Past Moons
IntroductionEach Wild Moon is its own unique experience, as the turn of the seasons gifts us with ever-changing opportunities to connect. Here, our guides share their stories in their own words.
The residents which are holding the Program are listed for each Wild Moon along with the year they graduated from the yearlong Wilderness Guide Program. For instance: Marcus ('05) is a guide who graduated from his yearlong in 2005. Also listed are the Wild Moon participants ("Wild Mooners"), and visitors at Mashkodens during that Moon.
The following stories are told from the perspective of the Circle of people who are working on the process of fully immersing themselves in the Native lifeway. In keeping with the Native tradition of showing respect for all life, the names of specific plant, animal, and mineral entities are capitalized. Ojibwe terms are used as well, with their English translations following in parentheses.
Click a moon below to be brought to the respective moon-story. Or simply scroll down through the moons in reverse chronological order.
Childrens/Ricing Moon 2011
Freezing Over Moon 2010
Childrens/Ricing Moon 2010
Strawberry Moon 2010
Bear Cubs Born Moon 2010
Great Mystery Moon 2010
Little Mystery Moon 2009
Dreaming Moon 2009
Fishing Moon 2009
Falling Leaves Moon 2009
Childrens/Ricing Moon 2009
Bear Cubbs Moon 2009
Great Mystery Moon 2009
Little Mystery Moon 2008
Freezing Over Moon 2008
Falling Leaves Moon 2008
After Ricing Moon 2008
Children's Raspberry Ricing Moon 2008
Blueberry Moon 2008
Zagomeh Moon 2008
Wild Leek Trip 2008
Suckerfish Moon 2008
Maple Sugar Moon 2008
Crust on Snow Moon 2008
Forming Moons
Turns of the Season Past
Childrens/Ricing Moon 2011 (August - September)
Residents
Chris, Alex, Coyote, Thomas
Wild Mooners and Guests:
Susan and son Diindiis; Brianna and daughter Montie; Joey, Sarah and their daughter; Joe, Marcie with their children Sydney and Gabby; Jessie, Sarah and daughter Inara; Jim and his daughter Lia with her children Logan and Kyle; Derek and Amy; Nina.
Story:
The families arrive, and after the gear-check and transporting the canoes the residents help them find tent-sites in a grove of trees to the south of Mashkodens. Most people camp there, close to one another in order to be able to help one another in case of an emergency with a child in the night. Everybody is excited!
The newly formed clan holds a meeting, and the concept of chiefdoms is introduced – people with the most experience become coordinators for various aspects of running the camp (as time goes by, others help to chip in with making sure the needs are being met). These include Childcare, Water-Boiling (for drinking water), Ricing and Canoe Travel, Firewood and Boughs, Food Preparation, First Aid.
The first quarter moon is spent at Mashkodens, settling in and developing a routine. There are wood-gathering parties going out every so often; there are groups of people cleaning fish, chopping vegetables, boiling water, etc. Slowly, a flow develops. The parents are often occupied with childcare, and it becomes obvious that it’s important for those without a family to help with camp needs and playing with the children. Often an effort is made among the people to share their thoughts and feelings, joys and tribulations that are happening in the immersion. The weather is mostly mild and sunny, and the Zagame (Mosquito) presence is low. In that first quarter moon, we discover that Dindiis has an ailment which he has to treat back at the support camp for a few days. Chris and Susan come in and out of camp in order to take care of Diindiis and to stay engaged with the immersion.
A few days into the experience, the Ricing Scouts come back with news that the time is getting close to move camp to a ricing lake. Some people question whether or not they wish to continue with the experience. Before the departure day, two families leave: Joey, Sarah and daughter, and Joe, Marcie, Sydney and Gabby. The circle comes together to discuss the issues and feelings surrounding their departure.
Early in the morning on the day of departure, the gear is loaded into canoes and the people get comfortable for a two-day paddle journey. The weather is fair, the wind is moderate. The families experience some difficulties accommodating children’s need to move around. After camping along the way, the group arrives at the Lower Nine-Mile Lake campground and sets up camp in the beautiful maple forest. Everyone is excited about the arrival at the camp, and yet there is not much time that the whole clan can spend together. The camp itself with its wide open forest, abundant firewood and water is ideal for families and children, yet the amount of rice on the lake is minimal. The next morning the group splits up --Thomas, Alex, Nina, Derek and Amy paddle to Upper Nine-Mile Lake and set up a temporary camp there in order to harvest the lake’s abundant Wild Rice beds. They end up spending the next five suns ricing there with moderate success before returning to the main camp. In the mean-time, several families that stayed behind are exploring leaving the experience. When the Upper Nine-Mile group returns, they find that Jessie, Sarah, and Inara, as well as Brianna and Montie have departed. Due to other commitments, gone as well are Jim, Lia, Jason and Kyle. The circle reflects on whether or not it was worthwhile for the group to split up. The decision is made to continue on to another rice bed which according to some scouting people looks very promising.
The three-canoe clan now paddles to Eagle River and sets up camp near the Thoroughfare. The rice beds are thick and lush, yet it turns out that most of the hulls are empty. Another creature had a feast--rice worms were thriving and multiplying to astonishing numbers in the warm and dry. Still, there are some decent pockets of rice left along the banks of Eagle River, and several bags are gathered. During this time the now smaller circle really delves into inner exploration through working with dreams and daysharing , which helps everyone to connect on a much deeper level.
With only a few days left before the end of our experience, Chris, Susan, and Dindiis leave camp due to outside commitments, and the remaining people spend the next few days gathering Marsh Grass for lodge construction. It’s quite an adventure paddling canoes loaded to the brim with bundles of grass (acting as sails) in high-intensity winds!
With grass-cut hands, and a sense of completion, the circle paddles back to Mashkodens. On their way they encounter very strong winds right after dusk, and have to carefully cross the waters of Virgin Lake in order to not capsize in the cold waters. Late in the evening, a big fire is lit at the hearth of Mashkodens for everyone to warm up again. The last few days are spent connecting with each other about the experience and cleaning up around Mashkodens. On the last day of the experience, we talk about the gifts and drawbacks we see in one another, and have a ceremonial dinner with guests from Nad’mad’ewining.
Observations:
- Rice Worms devastate Wild Rice beds over a few days during warm, windless spells
- Milkweed, Basswood, and Chokecherries are around
Projects
- Gathering Wild Rice
- Gathering Marsh Grass
Freezing Over Moon 2010 (November - December)
Residents:
Tim and Thomas
Wild Mooners and Guests:
Rose and Romy
Tamarack,Lety and Maya come out for the ending feast
Story:
All the leaves are down and the sky is grey; the time for the freezing of the lakes is drawing closer and with it the spawning of the cisco fish.
At the hearth of Mashkodens, Tim and Thomas are busy preparing everything for the arrival of the Wild Mooners. Lety, one of the year-long guides and elders, and Maya, the Wild Moon coordinator, walk out with Romy and Rose. The walk provides opportunities for introducing some of the basic awarenesses and techniques for living in the woods - knife safety and maintenance, the anti-microbial properties of balsam fir boughs for bedding, and sap for wounds. They also discuss the differences between immersion and workshop experiences.
Thomas and Tim greet the new Wild Mooners at the hearth by the lean-to, and give the newcomers a tour before sitting down to get to know one another. They introduce Da´I, the honorable returning of bodily wastes to the earth, as well as the importance of camp hygiene and how to use water, snow, moss, and balsam fir boughs.
During the first night, Romy experiences trouble breathing while trying to sleep in one of the wigwams, and wakes Rose and Thomas. Suspecting that it may be caused by a mold allergy, the three stay up around the fire to monitor Romy's breathing. Romy decides to sleep in the lean-to to avoid potential contact with mold spores.
The first snow of the moon comes down in great white, wet globs, soaking everything. Standing around the fire just means more snow melting into one´s clothes as quickly as the heat evaporates it. Seeing the snow as a sign of impending weather, Tim and Thomas decide to work on one of the main projects of the moon, gathering winter firewood. The clan walks to a nearby hill with many maples and oaks, ideal wood for the peat-insulated winter lodge. Rose and Romy learn about how to tie firewood bundles, and Rose gets more comfortable with the use of a tomahawk. Rose brings home a bundle of green maple, thinking that because the tree had fallen it must be completely dead.
Each evening around the hearth, people share their day, and Tim usually entertains the clan with jokes and stories while everyone dries out their clothes and footwear by the fire. Rose shares some of the personal issues that she wants to address during this moon, and is offered some insight and perspective from her clan members, while Romy reflects on the different ways people handle and express stress.
Usually, Thomas and Tim go out exploring every morning, following tracks and other animal sign. Amongst their findings are evidence of a new beaver dam, as well as trails of deer, bobcat and grey fox. Rose and Romy work on carving out bow-drill kits, and gathering wood and boughs for the lean-to hearth. Tim and Thomas work steadily on thinning down a set of black ash toboggan planks.
After a few days, the clan receives news that the women at Nishnajida (where the Wilderness Guide Program is asituated) are gathering to repair the Moon Lodge, and the women at Mashkodens are asked to help. Tim and Thomas decide to come along to help with directions and to stay maintain a camp together. With gear packed, the clan heads out the next morning for the six mile hike. The weather takes an abrupt change for the warmer, and they shed their winter layers. Rose is on the second day of her moon time, and both she and Romy find the hike challenging.
At Nishnajida, the women cut down spruce poles to reinforce the frame of the moon lodge, and begin splitting spruce root to repair birch bark panels and re-thatch the lodge with fresh marsh grass. With some engineering advice from some of the men, the women straighten the listing moon lodge. In the meantime, Tim and Thomas explore the surroundings and look for animal tracks and signs. Around the evening hearth Romy shares more about her experiences and desires for experiencing the Wild Moon.
The next morning, the clan hikes back at a slower pace through warm, bright weather. Back at Mashkodens, Tim and Thomas continue to bring in big oak logs to split down for lodge fires, while Rose focuses on boughs and conifer wood for the outdoor hearth. Seeing Romy's quiet and physical struggles, the others try to support her to be engaged in the experience and encouraged her to express what´s coming up for her. Chickadees begin swarming around the lean-to, pecking at anything that remotely resembles food, and gray jays begin feasting on the fish gut piles Tim keeps as bait to study coyote tracks.
