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Every year,
an ancient journey is repeated

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A migration that crosses the entire
continent of north America

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from the high Arctic
to the subtropics

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Snow geese on their long flights
have seen dramatic changes
in the land below them

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changes reflected in
the way different people
view the natural world

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Once this passage was witnessed
by native Americans of
many distinct cultures

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For all of whom these sights
held a spiritual significance

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This is the story of a journey
that holds many different meanings

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Behold

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A sacred voice is calling you

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All over the sky,
a sacred voice is calling

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00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:01,750
Each spring, in response
to warming temperatures,

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the flocks rise from their winter homes

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From California to the Carolinas

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snow geese have begun
their 3,000 mile journey
to their Arctic nesting grounds

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Timing is critical

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If they arrive in the Arctic too soon,

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the land will still
be held in winter's grip

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there will be no food

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Too late, and winter will descend again

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before they can rear their family

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They fly in skeins, high and
fast along traditional routes

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Goose and gander
stay together for life

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and on the long journey north,
the gander leads the way

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They arrive on the last breath of winter

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For native Americans
across the whole continent,

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these great cycles
of nature are fundamental
to their view of the world

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The turning of the seasons,
the return of the birds

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for the Indian the way
to see life is a circle

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The power of the world
always works in circle

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The wind in its greatest power whirls

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Birds make their nests in circles

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where theirs is the same
religion as ours

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The life of a man is a circle
from childhood to childhood

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and so it is in everything
where power moves

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With extraordinary accuracy,
pairs return to their nesting sites

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Now the goose takes the lead,
leaving the gander to stand guard

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She was successful last year, so
she will try to find the same nest

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Among the dwarf willows,

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her nest will be safer
from predators and more
sheltered from the elements

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than those of her neighbors
on the open tundra

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Speed is vital

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Only a day or so after rebuilding
her nest, she begins to lay

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She'll need to incubate
her clutch for 3 weeks

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But Arctic weather
can change dramatically

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So why do these birds travel so far
to nest in such harsh conditions

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because here in summer
the sun never sets

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The Arctic receives as much
sunlight as the tropics

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but here it all comes at once

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and triggers an explosion
of plants and insects

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For these few brief months,
the Arctic fills with life

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But native Americans who
live here have a very different
understanding of the world

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If we did not treat
the birds well last year

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then this year they will not return

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And there will be no summer

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Winter will return
straight back to winter

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So we have respect
for all the animals

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The birds bring
the midnight sun with them

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to the land of the Koyukon,
Cree and Inuit

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Life here depends on
the continuing cycles of nature

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So respect for all creatures underlies
the native American view of life

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The birds are also welcomed back
because they could be hunted for food

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But so long as the birds are
respected both in life and in death

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they will continue to give
themselves up to the hunters

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and the cycle of the seasons
will continue

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The changing patterns
in this wild landscape

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are strongly linked
to the spirit world

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a world where there is no difference
between humans, animals,

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plants and the earth itself

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They all share the same spiritual power

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We do not chart and measure
the vast field of nature

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or express her wonders
in the terms of science

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On the contrary,
we see miracles on every hand

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the miracle of life in seed and egg,

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the miracle of death in a lightning
flash and in the swelling deep

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Life for these chicks is intertwined
with the rapid change of the seasons

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Six hours old and already
they must leave the nest

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The goose coaxes them
from the shelter of the willow

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They have only a matter of weeks
in which to grow and learn to fly

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And the best feeding grounds
are many miles away

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Under the watchful eye of the gander,

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they must make their way
to the grassy tundra by the coast

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All the chicks in the colony
have hatched at the same time

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Now the families gather together
at the feeding grounds

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the safety in numbers

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The chicks feed for 24 hours
a day in a race to beat winter

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At the same time their parents moult

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and replace worn flight feathers
for the long journey south

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For the moment both chicks
and adults are flighless

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All too soon the signs
of winter appear

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The pack ice creeps south again

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and a chill mist walls
at the Arctic will soon
be overwhelmed by bitter cold

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The chicks are just 6 weeks old

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As the adults take to the air,

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these chicks face the greatest
test of their lives

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Following their parents,
they make a brave if tentative start

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They must learn the traditional routes
and the dangers that lie along them

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First stage of the journey
will be a long one

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many hundreds of miles

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Beneath them, the land changes

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They've left the open tundra behind

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and are crossing the great
coniferous forests of Canada

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Farther south still,
and a new world awaits them

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The straight line
has replaced the circle

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00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:55,850
Growth and progress have replaced
the natural cycles of the wilderness

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The relationship between humans
and nature is very different here

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The birds are desperately hungry,

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They must find somewhere
to feed and rest

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Food covers the ground below them,

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but these crops are grown
to meet the needs of people

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and snow geese have no place
in these profit calculations

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The sight and sound of
white geese drifting onto a field
below is an irresistible drawn

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Those birds must to find
somewhere to feed

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Exhausted and hungry,

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the family will take
a share of the harvest

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The geese are feeding on
spilt grain and corn crops

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but they can also strip seeds from
the last of the crops to be harvested

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If they turn their attention to
a newly planted winter wheat or rye

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then they are certainly not welcome

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Bird scares detonating
every few minutes

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give the geese no chance
to feed or rest

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But there are places on their route
where they can land in safety

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places where the crops are planted
especially for the birds

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Their parents have used them before
and know exactly where they are

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Many of their traditional staging posts

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are now protected as national
wildlife refuges or nature reserves

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Network of sanctuaries,
islands in a sea of agriculture

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all along the narrow migration corridors

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But the geese can't remain for long
at these northern refuges

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winter isn't far behind them

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On the long hauls between refuges,
the geese fly high,

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up to 10,000 feet where the cold
thin air offers less resistance

