Living in Snow and Ice By Sunny Fox

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This is how I would describe our ‘Home’ at the moment. When you read this, you’re probably sitting in a nice warm room with electricity. O.K. Now imagine that the walls in your room are so close that you just have enough space to lay down. And the ceiling is so low that you can only sit and crawl. And as the walls and ceiling are so close to you, they turn into snow and all the windows disappear. What’s left is a super small room with furniture and electricity. Now remove the 2 last points and you find yourself in a small room made out of snow and ice.

We call this a Snowlodge. And basically, it’s nothing more than a dug-out pile of snow J. For you this may sound like our own little prison cell, but for us it’s one of the greatest experiences out here. I don’t even know how to describe them. It’s just incredible. When I first slept in my Lodge, I was very skeptical. As I pushed myself thought the narrow entrance all I could see was a deep black cave. Immediately typical fears came up. It will collapse on me, I can’t breathe, and I can’t see… But once I pushed myself deep enough inside, my body released the entrance and gave space for air and light to move in.

In that moment I saw the beauty of the snowlodge. Ice crystals, that sparkle in the light. Silence that allows me a restful sleep. Warmth from my body that is held in by the thick snow walls, (cold air sinks and exits the lodge through the open entryway), and the most delicious aroma from a thick mattress made of Fir boughs.

From all the lodges that we slept in, the snowlodge turned out to be the most comfortable, especially because everyone has his own.

It really is a unique experience, that is almost impossible to describe with words.

We are happy to answer any questions about snow lodges, please don’t be shy 🙂

 Click here to watch Hunting Wolf digging out his snow lodge

Fire Challenges by Sunny Fox

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Hello, this is Sunny Fox talking about relationship with fire-making. Right now, we are making our fires with a bow drill set, one of the most typical methods to create fire the primitive way. We’ve been doing this now for 4 to 5 moons (months) already. I can still remember how I struggled in the beginning when I built my first bow drill set. First of all, finding the right material is essential, and a challenge, especially when you are just starting to learn. Once we made had our first bow drill sets, we had to create our first embers (coal), which was the second challenge.

I was the last person to get an ember. I thought for sure that I would never get a fire going with the bow drill. When I finally made my first ember…super proud and ready to go, I was so nervous that I accidentally dropped the ember and it fell on the ground and burnt out so…I couldn’t make a fire. I continued to make embers…and after one whole moon, I got my first fire. It was a lot of work. But that was just in the beginning. Then we learned to look more at the quality of our bow drill sets: How soft is our spindle? How soft is our fire board? What is good as a hand hold? Which kinds of trees work nice for creating a bow drill set? The more we did this, the easier it got for us to get embers going.

Then the wilderness guides gave us a new fire challenge – to make embers without the spindle squeaking. So we had to find out why it was squeaking in order to stop the squeaking. It felt like we were fire making from the beginning again. It took us a long time to find out why it squeaks…. Sometimes it still squeaks, and then we have to stop making the ember and create a new one.

Well, we try to create a new one.

Once we have the ember, we put it in the tinder and get the tinder burning, which is a challenge on its own!  Sometimes if the tinder is too wet, it’s hard to get it burning.  When we finally have the tinder burning, it’s only like half of the battle because then we have to get the actual fire started… and we’ve discovered that the key for getting the fire started is to be prepared for everything.

We have to be prepared for everything so it can ignite as soon as possible, which is why we have dried needles laying around the fire hearth and small twigs. Once we have the tinder burning, we put the tinder in our fire hearth then the dry needles over it, then the twigs, and so on and so on. Right now we’ve got a new challenge, which is that we are not allowed to blow on the tinder anymore once we have the ember inside.  This is one of the biggest challenges we’ve had. It’s hard if the tinder is wet, but when the tinder is really dried out, it works pretty nice.

There is probably no other skill that is more frustrating than fire-making because every time when we feel like, “Oh yeah! Now I’ve got it! Now I understand it! This is how you make the fire!”  Then suddenly the bow drill set starts squeaking, or we can’t get an ember or we don’t get the heat built up, and then we sit there sometimes for one or two meal times just trying to get an ember. But fire making is also the most useful skill that we will keep for the rest of our lives.

 

Here’s to all the new challenges!