A few mornings later, Romy announces that she wants to leave the Wild Moon, and the clan gathers to share their thoughts and feelings. Romy finds the cold very challenging to deal with, and is disappointed that the immersion experience did not offer more structured workshops around quantitative skills. Her decision to leave is firm – and after she left, the remainder of the clan reflects on their own awarenesses of Romy's struggles and their experiences with finding a balance between offering Romy support and acknowledging an individual's responsibility to want to be present in an experience. Rose reflects on how her personal struggles had prevented her from being as present as she could have been with Romy, and Tim and Thomas share some of their experiences with the physical and psychological thresholds people face when living in the wilderness.
Some nights, after dinner, the trio would move to the winter lodge to work on craft projects and enjoy the warmth of an indoor fire. Tim works on a sapling bow and straightening arrows, while Thomas is busy with stretching and softening coyote hides for a pair of winter leggings. The lodge fire also provides the opportunity for a nightly snow bath followed by drying around the fire.
Hunting season arrives heralded by gunshots, and the clan dresses in stylish blaze orange. They soon receive the news that the cisco fish are spawning – it´s time to head to fish camp.
In order to be there before the peak of the spawning, the clan gets dropped off near the lake – what would take them several days to walk is quickly covered by car. Scouting for a camp site, the trio meets some hunters and finds out that the boggy area they were planning to camp in is surrounded by deer blinds. They opt instead to camp in a patch of maples, closer to the road and farther from a drinking spot but out of the line of fire.
While Tim and Thomas set up a tarp lean-to, Rose collects firewood, looking for dead, standing wood that would be drier. The freezing rain means most of the balsam fir boughs are coated in ice, so the clan only has their deer hides for insulation. As darkness approaches, the damp air frustrates almost all attempts at a bow-drill fire. Thomas loses many a coal, and the trio counts their blessings that they have pre-cooked fat to eat for warmth. Tim joins in, and after a few attempts, a coal is born that does not die. After this difficult birth, the clan enjoys a warm, clean hardwood fire.
Fortified with bear fat, the trio carries their fishing gear down to the lake. They struggle into their waders and set out into the chilly water. With the first pull of the seine net, they net the first cisco and release her back into the water to show their respect and gratitude for the fish that give their lives so the clan can feast. The seine net has a pole on each end which is held by a person. For each “pull” the net gets stretched out with one person wading out as far as they can without getting water into their waders. By walking parallel to shore and then pulling closer, the fish that spawn in the shallows are directed towards shore where a third person scoops them up with a dip net. After many pulls —as Tim and Rose's toes start screaming— the clan heads back to shore and carries their bounty home. With the cisco laid out in the snow overnight, the trio passes out in a well-deserved rest.
The next morning, Tim builds a “quad-pod” to support a drying rack for the cisco while Thomas and Rose carry the fish down to a low spot in a bog to scale, gut, and fillet them. Thomas shares a traditional Scandinavian technique for preparing smoked trout which seems to work equally well for cisco. Working in near-freezing conditions with icy fish and water means that they both need to pause periodically to warm their hands.
During the day, the weather starts warming up and melts the ice off the balsam boughs, and as the fish gets smoked, everyone is busy gathering bedding materials. Tim is excited to find a variety of maple, elm, and black ash poles to experiment making snowshoes with.
One of the hunters the trio met on the first day of fish camp returns in the afternoon with his niece. Having looked up the Teaching Drum on the internet, they want to learn more about the programs, and share their ten-year experience hunting in the area with the clan.
Armed with a map and enough food to last the trip, the crew prepares to get a good night's sleep for the trek home. The next day, despite the cold, between a brisk pace and packs, the clan is swimming in their own sweat in no time. The going is quick as the first part of the journey is on roads, and not one good Samaritan slows down to offer a ride. Of course the clan is determined to walk and not accept a ride anyways ;-) After many miles of road walking, Thomas and Rose both develop hip pain from walking on the hard surface. The light dusting of fresh powder snow and the even surface of the roads prove to be ideal for finding and identifying tracks, including cat, grey squirrel, dog, red fox, coyote, otter, and crow. By the end of the day, the clan discovers a scavenger's paradise: three deer ribcages, three heads, and an assortment of lower legs that were left behind by hunters. They happily take some of the meat along for feasting on in the evening.
Soon after, the clan finds a campsite rife with fallen spruces, but not a balsam fir in sight. They gather spruce boughs instead of Zhingob (balsam fir), and discover that as long as there is a deer hide for bedding to prevent getting stabbed by the spiky needles, spruce makes for superior cushy and insulative bedding. The trio feasts on fatty deer ribs and frozen cabbage while periodically ducking the towering, wind-blown pillar of fireworks that is their conifer-fed fire.
On the second day of the journey back, the trio is faced with the choice between wading through thirty-three degree water or an extra three mile hike. Upon evaluating the circulation to her extremities, Rose opts for the longer hike. The clan continues into the Blackjack Springs Wilderness Area, first following a hiking trail in their general direction of travel. Eventually they hit the end of the trail system, and make a log bridge to cross a river.
Moving cross-country along steep hillsides and through broad bogs between ridges, they come across signs of an old homestead, and setting up camp in a small clearing. Having eaten all their fruit on the first day (to reduce weight by taking along only high-caloric food), the clan feasts on roast squash, cabbage, smoked cisco, and roasted slabs of bear fat, catching the grease in cabbage leaves.
On the third day, the clan gets mildly lost. There is some debate about whether they are heading east or southeast, and even the residents have difficulty determining the direction. The sky is a uniform white glare, the wind direction is inconclusive, deadfall trees are scattered in almost all directions, and there is a lot of variation in how the snow stuck to trees.
After some discussions, they finally opt to continue as they had before. The landscape shifts from balsam fir thickets to hardwood, and the trio eventually hits a wide, chain-sawed trail.
They end up exiting the Blackjack Wilderness farther north than they had intended, which adds some more distance to their travels. Missing their chance to drink water at the lake just outside of the Blackjack, they have to rely on snow for hydration. The clan decides to make for a pre-existing shelter on a nearby trail system, in the hopes that they could save time from making camp.
When they reach the hiking trail and study the map, Thomas suggested the steepest but shortest route, and he and Tim move ahead to get the campsite prepared. By the fourth hill at a forty-five degree angle, Rose swears to never let anyone convince her to take a trail called “Devil's Run” just because it was “shorter.”
When she arrives, Tim and Thomas are already setting up camp. There is a tiny log cabin shelter with a fireplace, and a shed full of wood, but no water source other than snow. Thomas and Tim gather boughs to insulate and pad the concrete floor while Rose supervises the Fire That Will Not Burn. It turns out all of the wood in the shed is green, so the trio has to go out and gather firewood anyway. In the end, they don't save that much time not making their own camp.
On the fourth day of the hike, everyone is sore and Rose is hitting psychological thresholds about wanting to go home to Mashkodens. Rose and Tim use their mittens to pad the shoulder straps of their packs since their pace keeps their circulation up enough to keep their hands warm. Taking a break to eat the last of the dried fish and rendered bear fat, the crew sets a non-stop pace to get home before nightfall. They make it home before dark and feast triumphantly, or it would be triumphantly if they weren´t been so exhausted.
Back at Mashkodens, the clan has about a quarter moon before the experience ends. Tim starts carving out snowshoe frames in the Ojibwa style, a broad ellipsoid shape with a pointed tail and toe, the toe turned up. Since there are no steam-boxes or dugout canoe available to rock-boil the frames in to bend them, he experiments with systematically warming the frames by the fire and spreading them bit by bit. Thomas continues working on his coyote hides while Rose slowly burns out a bowl and practices with her bow drill kit. Rose begins de-salting and fleshing a deer hide, and puts it in the pond for de-hairing. After a couple days of low temperatures and not checking, Rose finds out why it´s necessary to put hides deep enough in the water - to keep it from freezing into the ice.
Besides the omnipresent chickadees, nuthatches and occasional gray jays, the clan also gets visited by a weasel who hyperactively darts in and out of every nook and cranny in the lean-to, studying the humans and eyeing the rack of deer ribs they are eating. It isn’t until they pull out the snowshoe hare Thomas had snared the previous day that they notice the weasel had already helped himself to half the back strap.
Towards the end of the experience, Rose starts getting diarrhea, and begins a regimen of fasting and slowly introducing foods. She tries to conserve energy and calories, but finds that she needs to do some running around in order to keep her extremities warm. With Thomas' help, Rose hacks her hide out of the ice, and the clan begins cleaning up camp in preparation to leave. Tamarack and Lety come for an end of the moon feast, and many stories get shared around the winter lodge fire. The Wild Moon is coming to an end, and the next morning the trio sets out for Nad´mad´ewening...
Clan Knowledge and Observations:
- On wet days, sometimes it's just not worth walking everywhere. You get soaked.
- It is very hard to stay hydrated on snow, even if you have a container to melt it in.
- In wet conditions, vertical wood tends to be drier because the water has less opportunity to soak in.
- Techniques in scaling, gutting, and filleting cisco.
- Wearing blaze orange in hunting season is worth burning your eyes a bit.
- Just because a tree is down doesn't mean the wood is seasoned.
- Signal animals such as blue jay can have their own signal animals such as chickadee.
- In the white season, push hides for de-hairing deep into the water to prevent freezing, but make sure you can find them again.
- Sometimes setting up a camp from scratch is faster than trying to improve on an existing one.
- If you have enough bodyfat, you can live in the cold for four days without calories without serious loss of energy.
Projects:
- Repairing women´s lodge at Nishnajida
- Gathering hardwood for the winter lodge
- Fish camp: Catching and smoking fish
- Snaring Wabooz
- Toboggans and snowshoes
- Bows and arrows
- Bow drill kit assembly and fire making
- Hide and fur tanning
Childrens/Ricing Moon 2010 (August - September)
Residents:
Chris, Maya ,Alex , Tim and Thomas
Wild Mooners and Guests:
Brum, Kerstin and their daughter Julia from Sweden, Jaime and her daughter Chloe, Susan and her son Diindiis, Stefan, Niko, Jim , Jason and Lia with their sons Kyle, Jason and Logan, Scott and son Luuk
Tamarack and Lety come out for a number of meetings
Emily, Ginny, Mark, Marcus, Daniel, Nan, April, Matt, Nick and Kindred come to spend some time at camp
Story:
It´s ricing time again!
Mashkodens comes to life as more than twenty big and small two-legged people gather around the hearth and set up their sleeping spots. The first few days pass quickly as people get to know each other and develop a comfortable routine. Many have been part of a previous Wild Moon or know the school in other ways which makes this learning process a lot faster. Besides the daily routines of gathering firewood, cooking food and drinking water, a lot of energy also goes into meeting the needs of the children.
