February 1st, 2008 Heather
This week we spent a good deal of time creating useful things from plants. Whereas most of the time we might not think twice about choosing from a wide variety of products at a local store, we all now possess at least two new things that we can trace from the source. It’s quite a feeling to have this connection, not only knowing the source but being the creators. It’s amazing to think that not too long in the past, this is the way it would have been with every thing in our lives.
Our first creation was Black Cottonwood salve, a delicious smelling medicinal ointment useful for a variety of skin ailments. We spent a whole day with this plant, first out in its home by the winding river, exploring its habitat and gleaning its energies. There we collected the sticky, aromatic buds that would be set aside for next year’s residential class. Back inside, we were taught by our guest instructor John Gallagher how to make salve using cottonwood from last year’s class. I now wear on my skin the healing energies of a tree I’ve met personally, a tree which is helping to soothe the blackberry scratches that came from the very same riverbank. It’s a very satisfying cyclical connection.
Our other creations this week were cedar baskets. Some of us may have made baskets before, but to do so without knowing the materials personally means so much less. Already at this point in the season, even those students from different ecosystems have gotten to know the ubiquitous Western Redcedar, Thuja plicata, quite well. We’ve definitely relied on it for firemaking, and have learned that coastal tribal peoples used it in most aspects of their lives. This “tree of life” has been called the cornerstone of historical northwest culture. Today, while drinking a healthful brew of cedar tea, we wove thin strips of fragrant cedar bark of varying reds, tans, and near blacks into artful berry baskets. My basket may not be professional quality but it is functional, beautiful even, and one of a kind!
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January 29th, 2008 michael
John Gallagher teaches us about medicinal plants, specifically Oregon Grape (Mahonia nervosa).
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January 27th, 2008 Heather
I began this week with nothing more than mild curiosity and finished it filled with the exhilaration that comes with the birth of a new passion. Now how often can one say that?
Half our group spent three long days with visiting instructor Peter Yencken, who taught us to make our own bows. We started on Wednesday with roughly cut planks of hickory that we immediately started shaping with a variety of tools. We scraped, sanded, and scraped some more, all of us busy as beavers building a dam. The real work came in taking just the right amount of wood from the width of the board to allow it to bend evenly and the ideal amount for an individual to shoot with it. Too much or uneven cutting would weaken or even break the bow; too little and the bow wouldn’t bend enough to shoot an arrow. Bowmaking is an art, an ancient art once practiced by most of our ancestors. Intermittently as we were working, Peter shared his own stories and knowledge of the history of bowmaking, some modern and historical videos on archery, and an introduction to the ethics and practice of bow hunting. Our gracious hosts in their workshop, Wes and Sharon Childers, gave us their own expert advice and personal stories of ethical hunting. We came to feel that we were part of something big, something important. By Thursday when I was able to string my bow, give it a final sanding and a fresh coat of oil, I was awed and amazed at its beauty. I felt powerful and accomplished, as if my ancestors were there with me, smiling and proud. On Friday I was once again in awe because it actually worked; I could actually shoot arrows with my bow! I can’t say that I’m a great shot at this point, but I’m definitely going to work at it. I don’t know whether I will ever use this bow for hunting, probably not. But somehow that’s not the point for me. I turned a plank of wood into a bow, a beautiful yet powerful tool, and I plan to make myself worthy of it by using it with skill and grace.
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January 18th, 2008 Heather
If you haven’t already gotten the idea, our schedule this week should give you a clear picture of how far-reaching this program really is. This isn’t just naturalist training, or tracker training, or wilderness survival, it is all of these and more. This week, in particular, any observer would notice that on certain days, some of us were clearly in our element, living our passion and fully enjoying everything. The very next day the same folks might be yawning or sighing their way through the activities. It was fun to notice which of us were lit up, engaged and beaming, on which days. It is also good to remember that all of it is expanding our minds and adding to the richness of our lives here.