~Sunny Fox

Basket Lessons by Skylily

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Skylily and one of her beautiful baskets

Hi everyone out there,

I would like to tell you about the wonderful world of baskets and the magic that keeps me engaged. Up until now I made baskets out of hazelnut and spruce root. I quickly learned that the quality of the material has a major impact on how well the basket turns out. It can be very frustrating when we have a new idea for a basket, but the weavers break constantly. I learned that beautiful, long, straight hazelnut switches work best for weaving. But for carrying baskets – I prefer spruce root.

I got the idea for my first basket when I saw two different baskets over by the Moon Lodge. I took a look and thought, yes, that’s simple, I can do that. When I made the bottom, I noticed quickly that it was not as simple as I thought. It was quite frustrating, to  be honest, and I would have loved to just burn it. Yet somehow, I was quite compelled and thought that maybe, just like with painting, that there may be a phase where it looks stupid, and that is true. When I continued and moved out of my frustration, a beautiful basket turned out.

Now there are three baskets and the fourth is in the making. I’m having a lot of fun experimenting with that, making as many mistakes as possible, because from those I learn the most. And one wonderful thing that I’ve learned is that everything is a basket*.

~ Skylily

 

* Lodges are big baskets. Woven clothing, blankets, bowls, anything that holds something or is woven is a basket. 🙂

 

 

 

Wild Nutrition

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Living in the wilderness for 11 months offers many rewards. But as with many things worth having, it takes some work and dedication to reap the benefits of living wild. Those who enter the Wilderness Guide Program are asked to prepare in advance by weaning themselves off of caffeine, starch, sugars, and processed foods. This helps them avoid having to acclimate to living in the wild while going through withdrawal from sugar or other substances, which is not a pleasant experience. By the time the seekers arrive at Teaching Drum, they are expected to have fully embraced a Paleo based diet. The following post was written by Sunny Fox regarding his experience with this new diet and way of living.

Back in Germany, I always thought that I was a very healthy person. I never broke a bone and only became sick maybe 2-3 times in a year. Living immersed in the forest has taught me some surprising things about my health. I knew that participating in the Wilderness Guide Program would include a diet without sugar, milk, and almost no starch, so I was very worried that my body would lose too much energy and that I would get sick or have other problems.

It’s been over a few months since the start of the program and I feel even healthier than before. My skin has cleared, my digestion is better than before, and my sleep is more restful. My energy level is completely different. I no longer feel like a “civilized zombie” who needs to keep myself alive and awake by giving my body sugar, starch, or one caffeine shock after another. Now, whenever I’m working on a project, I have all this energy and I can complete my tasks without any problem.

 

New Names Under a New Sun

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After the Seekers finished their week-long trial on May 10, they made the 5-hour trek from Mashkodens (Ojibwe for Little Prairie), to Nishnajida (Ojibwe for Camp Where the Old Ways Return), which is located deep in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest. They carried everything they will use while living immersed in the wilds on pack frames that were crafted from sturdy forked branches found in the nearby forest.

Gear includes a tent, sleeping bag, matches, tomahawk, knife, a bowl for eating, as well as three changes of clothing and personal care items. Matches will eventually be replaced by a wooden friction fire making kit, their bowls will be exchanged with those they learn to make by burning out a split section of a log, and they will abandon their tents for wigwams they build from the saplings, bark, and roots gathered from the surrounding woods.

To help the Seekers stay grounded in the present moment, common words for time, distance and direction have been replaced with terms that reflect their immediate environment. For example, time is now measured by how long it takes to cook an egg on the fire or paddle across the lake. A year is now a full turn of the seasons, a day is a sun, a yard could be an arm’s length, and the left side may be called the heart side. This blog will be using these terms as well. To prevent reader confusion, we created a handy page for your reference. You can visit the Glossary of Terms page here.

Before arriving, the Seekers are encouraged to come to this experience as an empty bowl, with curiosity, so they can embrace all the teachings and gifts the forest has to offer. To immerse oneself in the wild with new people and new experiences is a gift, one that offers them an opportunity to let go of the labels and assumptions they’ve been carrying. It is in this space that the Seekers will have an opportunity to see themselves differently, to uncover the gifts and talents that have always been part of them, waiting to be discovered.

To fully embrace this path of discovery, the Seekers drop their given names and receive another from their clan mates, a name that represents a new beginning and a fresh perspective regarding who they currently are within the clan. These names often include physical characteristics or personality traits and strengths. As they get to know themselves and one other better, these names will likely change to reflect their evolving role within their circle.