Mashkodens serves only as a temporary base camp before the clan heads to Ricing Camp, and close to a quarter moon into the experience the clan is complete (as two of the residents join in at this point). Early next morning the weather seems favorable for the two-day canoe trip, so everything gets packed up and the journey begins. After paddling through many lakes and waterways they reach their destination: the beautiful maple-covered shore of a rice lake. Initial scouting confirms the rumors they heard about the poor rice crop on the lake. Despite this, everyone prepares for ricing: push-poles and ricing sticks need to be fashioned, and there are many discussions about how the needs of the families can be met while gathering as much rice as possible at the same time. Niko, who has been feeling sick continuously, leaves as he feels he won’t get better while being at the Wild Moon. The clan is blessed with days of abundant sunshine and warmth which makes gathering (dry!) firewood and other activities a lot easier. Speaking of firewood, it usually requires very little effort since the maple forests are full of downed trees, and the hardwood also provides ideal conditions for cooking vegetables in the ashes.
One morning, several crews go out for rice, and they discover that there is almost nothing to be gathered! Many plants don´t carry any rice, and most of the ones that do just have empty hulls. A few people went on scouting trips to other nearby lakes before and so the clan discusses the options of ricing somewhere else. Another scouting trip proves to be the best option in order to determine the actual amount of rice, along with potential campsites and the feasibility of moving the whole camp there.
In the meantime, the families get more established at camp and a children´s culture is budding: some of the older children built debris shelters and set up their own camp. The adult´s food doesn´t taste that good? Well then, how about just cooking our own food? And while the adults are still around and keep track of what´s going on, the children create their own adventures. “Co-parenting” gets explored more and more – rather than having all the children´s needs met by their biological parents, everyone helps out with meeting those needs. Along with that, the clan takes a closer look at which interactions and ways of relating serve a healthy adult-child relationship, and which ones are controlling or patronizing.
During this time the camp also receives a few visitors who bring their own stories and perspectives which is appreciated by the clan.
“Licing Moon” may actually be a more appropriate name for this moon: about halfway into the experience, several people discovered lice in their hair. In order to prevent the lice from spreading further, people start oiling their hair with bear fat and covering it with cloth. The pirate clan is born!
The berry season is mostly over, though several people discover some good cherry trees, and bunchberries are still to be found. A fertile streambed provides nettles and watercress, and many gathering trips provide mushrooms for the evening meals. Several people work on scraping and tanning hides, and Tim and Thomas practice stump shooting with their bows and arrows.
The decision is made: there is not enough rice on a neighboring lake to justify moving camp there, and the campsite options are quite limited, so a ricing group of three – Jim, Tim and Thomas – goes there on their own and sets up a temporary rice camp. They get ricing support from Maya who is going back and forth between the Ricing Camp and the school center. After a couple days of harvesting, the ricing team heads back to the main camp to check on yet other possibilities for ricing. Another nearby lake turns out to contain the best-quality rice that was harvested yet, although the patch is fairly small. What during other years may not have been worth harvesting is now thankfully gathered – as it turns out, many areas are affected this year by a low rice crop. Once the aforementioned lake is harvested and other possibilities don´t turn out to be promising, the time has come to return to Mashkodens. Many feel sad about leaving Ricing Camp, as it offers a beautiful camp spot away from the “routine” of Mashkodens. The trip home becomes more challenging as motorboats create big waves that sometimes splash into the canoes, yet they arrive safely back at Mashkodens.
The last few days are mostly spent with connecting, meeting camp needs and various craft project. April joins the clan for some time to teach basket making.
Clan Knowledge and Observations:
- Waterfowl are abundant on the rice lakes, as they too enjoy the rice. They oftentimes come close to the shore at night and the times of twilight
- Certain dates (e.g. weekends, even though they have little relevance out in the woods) mean much more traffic on the lakes than usually, and are best avoided if possible
- Scouting many different ricing lakes in advance may not be necessary during regular harvest years but can be immensely helpful during years of a poor crop
Projects:
-Many exploration and gathering trips (greens, mushrooms, cherries, cattails etc.)
-Ricing and making ricing equipment
-Tim and Thomas work on bows and arrows and practice stump-shooting
-Several wild mooners make and use their own firekits
-Hide tanning
-Net making
-Basket making
Strawberry Moon 2010 (June - July)
Residents:
Tim ('00,'01,'06), Alex ('09)
Wild Mooners and Guests:
Molly, Peter, Derik, Daniel, Dan – their first moon
Tamarack, Lety, and Maya come out to camp for a few meetings
Story:
The Green Season is in full swing! The first half of the moon is spent repairing lodges and structures in camp. It is also a time of abundant sunshine and warmth. A wiigwaam and a winter wood arbor (where wood is stored) have been damaged by strong winds, and the summer arbor is in poor shape, and needs re-roofing. So right away the spruce-root preparation and the sewing of birch-bark panels commence in earnest, as does support-pole gathering and insetting in the summer arbor – because as it turns out, the poles that support the whole structure have rotted, and the whole thing might collapse anytime! This time, the hardy poles are fire-charred to prevent easy rot.
After the first quarter-moon, Dan leaves due to realizations that he’d rather be somewhere else. This comes as a mild surprise to everyone, and gives even more incentive for the circle to engage in day-sharing – connecting around dinnertime and taking turns sharing activities, thoughts, and feelings that people have had throughout the day. As the moon progresses, there is also a slight increase in emphasis on coordinating daily activities the night before.
A few Wild Mooners learn the way of the bow-drill right of the bat, and that helps the circle welcome shkode (fire) in an easy fashion for the rest of the moon. As the repair work winds down around Full Moon, residents put more attention into teaching Wild Mooners new skills in order to help them stay engaged. Periods of long and abundant rainfall begin, intermixed with days of sunshine.
A couple of bow-and-arrow target shoots take place. Molly gets very engaged with basket-making, and after being introduced to a few concepts about birch-bark working and rope-making, crafts a few beautiful baskets. Hide-tanning becomes a passion for many, and several hides are tanned and smoked. The importance of fairly dry punky wood for smoking hides is learned (or remembered). Alex learns the value of not leaving his hide unobserved in the smoker even for a moment – it gets singed during a flare-up. Throughout the Moon Alex, and especially Tim feed their passion with bow and arrow crafting.
Alex attempts to make a fat/pitch solution for oiling canoes by boiling it with hot rocks in a cup made form an orange peel, which desn’t work. Tim attempts to make glue from hides, which turns out to be weak due to too high a temperature during processing.
The circle goes on a few large-scale gathering trips by canoe and foot. The people come back laden with milkweed, basswood, burdock roots, bow-staves, and willow shoots. Fishing becomes a semi-regular affair for some, especially during a period of hunger. There is also some gathering of greens and berries (many blueberries towards the end of the moon!) that goes on around camp. One trip involves going by car to an area about to be logged and gathering birch bark panels. On another occasion, most of the clan sets out to explore the far reaches of another river by canoe. During this trip, they experience a lot of rain and are happy to be able to create shelter and fire. However, in the night Zagame (Mosquito) shows her passion, and people return exhausted the next day.
Some sickness befalls the camp as well. Derik has to lie down a lot for the first quarter-moon because a congenital back condition has kicked up a bit. Almost from the beginning, Molly is experiencing deafness in one of her ears, and works on treating it in various ways. Daniel makes a deep cut in one of his fingers while butchering, and from then on has to take care of his wound on a consistent basis. Towards the end of the moon, Alex gets sick with a virus, and experiences low energy for a quarter-moon.
Clan Knowledge and Observations:
- It’s important for a camp to have established functional traditions in order to function well. A period of the residents living together in the camp setting aids that.
- It´s helpful to actively engage WildMooners in projects related to camp life
- Day-sharing can be an important glue to hold a group together
- During processing, hide glue should stay well below boiling temperature to remain strong
- Thirteen-lined ground squirrels have a lot of fat, even in the green season
- The waters around a nearby lake island are a good place to catch Sunfish and possibly Bass.
- It’s important to not have soggy punky wood when smoking hides with it
- A long period of hard rains can replenish lakes and streams that have dwindled over a number of years
Projects:
Wigwam repair
Summer Arbor Repair
Wood Arbor Repair
Arrow Making
Bow Making
Trap Making
Hunting (rodents, stump shooting)and trapping
Making fire-kits and learning how to use them
Hide tanning
Net Making
Basket Making
Bear Cubs Born Moon 2010 (February - March)
Residents:
Tim ('00,'01,'06), Marcus ('05), Joscha ('03)
Wild Mooners and Guests:
Birte, Andreas and Edgar
Eric, an internationally renowned photographer, joins the clan for the first half of the Moon
Tamarack comes out for a meeting.
Tamarack and Lety join the final feast.
Story:
The camp of Mashkodens bursts with life and activity as the clan grows to eight people. New clan members get introduced to the basic routines such as getting water and firewood, discovering where and how to relieve themselves in the woods, and tool usage and safety
The snow is still deep and yet the spring is making its way (this turn of the season spring comes earlier than others) – days are getting longer and warmer. Eric, a photographer from France, stays for the first half of the Moon with the intent of writing a story about Mashkodens. His life experience –he lived for more than two decades amongst tribal people in Tibet – sparks many a fruitful discussion about a wide range of topics, and his passion for meeting and understanding people and photography clearly show in his approach to daily life.
Daily camp life runs fairly smooth, as eight – and later on seven – people share the camp chores amongst themselves, such as gathering firewood, maintaining a clean camp, restocking the hardwood pile in the earth lodge, and getting water. Evening meals are usually simple one-pot affairs supplemented by starches and meat prepared directly over the fire, and a rotation of evening meal cooks leads to a variety of tasty meals even with (mostly) similar ingredients.
This Moon is also rich in craft work – hides and furs get tanned and smoked by several people, and Joscha assembles a spear and a snowshoe. Tim finishes some arrows and bows, while all Wild Mooners make and improve their own fire kits. Balancing games occur spontaneously and frequently, and some practice walking blindfolded and shadowing.
The clan connects more and more on a daily basis as dreams are shared and feelings – the joys and frustrations of everyday life in a tight group setting –are expressed. Stories are shared, and Joscha excels in recounting one traditional story over the course of many days. Some nights are spent singing, with some more involved than others. One of the main ongoing activities is snaring Wabooz (Snowshoe Hare). Tim and Joscha set up many snares, Marcus and Andreas join in. Altogether, they have more than 70 snares set up and throughout the Moon they catch more than forty Wabooz, so Wabooz meat becomes a daily part of their diet.
