a phrase that seems fitting for the town of dillingham which sits on a remote inlet near bristol bay. for thousands of years, the area has been a hub for the yup'ik people. today, more than 50% of the roughly 2,000 residents are alaska natives. who continue to survive on subsistence traditions like fishing that have been passed down through the generations for food. home addresses are not a must here because everyone picks up their mail at the post office. and when school begins in the fall, finding alaska native students who have graduation rates that hover around 50% statewide can be a challenge. >> sometimes families go moose hunting in the fall right when school starts and families will take their kids and go to moose camp for a week so they'll miss a whole week of school. >> reporter: alaska native ina bouker has been a teacher in dillingham's schools for more than 30 years and she's well aware of the challenges and the legacy of mistrust that exists around education here. bouker was raised in the nearby village of manakotak at a time when american indians and alaska natives were

. >> moore and pretty much >> moore and pretty much everyone else in everyone else in dillingham, dillingham, consider pebble nothing more consider pebble nothing more than an than an compensatio compensatio existential existential threat. threat. >> moore was part of a tour the >> moore was part of a tour the company gave local business company gave local business people. people. >> i was neutral until they flew >> i was neutral until they flew me up and set me down and said me up and set me down and said the river doesn't flow here, it the river doesn't flow here, it comes out about two miles down. comes out about two miles down. i thought where the heck do you i thought where the heck do you think the water's coming from? think the water's coming from? it didn't take me long to say it didn't take me long to say you guys are out of your you guys are out of your minds. minds. >> the fishing industry has >> the fishing industry has spent nearly $1 million spent nearly $1 million lobbying lobbying for measure 4. for measure 4. no polling has been done on the no polling has been done on the me

. >> moore and pretty much everyone else in dillingham, consider pebble nothing more than an compensatio existential. >> moore was part of a tour the company gave local business people. >> i was neutral until they flew me up and set me down and said the river doesn't flow here, it comes out about two miles down. i thought where the heck do you think the water's coming from? it didn't take me long to say you guys are out of your minds. >> the fishing industry has spent nearly $1 million lobbying for measure 4. no polling has been done on the measure and whether it will pass tuesday is anyone' anyone's gue. with the ballot measure up for grabs, native alaskan groups in bristol bay are hoping the epa will put a stop to the mine. each summer the salmon return to bristol bay. each summer native alaskans come to catch them. >> pull it to get your slack. >> this subsistence fishing will help sustain kim williams and her family through long alaskan winter. >> why is the pebble mine a bad idea in your view? >> every mine that we've looked at where they've had a miner where they've said that no to