 00:57:06.890
Put his head through
this hole right there

00:57:06.923 --> 00:57:08.091
and then just pull it on.

00:57:09.192 --> 00:57:10.460
There you go.

00:57:15.265 --> 00:57:17.801
Gee, you\'re tough, Jonathan.

00:57:17.834 --> 00:57:19.235
Said you\'re tough.

00:57:41.224 --> 00:57:42.224
- Ready?

00:57:43.860 --> 00:57:45.995
On your mark, get set, go!

00:57:47.931 --> 00:57:49.299
Come on!

00:57:49.332 --> 00:57:52.068
(cheering)

00:57:52.101 --> 00:57:54.237
Come on, come on, come on!

00:57:56.072 --> 00:57:59.209
(inspirational music)

00:58:22.298 --> 00:58:24.968
(gentle music)

00:58:37.647 --> 00:58:40.116
(upbeat music)