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and cools hardworking muscles

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Their route south takes them
over the prairies

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Once when they were bonded only
by the circle of the horizon,

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these grasslands were black
with herds of buffalo

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The remaining prairies and
their few buffalo are now
hemmed in by the straight lines

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The Sioux nation once relied on
this land for all its needs,

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both material and spiritual

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But in the last century,

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a Sioux holy man Black Elk saw
that a change was coming

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He heard a voice calling from
a huge flock of white geese
flying from the north

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Be hold

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a sacred voice is calling you

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All over the sky,
a sacred voice is calling

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He was shown a vision of the future

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a time when the prairies
would yield to civilization

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and his people would abandon
the ways of their ancestors

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to walk the black road of disharmony

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In his vision, he met with
the spirit of the north

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who gave him a magical gift
and told him to use it

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to guide all people back to
the path of balance and harmony

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The gift was the cleansing power
of the north wind

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brought each year to
the land of the Sioux by
the great flocks of snow geese

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And to invoke this power
he was taught a song

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They are appearing, may you behold!

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They are appearing, may you behold!

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The white goose nation
is appearing, behold

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Black Elk died in the middle
of this century,

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thinking that he had failed
to use his power

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Seeing people increasingly
cocooned by civilization,

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Black Elk felt that everywhere
they were walking the black road

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Yet every year,
the snow geese still come

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and the power of the cleansing wind
can still touch modern lives

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As they move south,
they gather into ever larger flocks

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Having left their marshland roosts,

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a blizzard of snow geese
descends onto the fields

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to glean the remains of the harvest

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No longer a threat
to the farmer's profit,

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the flocks can be appreciated
just for their splendor

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Since the 1950s,
snow geese have changed their habits

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to take advantage of modern
high-yield agriculture

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They have largely abandoned
marshland feeding areas
in favor of these fields

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This rich source of food
increases winter survival

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and the population of snow geese
has been rising steadily
for several decades

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This increase in numbers
has been welcomed,

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even in a world
driven by profit and loss,

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snow geese can have financial value

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Many farmers actively encourage
the birds onto their fields

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by leaving spilt grain or by flooding
rice fields after the harvest

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to make them safer feeding grounds

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In America, hunting is big business

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Experienced birds know how to make
life difficult for the hunters,

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they break formation from skeins
into vertical columns

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But birds born this year are
easily fooled by crude imitations

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into thinking that other geese
have found food and safety

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They have no idea what lies in wait

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They've flown 3000 miles and
now close to their destination

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This is New Mexico,
in the American southwest

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00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:11,350
Once again,
they are entering a wilderness,

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a desert where the natural cycles
of life are still important
to the people who live here

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Scattered along the valley of
the Rio Grande are the villages
of the Pueblo Indians

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00:24:22,100 --> 00:24:27,050
They, like all native Americans
hold birds in high esteem

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00:24:28,700 --> 00:24:31,150
Birds with their power of flight

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are seen as messengers
between the world of spirits
and the world of man

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00:24:47,400 --> 00:24:54,450
All the different tribes of
Pueblo Indians celebrate the power
of birds in song and dance

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00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:22,450
For the Zuni, snow geese hold
a special place in their mythology

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00:25:22,500 --> 00:25:28,250
Their Pueblo owns its location to
the navigational skills of these birds

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00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:43,150
K-yak-lu is a Zuni spirit
who is the keeper of myth

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00:25:43,500 --> 00:25:48,950
It was he who found
the middle place, the centre
of the world that is now Zuni

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But at first, K-yak-lu was blind
and could not find his way

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00:25:54,400 --> 00:25:58,250
His lips became splayed
with continual calling

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and his voice grew shrill
and dry-sounding

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like the voices of far-flying geese

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As he cried, wandering blindly,

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00:26:08,700 --> 00:26:13,450
these waterbirds hearing,
flocked around him in great numbers

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00:26:13,500 --> 00:26:18,050
He was transformed into
a white goose and flew with them

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00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:23,550
They led him to whispering water
where he founded the Pueblo Zuni

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00:26:37,200 --> 00:26:39,950
These geese have reached
the end of their journey,

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And one more cycle has been completed

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This is Bosque del Apache,
winter home to 23,000 snow geese

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00:26:55,300 --> 00:26:58,350
In similar refuges
all across America,

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00:26:58,400 --> 00:27:02,850
the sky is filled with
wild voices from the Arctic

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00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:08,950
These are sights and sounds that
can't fail to stir emotions

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00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:14,550
and perhaps to let us glimpse
a very different view
of the natural world

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00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:20,550
The old Indian was wise

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00:27:20,600 --> 00:27:24,450
He knew that a man's heart away
from nature becomes hard

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00:27:24,500 --> 00:27:28,150
He knew that lack of respect
for growing living things

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00:27:28,200 --> 00:27:31,650
soon led to a lack of respect
for humans too

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00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:38,050
So he kept his youth close
to a softening influence

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00:27:41,100 --> 00:27:46,650
We name and classify these birds,
we count their populations,

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we can describe in mathematical symbols
the flow of air over their wings

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00:27:52,100 --> 00:27:57,050
Our understanding of these birds
and their journeys draws on science

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00:27:57,100 --> 00:28:02,850
The native people of North America
are aware of other dimensions
to these spectacles

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00:28:02,900 --> 00:28:08,950
Yet to anyone in their presence,
these dazzling flocks are awe-inspiring

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00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:12,250
symbols of the wild land
where they were born,

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00:28:12,300 --> 00:28:18,650
the white birds of winter
are vivid reminders of
the power of nature's cycles

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00:28:19,700 --> 00:29:03,250
Subtitles by Andrew and Hattie
www.mvgroup.org