 

We would like to invite you to accompany Blooming Flower, Sky Lilly, Sunny Fox, Silent Wolf, and Woodpecker on their adventures in the wild as they grow in the ways of honor, respect, and Balance with the Elder Relations (furred, leafed, winged…) of the Northern Woodlands.

 

Living Wild: 6 New Participants begin their Nature Immersion Experience

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The 2017/18 Wilderness Guide Program (WGP) began May 1st with 6 participants (Seekers) arriving for their trial week. Acceptance into the WGP is a carefully deliberated process. To be accepted, both the Seeker and the wilderness guides must agree that the program would be a good fit for them. To help determine this, those who are considering participating must live fully immersed in an ongoing program for seven full days (a trial week), in order to determine whether the experience is for them. However, given the expense, especially for those who are coming from overseas, not everyone is able to do this.

This particular year, all 6 Seekers still needed to complete their trial week. After they were fitted for gear, they walked out to a transitional wilderness camp for their one-week trial where they were also introduced to functional tarp shelter set-up, pack-frame remodeling, wilderness first aid, tool safety, lost proofing, weather forecasting, wilderness hygiene, and fire tending.

We are happy to announce that all 6 of the Seekers successfully completed their trial week and are now officially enrolled in Unit One of the program, which lasts until October 15th. Successful completion of Unit One qualifies them to participate in Unit Two, the second half of the Wilderness Guide Program.

Five days ago, full of curiosity, excitement, and energy, they set off on the morning-long trek to their remote green season camp. They are poised to learn from the Ancient Voices of the Elder Trees, Rocks, Furred, Feathered, Finned, and all in the great Circle of Life, who have lived in balance for time immemorial.

 

Stay tuned to hear stories of their adventures in the wild!

Into the Wild and Back Again

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 Choosing to live immersed in nature when you’ve spent your entire life living in the modern world can be an adventure in and of itself. Never mind the howling wolves at night or the potential for a bear encounter in the woods; it is often the lack of distraction modern technology provides that makes living in the wild difficult for those who are just beginning their nature immersion experience. Without a smart phone at their fingertips and familial and cultural expectations crowding their mind, a person has no choice but to deal with their unresolved emotions and fears. Couple this with the discomfort that comes from giving up modern day conveniences, and what often results is a human scarier than any bear you’d meet in the wild. This response is so common that we’ve given it a name, the Four Thresholds to Wilderness Attunement. You can read more about this in a prior blog post here .

Given all of the above, why would anyone choose to live immersed in the wild? Of course, the love of nature itself is a big reason. Beyond this, some come because the frenzied pace our culture has left them yearning for a more balanced and Eco-friendly way of life. They are drawn toward having a deeper relationship with nature, believing it will transform their lives for the better. Others feel called to live close to the Earth as their ancestors once did, and are passionate about learning primitive skills. Still others choose to come because they want to see if they can rise to the challenge of living for 11 months in the Northwoods wilderness, where the mosquitoes are your most faithful companions throughout the green season and the winters are cold enough to freeze spit before it hits the ground. For some, it’s some combination or all of the above, and for all, a desire to know themselves more deeply.

The Nature Immersion Experience
Take a moment to imagine that for 11 months, you are awakened by the dawn instead of an alarm clock. Then imagine not living with a clock at all. When time is a factor, it is told according to how long it takes to crack nuts or cook an egg near the coals of a fire. There are no weekends in the wild, just days without a name, which are referred to as suns. Months are called moons to reflect the Earth’s natural cycle. The calendar is no longer a blueprint for the seasons. Experience is now your guide, revealing time through the stars, moon cycles, the coolness of the air, the turning of the leaves, the snowshoe hares and ermines’ fur changing color to match the onset of the white season.

Instead of following your boss’s or family’s to-do lists, your days are filled with tasks that need to get done in order to eat, live and sleep more comfortably, and prepare for the upcoming change of seasons. Everyday, you gather firewood, visit the lakes for water, fish and forage for food, among other things. To stay dry, you learn to read the weather by paying attention to cloud cover, wind direction, and speed. To know what to do if someone gets injured, you learn which plants can heal and prevent infection. Knowing that you have the skills to make fire by friction builds confidence, so you build a relationship with fire by learning how to coax the Power of the Sun with your bow drill. Living with other program participants (Seekers) as a clan helps you face your personal fears in relationships and in speaking your truth. You learn what it means to depend on others for survival and to have others depend on you.