Many stories are shared about their adventures with outwitting Wabooz, and knowledge and experiences get exchanged which helps to increase the clan knowledge about trapping. One day, the clan gets together to check all the traps. Different styles are being observed and discussed, as well as locations. This way the clan knowledge increases tremendously - after a period with frequent body or hind leg catches (which oftentimes meant that the Wabooz were still alive) the trappers discover the snare diameter and height off the ground that leads to mostly neck catches
Many exploration trips happen to scout the surrounding area for Wabooz, Amik (Beaver) and Wawashkeshi (Deer).
One day, the camp is visited by a couple Seekers from the Wilderness Guide Program who announce a Men´s circle next day at their camp, which is a four to five mile walk through forest and across frozen lakes.
Tracking is another activity that is met with much passion from several clan members. Andreas spends much of the initial time exploring, and on one of his walk he disturbs a big, unknown bird. He finds him again a little distance away and follows the tracks. Meanwhile, some of his clanmates pick up on tracks at another spot and see the impression of wing marks in the snow where the bird finally took off. As they assemble around the hearth, they realize that they´ve been following the same bird – and start puzzling the story together. Other tracking expeditions happen spontaneously as people return to camp with stories of new tracks. Amongst them are fisher, coyote and turkey. Tim places bait in an area known to be frequented by coyotes to learn more about their behavior.
One morning, he finds a Wabooz in one of his snares with the head eaten and some of the entrails pulled out. Tracks are not clear as the ground has a thin layer of ice, so the tracking crew decides to leave the carcass behind and wait for further signs. After a few suns, their patience gets rewarded: they find the pellet of a Great Horned Owl.
With a mild winter and an unusually warm spring, the sap starts running in the trees – time for tapping maples! Marcus picks a warm, sunny highland spot for setting up taps, and over the next days the clan returns daily to drink the slightly sweet maple sap.
The last days are spent in closer vicinity to camp – traps are taken down and the camp gets cleaned up, while the group reflects about the events that shaped this Moon.
Relationship
- Some clan members scout the area for Amik sign. They find a hole in a frozen bog pond from where Amik started on some foraging trips during the warmer days. Some sit out at nightbreak to observe Amik and learn more about their ways.
- Dynamic daysharing: Instead of repeating the whole day, the clan experiments with sharing just what each deems to be contributing to clan knowledge or personally important.
Clan Knowledge:
- Height and diameter of the snare determine whether Wabooz will be caught on their body or hind legs (too big), see it as an obstacle and either turn around or bite through (too small) or get caught by their neck, ensuring a quick kill.
Wawashkeshi tracks are seen in one area north of camp, but otherwise seem to be absent from the vicinity of camp
Observations:
- In the beginning, snow is about knee-high in most places, and up to waist-high in the bogs. Travel with snowshoes is easier, though not essential.
- The communal cooking pot has a burnt crusty layer on the bottom which hasn´t been noticed before – a matter of awareness!
- The importance of tool usage, storage and safety awareness becomes clear
Projects:
- Tim works on several bows and carves blunt arrowhead out of split pieces of wood
- Todd finishes a reindeer sleeping bag
- Marcus tans a coyote pelt
- Joscha experiments with making snowshoes
- Tim finishes a pair of buckskin mukluks
- Several people complete their own bowl and spoons
- Joscha makes a spear
- Marcus and Joscha tan buckskins
- Three out of four Wild Mooners succeed in making their first bow drill fires
Great Mystery Moon 2010 (January - February)
Residents:
Tim ('00,'01,'06), Todd ('06)
Wild Mooners and Guests:
Joey’s 3rd moon, he leaves in the second half of the Moon
Joscha and Marcus come out to discuss new ideas for the Wild Moon Program
Story:
Mashkodens, the base camp for the Wild Moons, is blurring with activity. The clan is only half as big as during the previous Moon, and the remaining party is eagerly (some more than others) preparing for trapping camp. Tim, Todd and Joey had been scouting for good locations during the previous Moon, and since they didn´t find an ideal spot, they decided to set up camp in an area that looked promising but that they hadn’t explored yet.
The day comes when they leave Mashkodens, their backpacks and toboggan loaded with gear. The first part is over easy terrain, and they cover many miles in short order. The tricky part starts when they try to get through a vast boggy area to the intended campsite - they realize that deep snow, fallen over trees and especially the dense vegetation make it impossible for them to get there with the toboggan before nighttime, so they leave it for later pickup. A temporary camp gets established and the immediate area scouted for firewood and water, and the next few suns are spent exploring and hauling in provisions.
Travelling along the frozen river becomes a major challenge without snowshoes, and as only one of them has a pair, Tim eventually decides to construct a makeshift pair which works fairly well, especially considering the amount of time and materials that were put into them.
Primitive cooking is part of the daily routine, as the clan didn´t bring a pot to cut down on weight. This is a fairly easy task since the diet only consists of meat, fat, greens and nuts.
Much of the time is spent exploring and scouting the vast wilderness around camp. They discover many Wawashkeshi (Deer) tracks in the cedar bogs, though most of them seem to be old, and beaver lodges, most of them abandoned or possibly trapped out. Wabooz (Snowshoe hare) sign is present, though not very abundant, and so they decide to concentrate their efforts on exploring rather than snaring the little Wabooz. They also discover a network of snowshoe tracks along the river and through the woods, which proves to be a riddle which waits to be fully uncovered: Who was camping in the wilderness in the middle of the white season?
A few days after their arrival, they decide to move to a new, sunnier location and establish a more permanent camp there. Snow is shoved away, a lean-to erected with freshly cut balsam fir poles and the boughs laid out for a soft and fragrant insulation where upon the hides are laid out.
In the second half of this Moon, Joey – who is here for his third Moon – decides that because of his health conditions and other reasons, continuing with the experience might push him beyond what’s healthy for him at this point, and decides to leave (he had that thought earlier but wanted to wait until it became really clear).
A few suns before the end of the Moon and after many long days of exploring the vast wilderness, Tim and Todd return to Mashkodens with a fully loaded toboggan to prepare the camp for the next Moon cycle.
Clan Knowledge:
- Without snowshoes, walking is easiest in areas with dense canopy (e.g. stands of Balsam Fir). With snowshoes, open areas such as bogs and the shores of creeks and rivers become the major routes for quick travel.
- Slow-moving rivers, although not safe to walk on in general, may under certain circumstances be the easiest and most efficient way to travel in winter.
- Frequent testing of the ice by stabbing a pole into the ground ahead of oneself can prevent breaking through the ice. Select a stout pole.
Observations:
- Wawashkeshi (Deer) move into Cedar bogs as snow gets higher
- Many of the formerly active Amik (Beaver) lodges are inactive now
- A trail network of snowshoe tracks and an old abandoned campsite in the wilderness are discovered in an area previously thought of as being devoid of human winter activity
Projects:
- setting up a lean-to with bough bedding as a base camp
- Tim puts a pair of makeshift snowshoes together (Roycraft style)
- Toboggan gets repaired on the spot with materials at hand
Little Mystery Moon 2009 (December - January)
Residents:
Tim ('00,'01,'06), Bastian ('07)
Wild Mooners and Guests:
Joey’s 2nd moon, Uta’s 4th moon
Tamarack and Matt come out to spend some time at camp
Lety and Tamarack come out to camp for a meeting
Story:
A thick blanket of snow covers the ground at Mashkodens. The Clan can read the stories of who moved through their realm at night by following the tracks of their visitors. Several people successfully snare snow shoe hare which is one of the most abundant animals in the area.
Short days and cold nights are the reality of the Clan’s life, which brings them to close ranks. Emotional and physical space in the warm lodge are issues that come up between them.
With the desire to get the most out of the sun, they cut some of the balsam fir tree tops that block some of the sunlight hitting the lean-to. When it’s snowing or very cold, dinner happens inside the earth lodge; otherwise fire is mostly going at the lean-to.
In general, the comfort of the earth lodge turns it into the happening place for multiple activities. Hide tanning, snow and sponge bathing, physical exercises, cordage making along with arrow and basket making are some of their evening activities. Another highlight of our evenings are the tracking stories of Tamarack’s soon to come out tracking book.
Bastian catches the “beaver fever” and experiments with using frost as an agent to promote tanning. The brained furs are thawed out periodically to stretch them. This makes for very relaxed tanning. As some of them could be softer than they turn out, they are rewetted and brained a second time.
The Clan is surprised when snow turns into rain one day and is reminded to be grateful for the white beauty all around them.
Halfway through the moon the Clan ends the hypoglycemia diet of fat, nuts, greens and protein that was geared to eliminate hypoglycemic symptoms they had been experiencing. Starchy vegetables and fruits are reintegrated into their food drops. After experimenting with different diets, people have varying desires about the quantity of these foods they feel their bodies need. The Clan also benefits from Tim’s foraging and drying efforts of last green season. We have plenty of dried leeks, basswood leaves and tamarack needles.
In preparation of a possible future trapping camp site the Clan splits up. Half of them wander off scouting out places for three suns. They look for sites that meet criteria for a good camp: fire wood, water, remoteness, protection from wind and lots of sun exposure. The Clan determines together who should go in order for the scouting to be most effective.
Relationship
As smokeless fire is their goal, particularly in the earth lodge, the Clan experiments with different fire tending techniques by rotating this task every night.
At this time of being very close together, social thresholds come up more strongly in the shape of fears of not having one’s needs met, and trust issues.
Experimentation with their diet frequently brings opportunities to check in on how and what to cook. The Clan flexibly adjusts to these changes.
Observations:
- Snow shoes do not function adequately when there is a layer of crust on fluffy snow. One still sinks in deeply.
- Right after the crust formed on the snow, snow shoe hare feeds on food sources too high up for them to reach before. Do they have a memory of inconvenient food sources?
- Joey, who can eat large amounts of fat, notices that a sufficient amount of greens makes all the difference regarding the level of fat tolerance.
- High amounts of snow come down right on the newly formed ice, causing very unpredictable ice conditions.
- The frost nip on Uta’s thigh turns from red bumps to a generally reddish purple area. What seems to help is oiling, massaging and a cushioned bedding.
Projects:
Arrow making, nettle cordage, basket making (rolling grass technique, willow weaving), hide tanning (beaver, coyote, snow shoe hare).
