Barry Keegan's Friction Fire Intensive April 3-5, 2009

You know, most people don't really know Barry Keegan. This guy surprises me all of the time, even after knowing him for about eight years! Barry is a very unique kind of instructor, combining extensive knowledge of survival and native skills, with detailed research of historical references of these same skills.

Take canoes, for example. I mean, we've all heard about the native style birch bark canoes, right? Sure. Got it. No problem.

But Barry, well, he makes Elm Bark Canoes. Hickory Bark. Spruce Bark.

Spruce Bark? Really?

Really. I mean, we have an elm bark canoe upstairs in our barn right now, that he made with our Earth Skills students. It is the coolest thing ever.

Barry loves to track down the earliest known references to those canoes, or stone celts, or the original shape of bows made with stone tools. The bow he helped me make, which I just finished tillering two weeks ago, is styled from a stencil he made of a stone tool made native bow in Sudbury, MA, which he was able to view first hand in his research on bows and native hunting implements.

It's obvious that he loves learning, and he loves to make stuff. Everything. You can feel it when you hold anything he's made in your hands. Smooth. Functional. More than just a stone or a piece of wood, if you know what I mean.

He also loves to share his knowledge in classes with students, and while much of that information goes over the heads of beginner students, they come to appreciate it after the fact too.

Barry works harder than anyone I know to perfect a skill in every detail. His pottery is exquisite. Barry's bows just gleam with rich lustrous wood grain, strength and form. Don't even get me started on his arrowheads and projectile points!

It's not easy to get all of the knowledge that Barry holds in one place. I'm not just saying that, either. He doesn't teach what he doesn't know, and he provides meticulous references, too. They aren't the same old recycled books, either, but articles, journal entries from early settlers, even archeologists and researchers in Europe and beyond.

If you get a chance to come take Barry's Friction Fire Workshop, or the Native Clay Pottery Workshop, or the upcoming Flintknapping Intensive in September, you won't be disappointed! Write us for more information, or check out the Hawk Circle website....

Gotta run, but I will write more about the Spring Earth Skills Semester and other news as soon as possible!