Imagine having time to watch the sun set, relaxing during moments in between gathering wood and water, no longer having the urge to reach for your smart phone. Imagine the peace of wild things, hearing the echo of Loons in the distance, feeling astonished by seeing an Eagle looking down from the upper branch of a White Pine, discovering wolf tracks in the mud, and watching Dragonflies zip across a still lake which holds the perfect mirror reflection of the most beautiful sunset you’ve ever seen, even though you were sure yesterday’s sunset was unbeatable.

Now imagine that it’s the last day of the 11 month immersion. You say goodbye to the land you’ve come to know so intimately and may never see again. Then you hike back with the other Seekers to Nadmadiwining, the School’s support camp.

Reintegration Back Into Society
Upon learning that the last moon is upon them, many Seekers report feeling a combination of excitement at seeing their friends and families again, a deep sadness over what they’ll be leaving behind, and apprehension regarding how to integrate what they’ve learned into their lives. To help with this, the wilderness guides start the reintegration process during the last moon; first, by closing the camp to visitors so that all energy is devoted to reintegration preparation. Second, by gathering a list of topics that are important to the Seekers. This past year, the Seekers chose to discuss how to simplify their lifestyle in order to maintain a pace in life that would allow them to pursue their interests and build upon what they’ve learned in the wild. They also wanted to find ways to continue building their relationship and their skills with fire.

During their last moon in the wild, the guides met often with the Seekers to share how they could find support once they were back home. In addition to having the guides as a resource, Teaching Drum offers an e-group support forum that is available to all graduates of our programs where past graduates can help new ones as they acclimate to their return to modern culture. The guides reminded them to not forget that they will continue to be their best support resource for one another since they spent the last 11 months together. Lastly, the guides emphasized the importance of having a Welcome Home Ceremony put on by their family and friends. This would serve as a welcoming back and also a time for them to share stories and to ask for the kind of support they feel they will need.

As the months progress, we’ll be checking in with last year’s Seekers to see how their transition is going.

 

Drawing Fire from Wood

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The Seekers’ 11-month immersion adventure in the Northern Wisconsin wilderness ended just two weeks ago. Despite the Equinox informing us that it was spring, the ground remained frozen with snow and the Seekers’ need for fire persisted until the very last sun. Berry Love wrote about her relationship with fire while she was still at Snow Camp, sharing the lessons she learned that she planned to take with her when she returned home.

   

Written by Berry Love:

Berry Love

Before coming to do the Wilderness Guide Program, I never thought about what fire needs in order to burn well. If fire doesn’t have enough heat, the wood starts smoking. With more air, it can burn hotter and the smoking stops. Ultimately, I learned that whether the wood smokes is about heat and not air. I learned to place the wood closest to where the heat is.

We learned from the wilderness guides that fire needs to burn efficiently, using air, fuel, and heat.

When the fire pit is elevated, it gives the fire the air it needs. In the beginning, I didn’t believe this would make much difference until we were introduced to the elevated fireplace. We had less smoke than usual. I’ve learned that the size and dryness of the wood are the factors I have to look at so the fire can burn efficiently.

Berry Love with one of her bow drill kits. The seekers were challenged to create a new kit after three successful fires with that kit.

 

To start a fire, I have to give energy to the fuel (the wood), to enliven the first coal. In my relationship with fire, I am the one to make the fire visible, to draw out the fire that is in the wood.

To make the fire with a bow and drill constantly challenges me. I’ve learned that it is essential to carefully choose the materials for my fire kit. Every new kit is a new challenge. Before I arrived in this program, I had been able to make a coal. But it took me several weeks of practice until I made my first coal here.

I had to be patient with myself and overcome many moments of frustration. Even now, it is difficult to produce a coal every time.

Unlike with electricity where I can rely on the convenience of a switch, fire requires a constant awareness. The fire provides us with warmth, cooks our food, dries our clothes, and gives us light, all in one. In civilization, these tasks are performed by different machines. Fire making teaches me to be aware of everything I am doing. And the teaching continues even after the fire is burning. To be the most comfortable living outdoors, constant awareness is needed because the fire is constantly changing. Nothing in life stays the same shape. If I want the fire to constantly be burning, I have to constantly take care of the needs of fire.

When I burn the wood, the energy is released again and will take form in another place and another time. I like the idea that I play a role in the creation of new things just by burning wood; I am part of the endless circle of life and I give what I can give.

 

 

 

 

Up Next:  In the next post we’ll take an in depth look at how the guides help prepare the Seekers to transition from living in the wild back to modern culture.