Dreaming Moon 2009 (November - December)
Residents:
Tim ('00,'01,'06), Bastian ('07)
Wild Mooners and Guests:
Shane and Joey’s 1st moon, Uta’s 3rd moon
Moses Amik Beaver , an Ojibwa-Cree Artist from Summer Beaver, Ontario comes out with Tamarack and Lety to share the knowledge of how to build a skin boat.
Chris, Tamarack, Lety and Matt come out for an evening to fish camp.
Andrew, Lexa and daughter Grace come to visit as friends of the residents.
Tamarack and Matt come to our Wild Moon ending feast.
Former Wild Mooner Amelia and Roach come to visit as friends of the residents.
Story:
Just as the new members of the clan settle in, the Seekers of the Wilderness Guide Program come to visit. We learn how to build a skin boat from Moses Amik Beaver , an Ojibwe artist from Summer Beaver, Ontario. He brings great stories from the time he lived in the bush to our Circle. Then the Clan travels three days by canoe along the lake chain of the region to establish fish camp on 7-Mile Lake. Their goal is to monitor the Cisco to see if they still spawn there as they hadn’t been seen for several turns of the season. Each night they go out with their canoes to scan the sandy shallows of the lake with a flash light. The water temperature is now very close to freezing and canoeing during some windy nights with waves becomes a dangerous adventure. As that hinders the monitoring they start seine netting in waders by trial and error to find the fish. Living close to a lake with houses provides the opportunity for practice in keeping a low profile. Eventually one morning the lake turns still with a blanket of ice and they end their monitoring mission. They return to Mashkodens on foot.
To establish camp in a new area provides the opportunity to rely on different resources. The camp is set up within a hardwood forest. Primitive cooking in the ashes of hardwoods is much easier and coals keep longer. The new area is scouted extensively and people enjoy the great diversity of the land. Tim is very enthusiastic about checking out the beaver activity in the area.
Halfway into the moon the Clan changes its diet. They let go of all carbohydrates as an energy source and eat greens, bear fat, nuts, meat and fish. This is an experiment to treat hypoglycemia, which strongly affects Bastian. Some people’s bodies adjust easily while others need to find balance with their fat intake.
As the snow stays on the ground, tracking becomes a daily part of our lives. The area around fish camp is particularly diverse regarding animal life. Amongst many others we get to see raccoon, bear, coyote and wolf in the neighborhood.
Because of the pressing need to fix the hearth in the earth lodge back at Mashkodens, the Circle decides to split up for a couple of suns and determines who is going to take care of it.
After returning back to Mashkodens, the Clan gets to experience the luxury of a functioning earth lodge just as temperatures drop steeply. Uta is feeling first effects of frost nip on her thighs, therefore she decidse to make herself wool skirts to give that area some extra loving care.
Throughout this moon we get the opportunity to scavenge dead animals by finding a muskrat, a merganser duck and remains of a buck that was killed by hunters, all ready to be eaten.
For half a moon the Clan doesn’t practice their usual routine of taking efforts to blend into the land; for safety, they put on blaze orange clothing as the hunting season takes place.
Relationship
The different fat tolerances of people make it necessary to take a close look at everybody’s needs and ways to fulfill them.
The Circle quickly learns that putting someone else’s need above your own isn’t healthy if it is fear driven.
Almost everybody is under the assumption that we wouldn’t stay at fish camp for very long. Along with that comes attachments to ongoing projects at Mashkodens and a sense of settling for something that would be uncomfortable if endured for a longer time. As time passes, people settle in.
As the Clan becomes aware that different people start to continuously do the same tasks, we start a rotation system in order to mix things up. This way everyone is familiar with all of the tasks instead of being specialized.
Back at Mashkodens, the Clan is challenged by reactions to smoke, seemingly coming from the oak wood burned in the earth lodge. It’s possible that there is some kind of irritant in that wood, yet research didn’t find any evidence for that. Eventually the reactions vanish with no plausible explanation other than a natural desensitizing due to prolonged exposure.
The finding of the merganser duck turns into a great awareness raiser to be as a question. There was a fast assumption that she was a loon even though there was clear evidence that something didn’t fit.
Observations:
The area shows lots of sign of beaver. There are many abandoned beaver lodges and dams, yet only a few active lodges.
Clan Knowledge:
One idea for the den structure to be more functional in the future would be to build in a flu that could be used to run fires and dry the place out completely. The flu could be covered up when not needed.
Small comforts like the occasional warm water sponge bath apart from the regular snow baths make life a lot more comfortable when living outdoors. For hygiene reasons, orange peels in the shape of cups are used to pour water on wash cloths.
The frost nip on the thighs first looked like a rash: red, itchy, bumpy and hot. The bumps slowly vanished and turned into a more purplish color as other symptoms disappeared.
Projects:
Skin boat – alder, maple saplings thumb size, 3-4m , spruce root, tarp (skins).
Tim makes a paddle out of white spruce board.
Bastian starts to work with his first beaver hide.
Shane makes a fire kit and starts practicing to make fire from bow drill.
Tim makes a bow from black spruce following Moses’ suggestion.
Hemlock and white spruce are used for bow drill wood, with only the latter being successful.
Uta equips half of the Clan with sheaths for their Tomahawks.
Fishing Moon 2009 (October - November)
Residents:
Tim ('00,'01,'06), Bastian ('07)
Wild Mooners and Guests:
Uta’s 2nd Wild Moon
Leah visits to gather the Sweat Lodge Story
Story:
Leah , one of the school’s editors, comes out to record a story that was told in the Sweat Lodge. The Clan enjoys some unusually warm and sunny days during the transition time between the seasons. This interferes with their intention to fish for Cisco who typically spawn right before the lakes freeze over. We are busy with preparing the Camp for the white season including the set up of the winter lodges, an earth lodge and an underground lodge, the den . That involves several trips to get materials like clay, poles and birch bark.
Relationship
Tim takes many opportunities for deepening his relationship with Amik (Beaver) who repeatedly outsmarts his traps.
Uta and Bastian are getting more comfortable with their new relationship as they transition from an intimate relationship into friends and clan mates.
Bastian keeps feeding his passion for hide tanning.
Trips
Several trips are made by canoe to get clay from a quarry to repair the hearth. Exploring and trapping expeditions take place. Overnight Trips to Nishnajda (Home of the Wilderness Guide Program) for wood cutting and two Sweat Lodge ceremonies.
Clan Knowledge:
Preparation of oneself for a Sweat Lodge, in terms of hydration, should start a couple days before the ceremony.
Projects:
Mold is growing in the Den on a medium sized section of the roof poles. It’s treated by first burning it off with candles. Then we spray the den with an intensive decoction of balsam fir needles and place a large amount of heated rocks inside. The hearth of the earth lodge is rebuilt in a place a little bit more south in order to adjust to the slight indentation of the lodge roof and provide better smoke flue. Rodent holes and tunnels in the peat walls of the earth lodge are stuffed. A new smoke hole cover is built.
The seine net for cisco fishing is repaired.
Falling Leaves Moon 2009 (September-October)
Residents:
Tim ('00,'01,'06), Bastian ('07)
Wild Mooners and Guests:
John’s and Forrest’s Wild Moon
Tamarack, Matt and Chris come for the Wild Moon ending feast
Leah, Rose and Matt come out to recollect a story that was told in the Sweat Lodge
Story:
The leaves start to fall and the upcoming change of the seasons is our constant companion this Moon. Being a small group and having to prepare for the upcoming white season, we start right away with gathering hardwood. Daily trips with our pack frames to different spots became a group routine. On our ways we practice navigation skills and while gathering oak we start to get to know this tree better each day.
With colder weather we move from the summer arbor, our communal cooking spot, to the lean-to, which provides more warmth and shelter from the wind for a small group like us. Our bodies now need to move more in order to stay warm and our diet becomes richer in calories to gain body fat for the white season. People still work on hide tanning, trapping, bow making and lodge repair.
In the last quarter Moon we are gifted with two deer and have the opportunity to learn about skinning and butchering. With her coat still attached we are able to store the meat and protect it from hungry scavengers.
As a group we grow together quite fast and have to work things out. We have many opportunities to give clues and hints instead of giving answers as we seek to extend our knowledge and understanding of our surroundings and relationships. The intention to empower every individual of the clan instead of establishing dependent relationships is a focus of the whole moon.
In the end we feast together with Tamarack, Matt and Chris at camp and share stories and experiences in a bigger circle.
Trips
Woodcutting at Nishnajida, Sweat Lodge at Nishnajida, oak runs to hard wood hill and across the bog.
Projects:
Trapping, hide tanning, bow making, birch bark craft, trapping, oak wood gathering, cleaning up camp, gathering boughs
Childrens/Ricing Moon (August)
Residents:
Tim ('00,'01,'06),Scott ('05), Bastian ('07), Chris ('01)
Wild Mooners:
Sam, Jim, Cedar, Dindiise, Susan, Joshua, Anna, Nathan, Elsa, Luke, Uta, Leah, Rebekah, Elizabeth, Luuk, Lia, Logan, Jason, Kyle
Story:
The Ricing Moon starts with the warmth of the shining sun welcoming us at Mashkodens. After camp had been abandoned for several moons, some tender loving care is needed to make it functional again. A large group of people goes out to gather boughs to prepare all the lodges.
We are about twenty five people ranging in age from ten months to fifty years old. It feels more like a clan even though most people are new to the Native Lifeway. Right away we start practicing primitive cooking, hide tanning, trapping and primitive fire making. We learn about our daily honoring called D'ai and how to gather firewood.
In the first quarter moons there are several foraging trips; people canoe and walk to different areas to gather abundant and ripe berries. The second quarter moon brings a lot of rain, so we work on different projects: sewing, bowl making, and carving fire kits. We get better at our cooking skills and have growing awareness about our group dynamic to get everybody’s needs met. Stating our needs clearly in the Circle and working towards solutions that work for everybody becomes a daily practice that brings the Circle together.
The Children's Culture starts to evolve, and the kids go out on their own to follow their curiosity. They wander off and seem to be drawn to the school's support center, where they find civilized comforts. The adults come together and work on speaking with one voice to support the kids in immersing themselves in camp life.
The second half of the Moon we travel as a big group to Ricing Camp. We meet the Seekers on the way and then set up our camp. Daily ricing shifts are organized and we deepen our relationship with the plant the local Natives called Minomiin. Weather gets colder, and in the morning the lake shore is frozen when the first ricing shift starts canoeing the lake. After several days we have harvested the lake twice so we decide to journey to another lake to continue gathering Wild Rice.
