Coming Up: The Sacred Hunt and Wolverine Survival...

Two weekends. Two workshops. Two experiences that will change the way you see the natural world.

This fall, we are offering The Sacred Hunt: October 16-18, 2009. It is more than a simple hunting skills class. It's about learning to hunt in an honorable way, in a way that is connected to the heart, to the soul, not only of you but to the deer, and nature itself.

Hunting is a culmination of need, awareness, tracking and being human. It is part of us, our thousands of years of living close to the land. It isn't something that I take lightly, and it is far more than simply attempting to kill an animal.

Hunting provides food for our families, hides for our clothing, all kinds of tools and a way of challenging our skills to the very limit. It provides me with a bridge to the spirit and the sure knowledge that we all live and we all offer our lives as a gift to the earth, to the spirit that moves in all things, to the people, and to our families. We offer ourselves to the people we love.

Wolverine Survival
October 30-November 1, 2009.

The wolverine brings up all kinds of different feelings in people. In the old days, trappers hated wolverines, calling them gluttons, raiders that followed their traplines, taking their marten and foxes and fouling the area with a rank musky stench.

To the native people, wolverines offer a model of warriorship, of ferocity, of unbridled intensity that matched the massive grizzly, or a full pack of wolves. They can travel the most remote wilderness areas with ease, preferring to climb over a glacier or mountain pass than go around it. Their fur stays frost free even down to -50ºF and they sleep pretty much anywhere they please. Wolverines were the model for fighting spirit, for tenacity and power.

Modern science has found wolverines to be caring parents, and not always living up the ferocious loners portrayed in comic mythos.

In this course, we study the skills of survival that are necessary to living close to the earth, providing ways of making shelters, fire, tools, hunting weapons and utensils. We will learn to walk with awareness, hear more, see more and understand more about the natural world, where you will view the natural landscape as your ally and friend.

We have great discounts, great food, great cabins and you will never see the natural world the same way again.

Actually, I already said that!

Anyway, hope to see you there!

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!

The Winter Intensive 2009 Down the Frozen Rabbit Hole!

We started with snow shelters and moved on to fire. Lots and lots of fire! Tinder studies. Tipi fires. One Match fires. Flint and steel fires. Wet tinder and wood fires, after rain and freezing rain for 24 hours. Then, it was bow and drill, followed by hand drill and even some fire plow just for fun!

Fun Fact: Doing a hand drill or bow drill in the snow with below zero wind chills is not as easy as it sounds! It really takes a lot of time to get that board, the drill and the tinder warmed up enough before you can start to make a coal, and the uneven snow does keep things interesting too!

I am having a blast. The students are totally into every thing we do, including making traps, setting up bait stations to see what types of buds and twigs the rabbits prefer, and all kinds of crafts, too. We even tried our hand at ice fishing, although we didn't get any bits, so that wasn't as fun!

Tracking has been good, and it has been frozen and cold all last week. We made a fire in the snow one day and it was a good sized fire, about the size of a thirteen gallon trash can. At 0ºF, I needed to be about eight inches away from the flames to actually feel the warmth from it, in the open air. Water bottles and food freezes solid in an hour if left exposed. Have you ever tried carving up a peanut butter and jelly sandwich! That's what I'm talking about!

Trista has made powerbars, energy bars, pine needle tea, birch beer and even a birch healing salve for our dried and cracked skin. We enjoy sitting around the table, sharing meals and talking about our experiences, our stories, kicking back around the woodstove and drying our mittens and socks... (Someone has to do it!)

We dried meat for the trek, but most everyone ate all of the meat while we were drying it, because it was so good. We have some good coal burned spoons, and the soapstone sculptures are really nice too. Everyone is supportive, positive, motivated and hard working. I couldn't ask for a better group of students to teach and enjoy the winter days.

We have a week left, and tomorrow they are heading off for the four days. I will be there most of the time, and we should get some good tracking in, and maybe do some new things with fire, or some birch bark crafts, or even snow goggles!

When we return, we have some community celebrating to do, as well as a sweatlodge ceremony, to ground our experiences together in spirit and the earth.

I am going to miss everyone when this class is over.