One day was spent learning about medicinal plants, focusing in on one local northwest forest plant in particular, Oregon Grape (Mahonia nervosa). It was a mellow day involving some meditation time in the forest, some lecture inside, some wild plant collection, and some tincture making. We made some strong connections with the Oregon Grape, from which we will all get to take some of our group tincture when it is ready.
Another day was a tracking day. We went out to new locations in nearby towns to hone our animal tracking skills and improve our non-track animal sign awareness, such as evidence of feeding, shelter, and territory marking. This was a less structured yet more active day of wandering exploration, playing detective. Many of us saw tracks we’d never seen such as tiny Deer mouse tracks, as well as various animal sign such as kill sites.
Our third day, switching gears yet again, had a mentoring theme. This was a more theoretical day, learning about and discussing the Coyote Mentoring method and different learning styles and experiences. We did get some activity time in ourselves, as well as some of our new favorite pastime of snowball fights. After all, the making of a good mentor has got to involve the ability to let loose and play, and we are all honing this skill quite well.
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January 15th, 2008 michael
to useful tools:
Don’t worry, we cleaned up.
Yours truly.
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January 13th, 2008 Heather
For an intensive program such as this, a three week break feels like an eternity. Wednesday morning back at school was like a reunion with old friends, everyone excitedly talking about visits with family and friends, travel adventures, and how good it is to be back. We welcomed one new member to our group- Vanya- who comes to us all the way from Russia. Our newly reunited residential student group was then split randomly into smaller clan and society groups, which mixes us up differently than last quarter. Everything feels new again, yet at the same time comfortably familiar.
This week we spent some time with a few traditional tribal winter pastimes including natural materials basket making, nettle cordage, and cattail woven mats. Unlike most crafting we may have done in our lives, these experiences were more meaningful because we harvested the materials ourselves back in autumn. It’s a wonder to look at a rough but functional cattail doormat that until recently was a pile of cattail reeds drying behind my couch, and before that was a living plant in a nearby swamp. Or a thin but strong piece of rope that was not long ago a dried nettle stalk leaning in a corner of my room and a few months ago growing in a field near the Snoqualmie river, stinging me as I pulled it up. As I look around my room right now, there are very few items I can trace to the source, or that I had anything to do with at all until I bought them. It’s a nice change not only to truly know these items I’ve created, but to feel deep connections with and gratitude to the plants they came from.
Just so that you don’t think we’ve gone soft, spending our days around the fire, telling stories and making useful little crafts… Friday we met at school at 6:30am, over an hour before dawn, and trudged out to preplanned sit spots spaced around the pond in order to be there before the birds woke up. Our “bird sit” involved sitting in one place for almost two hours and simply listening, watching, and noticing any bird activity. Our time there was divided into 15 minute segments where we noted all birds seen and heard, including location, types of calls (alarm vs. song, etc.) and any behavior notes. Coming together at the end of this, we created clan maps of our experiences. For a relatively quiet winter morning in northwest Washington, I can assure you that there was a whole lot going on around our little forest pond.
I’d like to mention one final highlight from our first week back. At a transition time between activities when we were all heading back to the lodge, there was a spontaneous snowball fight involving the majority of us. The snow was icy and slushy and only in a few sad patches, yet we somehow found enough of it to sling back and forth at each other across a muddy field. If you haven’t been in a real, full-out snowball fight in a while then you probably won’t understand. If you have, you know how inexplicably hilarious and fun they are. Too often in life we forget how important it is to just let loose and play. Thankfully, there seems to be always someone here who helps us to remember.
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December 21st, 2007 michael
Jeremy Milligan took the following pictures throughout some of the surrounding areas:
Mt Si from Chinook Bend.
These falls are along the trail to Snoqualmie Lake.
Snoqualmie Lake
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Jeremy’s sit spot on the Tolt River.
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December 17th, 2007 michael
Frank Sherwood shows us the art of knapping.
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