It is a two day trip with constant paddling to make it to a place to camp, and the intensity and length of the trip helped us to come together and function as a group. When we arrive at the new ricing area, we set up a new camp and right away we organize ricing shifts with the Seekers. We enjoy the new camp site with abundant firewood and the opportunity to bath in the lake. Still working hard to get the amount of rice we need in order to have enough for the next turn of the seasons, we also make time to explore the new area. The end of this moon is our two day paddle back to lovely Mashkodens.
Trips
Visiting Raspberry Heaven, Crossing the bog to the West to get Oak Wood, Gathering Birchbark from Virgin Lake, Ricing Camp at Scott Lake, Ricing Camp at Nine Mile Lake
Projects:
Hide Tanning, trapping, bowl making, primitive cooking and fire making. Bow making
Bear Cubs Born Moon 2009 (February)
Residents:
Marcus'('05) last moon of a full turn of the seasons of Wild Moons.
Wild Mooners and Guests:
Pia's Wild Moon.
Story:
Marcus celebrates a full turn of the seasons being part of the Wild Moon. Pia joins camp to try out the lifeway and consider committing to the yearlong Wilderness Guide Program.
The first camp with only one resident and one Wild Mooner highlighted the necessity of clear communication. Marcus and Pia drew on the tools of honesty and dream-guidance to get to know themselves and each other. This enabled them to accomplish together things they would not have considered on their own.
Oncoming Green Season
In between patches of freeze-bringing north winds, the ground, water and air warms with increasing southerly winds. Marcus and Pia take notice, as their food thaws, wood soaks up wet snow, and their leftovers no longer freeze. Even the waterhole takes on a different flavor. The thawing and freezing cycles create a crust on the snow. When frozen through this makes for easy travel, or for unexpected mis-steps when partially thawed. A time of transition is reflected in the lives of the campmates too, as each prepares for a journey into uncharted territory.
Relationship
Waking, cooking, eating, working, traveling, fire-tending, wood-gathering, sleeping and dreaming together – for a full moon – brings out feelings and behavior normally avoided. As conflicts arise, feelings turn into patterns of managing stress without addressing their roots. Marcus and Pia - together with the clan knowledge of Mashkodens and the yearlong - work to open up with one another. In doing so, they are presented with unexpected self-awareness and a shared sense of accomplishment.
Noticing an imbalance in Pia's and his level of involvement, Marcus feels like he's being taken advantage of. His response at first is to push himself to do things anyways. Then, he starts asking Pia to get involved, but in a way that still carries the heavy feelings he's built up around the tasks. Throughout the moon, he discovers other options that still meet the needs of camp life while allowing him room for personal enjoyment. This allows him to invite Pia to join him from a place of joy and fulfillment, rather than neediness and resentment.
Pia struggles with matching Marcus' pace of activity in camp life. She gets by with doing things when asked and then breaking away as soon as she thinks it's safe. As Marcus loosens up and starts to enjoy himself more (and pushing her less) she is able to see more clearly the limits of her own perspective. As she builds confidence around her involvement in camp life, Pia becomes more aware of her resistance to doing things she senses are expected of her. Talking about this all helps Pia and Marcus to get a better understanding of themselves and each other. Marcus experiences breakthroughs with accepting himself and speaking up. He's used to holding in his preferences and criticism for fear of manipulating others. Instead, while letting go of the outcome, he expresses himself. Marcus and Pia enjoy the resulting group problem-solving (and often discover solutions that would've otherwise remain unseen), and Marcus experiences the excitement to be a part of plans and activities that he helped create.
Group Work
Pia considers yearlong. Asks a lot about it. They talk about other options along her "path." This triggers Marcus' judgment and fear of the unknown. They talk about it. Marcus breaks pattern - talks about college! (devil's advocate is fun!) Marcus tells his post-yearlong story, and pre-yearlong story. Pia and Marcus remember times past that helped them to become who they are today.
Together Marcus and Pia reflect on realities of walking a healing path. They decide it's not how fast you go but that you keep it up.
Rather than one person make fire, splitting it up into one person doing the bow drill while another gathers tinder, or ignites the coal with her breath gives the ritual a new feeling of togetherness. Challenging situations (a fire that took 5 coals for example) call for the further skill of considering one other, making them even richer.
Trips
Early on the two begin a tradition of making trips together. Here, their relationships with the surroundings as well as with themselves and each other are challenged to grow and flourish.
Interested in gathering Black Ash for making a toboggan, Marcus enlists Pia to walk with him to a Black Ash swamp he knows of. The two find a log after climbing a tree and scouting the area. Stories are told and songs are sung while carrying the heavy log back to camp. Later, the log turns out rotten.
A group of inner city high school students visit Nishnajda (the yearlong camp) and Marcus and Pia join the yearlong seekers to host the group. Marcus and Pia share their camp's tradition of rendering fat with hot rocks - modeling the technique for the visitors and then letting them do it themselves. Many of the students are fascinated by the lifeway and have questions galore. Pia and Marcus overnight with the seekers; sharing stories of Gaag (Porcupine,) dinner, and Marcus'; gratitude for what he learned with a past wild mooner. The seekers offer space with them in their lean-to to sleep. Before leaving the next morning, everyone joins together in the wigwam to share dreams. Guides for the yearlong program - Chris and Lety - join to facilitate the dream-sharing.
After discovering their rotten tree, Marcus and Pia strike out again for the Black Ash swamp. This time they pack their bedrolls, bow drills, and food. To set up an overnight camp they need a comfy sleeping area and a hearth. Jingob (Balsam Fir) boughs make their beds loftier and insulated, and also make for dry seats around their new hearth. Marcus plays with a large Black Ash tree snagged in another tree nearby, managing to fell and then split it with wooden wedges and a mallet. The two nomads awake the next morning covered in a thin layer of snow. Sleeping bags and clothing shaken clean of the dry snow, Pia and Marcus return to base camp with a fresh grasp of how free they are to move anywhere they choose. At the same time base camp feels more welcoming than ever. In the end no Black Ash was gathered since the chosen piece didn't split straight.
Another day the two go for a day walk to a Cedar forest to the northwest, in search of straight Cedar logs for various craft projects, and plain oldway fun.
Invited to a banishment feast, the Nad'mad'ewining circle hosts Marcus and Pia. Bringing a pot of their signature camp stew the pair absorb the atmosphere, stories, gratitude and great food as Sam leaves on his journey of self-discovery.
Inspired by their overnight trip to gather Ash, Marcus and Pia set out for a scouting trip southwest of camp. Before leaving base camp for good they find options for campsites and stow extra blankets, tools and food near their first campsite to lighten their load. On day one Marcus strikes out to prep camp (choose a site, find and gather boughs, gather wood and set up a shelter) while Pia remains at base camp pondering the yearlong. Marcus experiments with splitting a nice piece of White Pine nearby. Also scouting to the west of their scout camp, Marcus finds Wigwas (Birchbark) for possible shelter materials among hardwoods and hummock-laden terrain. On day two they move to a new location and use low-lying Jingob (Balsam Fir) trees to shelter their bedrolls. Marcus spends the day prepping camp and playing with the Nad'mad'ewining (school support center) children while Pia interviews for the yearlong. Setting up their fire hearth in a clearing, the two are unprepared when a snowstorm descends upon them while they eat dinner.
Play
The best gauge for camp health. Climbing high in the Gaag (Porcupine) tree on a windy day. Singing songs. Telling stories by the fire. Building a camp snowman. Language sharing: Marcus learns a little German from Pia while sharing new English words with her. Pia makes up her own tracking game by following Marcus' prints and retelling the story of where he went and what he did. During the end-moon feast with the school community, one of the climactic pivotal conflicts in the moon was turned into a riddle game. Humbling and fun, the game opened up lessons in Pia's and Marcus' relationship to the whole circle (with parents retelling it for their curious kids.) The circle also revels in the mind-stumping nature of "the triangle game" and "Cherokee counting sticks."
Children
Nad'mad'ewining shares its gift of children with Mashkodens via their children’s caretaker schedule. Marcus and Pia sign up to care for the children once a quarter-moon. What ensues is usually a mix of normal camp life with the spice of the children's creativity and natural joy. The kids also give adults a chance to explore their own upbringing and question how they relate with children. What ensues? Snowball fights, shelter building with boughs, felling trees for the spring prairie-burn, and drinking wild water. Skinning a Wabooz (Snowshoe hare) and studying its fur, body and organs. Listening to tracking stories and our plans for Toboggan camp. Tag-team chopping a 2 foot deep hole in our frozen-over watering hole. Rolling down snowy hills and checking snares. Long hikes into our favorite spots in the forest. Passing around wisdom: "When you get hurt, just breathe."
Exercises
Marcus and Pia do blindfold walking, together and on their own, on trail, off trail (laughing while trying to find old footsteps in deep snow), and across bogs. Marcus brushes up on his shadowing with Pia as well, getting a better feel for her flow of thought, feeling and movement.
Last Day
On their final day at Mashkodens, Marcus and Pia celebrate the deep learning they've experienced during their moon. Their last shared dreams lend power to this ritual.
Observations:
Clan Knowledge: -Black Ash is an ideal wood for a toboggan due to its strength and ease of splitting.
-Wolf-walk (retrace footsteps) to snares. Otherwise Wabooz (Snowshoe hare) diverts from runs onto footpaths - away from snares. Remedy for tromped trails is to create fences with debris to divert Wabooz to old runs and into snare.
-Fungus accumulating on middle beams in the Den. Recommend drying and possibly treating with Geezhik (Cedar) come green season. Also recommend treating log bowls for hot rock boiling with Geezhik to prevent mold.
-Soft poop isn't the same as diarrhea, and does not necessarily indicate bacterial imbalance in the gut. Experimenting with diet may provide better results than fasting and eating greens.
-Care with picking the right materials can mean everything. First Ash log was rotten, second had a knot (making it very difficult to split straight.)
-Geezhik (Cedar) can remove bodily fungus by applying a paste of chewed needles.
-Snares can become frozen after a thaw and refreeze.
-In bog east of camp are 2-3 "pine islands" aligned SW-NE
-Marcus discovers he naturally veers to the right when bushwhacking
-When choosing a tree to split (for a Toboggan for example) be sure to inspect the grain carefully to be sure it is straight and without knots to ensure straight splits.
-Seasoned Alder works well as firewood for the earthlodge.
-Mukluks in thawing weather turn holy fast.
-Wintergreen fried in cracklins (rendered Bear Fat) tastes like...nothing.
