North Star

Where is Hudson Saanteek?

You have to leave. You're not supposed to be here.

Not now.

- Please. - Oh.

Don't buy yourself trouble. I want the man that signed the claim.

Nobody has a claim. This is a sacred place.

Ask him again, Smiley.

- Jesus, mountain's solid gold. - So where is he?

Just leave us alone.

This is our grandfather. We're saying our goodbyes.

There. I'll ask you again.

Where is Hudson Saanteek?

- What are you doing here? Get out! - Hudson!

Don't let him get away.

- Where is he? - Up there.

Come on, this way.

Kill the son of a bitch.

Over there.

Yeehaw!

Got him.

- You got him, huh? - Yeah.

Let's get back to Nome. I'll buy youse all a nice warm hooker.

Easy.

Papa?

Son.

You've grown. - You're home.

- Morning, Miss Sarah. - Good morning.

I'll take her, Miss Sarah. Thank you.

- Mama. - What is it?

Bjorn.

It's so good to see you.

Hannah.

Can you believe it?

What is it?

This winter, you'll have a room of your own.

Close your eyes.

Can you feel how warm? It's gold.

Sold, the Kosoktok mine...

...to this lucky man...

...for $250.

Next up, the North Star Falls.

"Former owner, Hudson Saanteek, deceased."

The bidding will start at $200. Do I hear $200?

- Two hundred dollars. - Two hundred dollars, I have bid.

- Do I hear 225? - Two-twenty-five.

- Two-twenty-five, the man down front. - Two-fifty.

Three hundred.

- Three-twenty-five. - Three-twenty-five bid.

Do I hear $400?

I don't. No...

- Four hundred dollars. - Four-twenty-five.

Four-fifty.

I have bid 450, a man at the back.

- Going once... - One thousand.

One thousand dollars is the bid.

Going once.

Going twice.

Sold to Mr. Sean McLennon, new owner of the North Star claim.

I'm, uh, very sorry about that.

It seems I've edged you out by just a smidgen.

Mr. Hanson.

Bjorn, wait for us.

Come on, hurry up. Come on, Jesper.

I want to claim a stake.

You mean, stake a claim?

Yes. That.

- Name? - Bjorn Svenson.

Where's this claim at?

Ah.

Here.

Proof of citizenship?

- I'm Swedish. - I'm sorry, Mr., uh, "Svenson."

Unless you're an American citizen, I have to deny your claim.

What? L... I don't...

- What do you mean? - According to the Miner's Association...

...foreigners can no longer stake claims on American land.

But it's my claim.

I've been digging for eight months. That's why I came here.

I'm sorry, it's not my rule.

Give me my map.

I'm sorry, it is now the property of the North American Miner's Association.

- Give me my map. - Mr. Svenson.

Don't you jump my claim. Bjorn.

Hey. Hey. What's going on here?

They said, foreigners can't make claims here.

- They stole my map. - Who?

- Who? - He.

That's against the law.

We're only following Miner's Association rules, Lindberg.

If you wanna complain, you know where to go.

All right, come on.

- Where's McLennon? - Who?

- The owner, your boss. - Oh, McLennon.

I haven't seen him.

Where's McLennon?

Yes? Gentlemen, can I help you?

How dare you deny these men their claims?

Oh, I see, you, um... You think this is a claims office.

It's true. This is a bar.

This man was denied his claim because he was not a citizen.

After eight months of digging. Do you think that's just?

Well, according to the Miner's Association, yes, it is just.

You are the Miner's Association.

Ah.

Yes, that's true. I am the president.

And as the president, it is my duty to inform you...

...we are about to a meeting which will declare all foreign claims...

- ...void and illegal. - No, no, you can't do that.

You can't do this. What's the matter with you?

What?

Without their claims these men will freeze to death on the beaches.

Nobody asked them to come to Nome.

Yeah, yeah. That's right.

Move, go home.

No.

Have you seen a man freeze to death, Mr. McLennon?

A frozen man, or the actual freezing process?

No, I don't.

Because the actual freezing process is quite something to see.

The body's natural instinct is to fall asleep...

...but, anyway...

...first, uh, the joints and the tendons contract into little knots...

...and then your extremities...

...you, know, your nose, your fingers, your sex organs...

...they get frostbitten and fall off.

Then your breathing shuts off and you asphyxiate, it's terrible.

Do you expect these men will stand by...

...and watch this happen to their wives and children, do you?

- I expect these men to go home. - We ain't going home.

We are up front with you.

May the words of a fellow Scot...

I, of course, was born here.

But a Mr. Macbeth said:

"When our actions do not, Our fears do make us traitors."

I have no fear to tell the truth...

...which is that I don't care if you people freeze to death.

Because as far as I am concerned, you're trespassing.

This is disgusting.

Damn you. How dare you?

You are stealing from the people to whom this country belongs.

So you see? It's either your lives or ours.

Well, that's not a hard decision to make, is it?

- You son of a bitch. - Reno. Smiley.

No.

If you going to take my claim, you'll have to kill me like all the others.

And why not do it now?

Come on, get them out of here. Get these guys out.

Get him.

Get out, now.

Hey, you, get up.

- Come on. You heard me. - No, I didn't.

Oh, ho! Oh, ha, ha.

Here we go.

Goddamn. Goddamn, I'll kill you.

- Hey, hey, you. - Get him out of here.

Get him, come on. Get him out. Get him out.

McLennon. Go home.

Go home. Just leave.

You dogs.

Hey. Halt.

- What the hell's happening? - These men are stealing from us.

They're thieves.

- Well, that's better. - McLennon, what's happening here?

These foreigners came into my saloon and started tearing the place apart.

- Liar. You started this. - Let's have some order here.

Order? You call this order?

- He's planning to take over all our claims. - Take it easy.

He's starting a war.

- Look, I'll handle this. - You will?

Ha.

You may own the town, McLennon, but you don't own me.

We'll be back, McLennon.

Don't fight, Bjorn. Come on. Come on, let's go. Go.

McLennon.

I'm gonna have to report this to Colonel Johnson.

A barroom brawl?

It seems like a local matter to me, but if it's a little too big for you, sheriff...

McLennon, I'm not gonna have violence here.

These foreigners, they ain't gonna stand by and watch you wipe out their claims.

And between you and me, Congress ain't gonna approve it either.

And there's talk about an audit of the Claims Office.

I'm sorry, Sean, I gonna have to report this.

Well...

Sheriff, I guess you gotta do what you gotta do.

Reno, Smiley, come on, we got work to do.

You brought the white man here.

They killed my grandfather because of you.

I'm sorry.

But I had nothing to do with it.

- Why did you steal our cave? - I didn't steal anything.

Why do they say it's yours then? Why?

- I claimed it to protect it. - You claimed it for the gold.

As long as I have this, the cave is still yours.

We don't need you to protect what's ours.

You can't protect yourself from them.

I know these men. They crave gold. To them, it's just another mountain.

Sooner or later, they would have come to find and destroy it.

And you are half of one of them. And you will destroy us.

NAKKI

How do you know?