-Bland squash tastes better when left on the bottom of the pot and caramelized ("burnt with intention")
Projects:
-Setting up new snares and moving and modifying old ones.
-Marcus scrapes, rehydrates and rebrains an Amik (Beaver) hide.
-Scouting Black Ash to split and bend for a toboggan
-Pia's first bow-drill fire and first coal-technique fire.
-Marcus fluffs up a new, super-comfy Jingob bough bed (bed of Balsam fir tree boughs).
-Setting up, maintaining, and checking Wabooz (Snowshoe Hare) snares
-Staying clean with regular snowbaths
-Crafting a rawhide liner to make a Mukkuk (Birchbark basket) water-tight.
-Cleaning the Earthlodge: shaking out rugs and replacing Jingob (Balsam Fir) boughs with a fresh set in preparation for hosting a feast
-Listening to each others dreams and helping one another to gain practical insight into our relationships
Great Mystery Moon 2009 (January)
Residents:
Marcus ('05) returns from a visit to his parents'.
Wild Mooners and Guests:
Amy's Wild Moon. Sam and Kitfox depart early from their Wild Moon. Pia joins camp for a 1/4-moon before spending time with the seekers at Nishnajda. Bub, Tamarack's son, visits occasionally and sets up snares. Tamarack and Lety visit to share stories and perspective. Tamarack and his assistant Chris join the circle for an evening; working with conflicts within camp and recounting the pre-Wild Moon history of Mashkodens.
Story:
Having spent a moon at Mashkodens, Amy shares much with incoming wild mooners Sam and Kitfox. Expectations clash with reality and the group attempts to come together in meeting each other's needs. Ultimately, Sam and Kitfox opt to leave the circle. Marcus and Amy grow closer as old ways of coping with uncomfortable situations are brought out in their relationship. The two develop a flow based on their understanding of how each other communicates and how camp life works. This flow is witnessed and aided by the late arrival of Pia, who adds her own perspective to the mix.
Thresholds
Marcus sometimes feels overwhelmed being the only yearlonger in camp. He notices that he feels closest to others when he's honest and open. This helps him to fill his need for feeling understood.
Amy struggles with fire and her desire to "have it right now!" Her frustration is noticed by the circle echoed back to her. In the end she sees more clearly how she tends to "squawk" at others in these situations and how this doesn’t give her what she really wants.
Kitfox discovers his sensitivity to cold in his feet. This combines with his disappointed expectations about life at Mashkodens (living-learning versus instruction and the less project-oriented nature of the white season). He mentions this to the circle after he starts to consider leaving. This provided a chance to address these and other issues that were preventing the circle from functioning smoothly. Ultimately, Kitfox and Sam chose to leave camp.
Cold and Fire
Severely cold weather arrives and the clan feels it! At first taking the "suck it up and deal with it" approach, later sharing opens up the possibility of sharing knowledge and exploring options for staying comfortable. Amy stresses how big of a skill staying warm is, and shares what she has learned. The circle spends more time in the earthlodge around the fire-hearth until warmer weather and the hunger for more time in the daylight tips the scales back to using the lean-to as the central hearth.
Fire plays an important role: providing nourishing heat and a way to cook food. The circle's use of the super-hot tipi fire is called into question due to limited experience. In the end, the tipi stays, and the group works together to stay comfy, well-fed, and warm.
Stories
At the height of her tracking passion Amy brings her experience back to the clan. She shares techniques, observations of Wabooz (Snowshoe Hare,) and her own joys and frustrations.
Kitfox tells of his experience growing up in a native lifeway community. He shares a song from his people.
Pia investigates Teaching Drum lore and asks about banishment. Marcus is glad to share his own personal experience with banishment a white season ago.
Tamarack and his assistant Chris join the circle for an evening in the earthlodge. Chris shares the history of Mashkodens since its birth years ago. The stories involve dozens of past yearlongers and volunteers. The Wild Moon ends the story, picking up where past efforts left off: creating a full-time native lifeway camp utilizing the clan knowledge of yearlong experiences past and present.
Pia recounts some of the stories in books that inspired her curiosity about native lifeway.
Mysteries
Why does Gaag (Porcupine) ever get out of his roost in a tree? This question leads to regular visits of a Gaag known to roost in a White Pine northeast of camp. Discoveries abound, including what Gaag eats, his den, and his patterns of movement. As one question is answered, a new mystery opens up: a clump of Gaag quills mixed with coagulated blood is found beneath his roosting spot in the White Pine. We tell our elders of the find. They leave us with more questions than when we began.
Communication
With a new couple joining the moon, and Amy and Marcus' prior moon together; the group notices a tendency to split in two. They use the talking circle in an attempt to come together and do something about the issue. Contrary viewpoints lead to discussions about the camp rituals of waking with the dawn and sharing dream-feelings. Marcus' role as the sole camp resident exposes him to criticism. He discovers his need to remain open to other viewpoints without taking accusations of blame personally.
Amy and Marcus start to build a trusting relationship. Spending so much time together, they get to know how each other reacts in certain situations. Feelings of vulnerability come up as they recognize a drive to get closer than they are used to being comfortable with. They take the opportunity to see themselves more clearly by expressing the things they at first find uncomfortable. The result is a pool of shared knowledge between the two on how to navigate touchy spots in their relationship:
-Recognize when you're being "baited" to react and simply remove yourself from the situation
-Clarifying another's viewpoint by asking questions can mean the difference between power struggle and friendly sharing
-Get to core feelings that are not about the other person, so what you say isn't as likely to trigger defensiveness. This leads to an atmosphere of understanding rather than blame.
-When calling someone else out on a habitual way of reacting, don't offer interpretations of their behavior (this leads to arguing and defensiveness). Referring to real cues like body language or tone of voice helps them to be able to see themselves better.
By the end of the moon Amy and Marcus are able to enjoy conversations that seemed frustratingly impossible in their earlier days of sharing camp.
In Pia's first 1/4-moon at camp, she and Marcus start seeing a trouble area in their relationship and let each other know. They keep an awareness on this throughout the moon and into the next.
Trips
Sam, Kitfox, and Marcus walk a new route across a northward bog to get to the Geezhik (Cedar) forest. There they chop out a piece for a communal bowl.
The group awakes predawn to walk over frozen lakes in twilight. Their destination is Nishnajda (where the Wilderness Guide Program is held) to attend a sweat lodge ceremony. Marcus enters the sweat lodge with the yearlong seekers while Sam and Kitfox play a supporting role outside, preparing the seekers' earthlodge and the evening’s feast. Sam and Kitfox return to camp in he evening leaving Marcus to spend an evening with the seekers and share dreams the following morning.
Marcus and Amy take a day to walk to a nearby creek where there are lots of pack frame pieces to harvest. They chop away at special L-shaped branches and wonder where the time went as nightfall descends. Lugging their finds they return by starlight and plop into their beds, exhausted and content.
As the Wild Moon comes to a close, Amy accompanies the women of Nad'mad'ewining (Teaching Drum's support center) to a women's circle with the yearlongers at Nishnajda (where the Wilderness Guide Program is located.)
Feast
The circle is moved to carry on the tradition of playing games at the celebratory feast. People puzzle themselves and each other with the triangle game, Cherokee counting sticks, and riddles. Stories from the moon are told: Amy's pack frame triumph, Marcus and Amy's saga of ups and downs, and what people learned about themselves during the moon.
Observations:
-Pileated Woodpecker to the east of camp. Possibly a pair.
-Marcus spooks some Grouse and gets to examine their scat. Peanut-sized round-ended cylinders with large, undigested fibers. Contained in a snow-depression the Grouse makes when he sits.
-Wabooz (Snowshoe Hare) digs a deep hole into the yearlong seekers’ (Wilderness Guide Program) old hearth, buried in snow. Perhaps to get at nutrients in ash? One seeker also tells story of Wabooz tracks in expired sweatlodge fire coals.
-Clear sky, high-pressure system days bring extreme cold in morning.
-Warmer days with clouds in from the west. Big snow flakes.
Clan Knowledge:
-"Balance snare," instead of creating a trigger to hold the weight in place, the weight is balanced on a long stick. When the snare is pulled on, the weight comes off balance and pulls the snare up sharply.
-Tipi fires: build up a medium to large tipi before allowing the small twigs to ignite. This will give a more stable tipi structure in the end.
-Alternate path to northwest Cedar forest scouted, across north bog.
-There is a large tomahawk in the drinking pond (in the middle in line with Jingob [Balsam Fir] tree) near the summer arbor. Retrieve in green season.
-Sam and Kitfox share a hand-cleaning trick: heat up a rock near the fire, use it to melt snow to wash hands. Add Jingob (Balsam Fir) needles as sanitizer.
-Good softwood firewood (White Pine: easy to break) on east trail behind ridge that runs along steep hill.
-Fish can be skewered as simply as poking a stick through the mouth and letting the fish hang next to fire.
-Wet, sub-freezing conditions (wet birchbark, tinder, ice on log-bowl) need to be accounted for to choose good rock-boiling days.
-Plenty of sturdy Ironwood pack frame pieces near Fish Camp.
-For splitting pack frame pieces: 1) Green Cedar splits poorly 2) Leave plenty of room to spare so back-brace is not too thin 3) Split behind knots 4) Smaller trees are easier (to split and carry)
-Amy on water filters: 1) Don’t use straw, makes more bubbles and requires more effort 2) Make sure prefilter is on tight 3) Avoid sucking up ice 4) Bite fully on mouth-bit
-Amy discovers working carefully with a tomahawk on her pack frame to be quicker than using a knife.
-Esseban (Raccoon) hat recipe: 1) Tie buckskin thong to ends of four legs 2) Pull front two legs across forehead and tie behind head 3) Pull rear legs under chin and tie 4) If holes in legs rip, reinforce with circles of buckskin
-New Geezhik (Cedar) tree discovered north-northeast of camp, next to a small pond near a fallen Maple.
-Amy learns the importance of hygiene and gets on it: not washing her clothes or bathing leaves her with a rash.
-Spending longer times in the darkened earthlodge around the fire had a depressing effect. Smoke inhalation also became an issue for some.
-Gaag (Porcupine) in White Pine along overgrown roadbed to the northeast of camp:
-Most commonly found in southeast-facing branches of White Pine on warm days or sunny days past mid-day. Spends time in den on cold mornings and probably nights too.
-Also travels a few stone throws to a nearby Hemlock and still further to a den burrowed into the roots of a fallen White Pine.
-He nibbles on young Tamarack and Maple buds on his travel route.
Projects:
-Re-opening the water hole once it was sealed up from a 1/4 moon of lying dormant.
-Rendering Deer fat with hot rocks
-Setting snares for Wabooz (Snowshoe Hare)
-Sam and Kitfox make bowdrill kits. Kitfox makes fire.
-Boiling Wild Rice with hot rocks.
-Building debris shelters out of bark, boughs and snow.
-Felling Jingob (Balsam Fir) trees for spring prairie burn.
-Splitting off Cedar branches for pack frames.
-Marcus repairs his broken pack frame arm with rawhide.
-Amy makes her first pack frame with wood she gathered.
-Creating a wood-arbor out of a hide rack, Buffalo hides and Jingob (Balsam Fir) boughs.
-Marcus turns a softened Esseban (Raccoon) pelt into a warm hat.
-Pia starts a firekit.
-Repairing and reinforcing winter wood arbor.
Little Mystery Moon 2008 (November - December):
Residents:
Klara ('05) and Joscha ('03) stay for their last Moon. Marcus ('05) leaves towards the end of the Moon to visit family. Scott ('05) visits for a 1/4 Moon (a week).
Wild Mooners and Guests:
Amy's Wild Moon. Stephanie, from Nadmadewining (Teaching Drum's support community) immersed herself for one day to write a newsletter article on Mashkodens. Nick and his son Bart, friends of the school, and Rob (Tamarack's son) stay for a couple of days to try out snaring.
Story:
Having maintained a tight running camp, the residents get the chance to introduce a Wild Mooner to their rituals and routines.
The "Chores"
This was the first Wild Moon to use a rotating system to help the clan ensure everyone's needs are met.
- Water-Person: Provides water for the circle to boil. Chops out the water hole and fills the pot, cleaning it of remnant food if necessary.
- Fire-Person: Brings Shkode (Fire) to the circle to boil the water and thaw or roast breakfast for everyone. If the Fire-Person is not able to bring Fire (bow drill kits are used exclusively to make Fire at camp) he can call upon a backup.
- Lean-to Guy (a.k.a. "Hygiene-Person"): Keeps an eye out for compost and nutshells piling up, and the general cleanliness of the hearth area. Can call on the circle for help in tidying up.
- Lodge Prep: Stocks the earth lodge (lodge used to sleep, eat, and commune in during cold Moons) with proper-size firewood, cleans ashes out of the Fire hearth and removes smoke hole plug (the smoke hole is covered when there is no Fire). Also keeps an eye on the cleanliness of the lodge. Occasionally calls on the circle for assistance.
While the system was flexible (the Fire-Person would sometimes also get water, or many other variations) it brought awareness to the camp's needs and kept communication flowing so that everything got done. When more or less people were at camp, the rotation was adapted to include fewer chores, double people up on tasks, or double tasks up on individuals.
The residents were excited to implement this change. Since a Wild Mooner would rotate through each chore a number of times, her growing knowledge could be observed and better appreciated. It also provided an impetus to learn the skills beyond just "fiddling around;" to bring Fire for your circle you need to learn Fire making! Also highlighted was the interdependence of each skill: to boil water takes a hot Fire when the water is nearly frozen!
Activities like rendering fat with hot-rocks and rock-boiling Wild Rice didn't happen everyday, yet when these took place different people, or sometimes the whole clan, would get a bite of the experience.
Cold and Warmth
Unusual cold came during the Moon, with temperatures often dipping low enough to freeze nose hairs and beards. This brought fears of "Can I do this?" and the learning, doing and knowing that you can!
Fire was vital. Big, warm, smokeless Fire. Those with experience shared what they knew about building warm Fires. The impressively organized lean-to softwood pile was maintained, and tipi Fires became an art of mindfulness, balance and teamwork.
The clan also quickly discovered the wonder of the Fire-heated earth lodge. Scurrying in with wood, food and water, we would sometimes hole up there as the wind outside howled and the other animals followed suit. Within the insulated dome of peat (from the bog) was a new type of hearth - fed by an underground flu - which demanded further learning in the Fire tending department.
In contrast to the sprawled-out sunbathing of the green season, the clan would huddle together to stay cozy as the wind chilled. Where sponge bathing, eating, journaling and crafting took place, lessons in keeping things organized inevitably came up, along with new questions about intimacy and privacy. When the clan relaxed in the warmth of the lodge, games and stories would flow. Empowered, they created their own sub-tropical comfort in below zero temperatures.
Trapping
One morning after a very cold night, oval-shaped footprints peppered Mashkodens and the surrounding forest. Waabooz (Snowshoe Hare) - an old friend to Mashkodens - was back on the run, and now the humans could easily track him.
People perked up when they heard wind of this and the clan knowledge on snares was solicited. The clan went on a walk together, observing Gaag (Porcupine) roosts from last white season (when snow is on the ground), Waabooz (Snowshoe Hare) tracks, and together set up a snare.
Elders and others with more experience shared stories about how Waabooz (Snowshoe Hare) moves through her territories. This would later fuel an explosion in clan knowledge about loafing areas - runs - and feeding areas. Trackers sometimes returned with different plants they thought Waabooz ate.
A respite in the cold weather came and the camp's trap count quadrupled! As the evening meal was being cooked, clanmates were eagerly sharing locations of potential Waabooz (Snowshoe Hare) runs while others were still out setting up traps. One tracking experience - following the tracks of a bait stick next to the animal's prints - led to finding an actual Waabooz (Snowshoe Hare.)
Friends of the school were welcomed and brought a new style of snaring. Excitement about new ease leads to the circle getting clearer on what their true intention is with snaring. Some lessons come hard and are made unforgettable.
Visitors
Once in a while folks from Nadmadewining (Teaching Drum's administrative support center) would come by camp on one mission or another. One morning was spent jointly lugging boards from disassembled tent platforms - relics from another era of Mashkodens, to be recycled for some other use. Poles from these same platforms were later chopped, sawed and split to be burned for firewood.
For the first time, Nadmadewining's children's caretaker schedule incorporated Mashkodens regularly. Cedar, Diindiis and Rene romped out to camp, bringing their sleigh and joined in the flow of activities. Sometimes this meant listening as the Mashkodeniens shared dreams and new awareness, chiming in with their own experience. Other times the children sledded while firewood was gathered, or set up traps alongside Wild Mooners.
Passion for creating a school newsletter brought Stephanie out from Nadmadewining to immerse herself for a day at camp. Her fresh perspective reminded Mashkodeniens what a gift and challenge immersion in the lifeway can be.
Before the end of each Moon a feast is held; this Moon, a Wawashkeshi (Deer) head feast! The earth lodge was toasted up and then filled with excited bodies and pots of food. Gratitude was expressed to the residents, Wild Mooners, dreams, and ancestors, and then everyone played "guess which part of the head I got," and feasted.
Trips
Mashkodeniens did a bit of walking this Moon. The men made a trip to Nishnajda for a men's circle (the men gather for a talking circle of their own), arriving after dark for an evening of goofing around and playing games. It turned into an overnighter as they occupied a friend's lean-to, next to an unsuspecting Gaag (Porcupine.) For the ritual Sweat Lodge ceremony, there was woodcutting the next day, so the women joined them. After long days of walking and shouldering big logs, it's easy to appreciate the power of the circle in firing up the earth lodge.
Talking Circles and Truthspeaking
The clan called upon its skill in listening and Truthspeaking a number of times. Truthspeaking is what we call the practice of getting in touch with one's truth, expressing it clearly and concisely, and doing so in the moment, spontaneously. Mashkodens' curly-spiraled talking stick making its rounds in the talking circles (a forum for sharing truth and listening to other's truths). Used to having control over getting our needs met with ease in the civilized world, asking the circle for help in meeting those needs without our usual ways meant breaking that pattern. Part of this process was learning to express what we normally hold in, and to do so in a way that helps people to listen easier. An ideal and a process, the clan practices Truthspeaking continuously.
Reintegration
Stories are told about sharing the experience of the Wild Moon with friends and family. Enthusiasm, fears and doubts are shared and filtered through the collective knowledge of the circle.
Observations:
- Waabooz loafing areas are often on the side of a hill (they use the hill as cover), under low Jingobs (Balsam Firs) or logs, and on the border of bogs (good visibility.)
- Waabooz eat White Pine needles, infantile Maple and Alder sapling buds.
Clan Knowledge:
- Re-insulating the earth lodge every fall still leaves it prone to burrowing rodents afterwards. There is a need to trap them out before the white season (snow).
- Each Waabooz (Snowshoe Hare) has a loafing area that is the center of four loops that are feeding areas, connected to the lounging areas by runs.
- Camouflaging a snare makes a difference between the snare being chewed through and catching a Waabooz
- Hot, smokeless tipi Fires: arrange hand-length sticks in steep tipi formation. Leave space between for air. Build up slowly to generate coals. Maintain from all sides (team effort.) Graduate to larger (3/4-wrist size) wood and then maintain larger size to save quick-burning sticks.
- The best watering hole is the one from the pond that has the least tannins and inorganic iron.
- Clay "slip" on earth lodge hearth cracking and crumbling. Recommendation: to use fibrous material in it (grass) to make it hold stronger. Also, apply wet on wet.
- Distance of notch from board edge is a major component of a good bow drill kit.
- If people are drinking boiled water and not able to drink enough with filters - plan for adequate water during sweat days, where lots of extra water is necessary.
Hot rock cooking:
- Check rocks - wipe gunk off to make sure they're not crumbly or composite
- A miniature pedestal (finger-thick sticks placed under rocks) works better than a large one, which creates an unstable platform and makes adding on wood awkward.
Earth lodge:
- Everyone has a spot they can keep their clothes, journals, etc., easily accessible.
- Person near wood needs to be proactive about asking for help with feeding Fire.
Divvy up wood as one option. - Crisscross Fire is good for larger sticks, and for times when attention is needed elsewhere.
Snaring:
- Warm days are easier on the hands to set up traps. Too warm and thawing moisture will later freeze the snare/weight-line in place.
- Runs are more vulnerable than loafing/feeding areas because Waabooz (Snowshoe Hare) is in a rush and wants to get somewhere (to his food or his safe spot)
Projects:
- Walking through the bog trail slinging a pack-frame to gather seasoned hardwood for the earth lodge.
- Maintaining an organized softwood pile. Gathering, breaking to right size.
- Boiling water: filters are used only when away from camp.
- Snaring Waabooz (Snowshoe Hare)
- Everyone takes a hand at hot rock rice cooking.
- Hot rock cooking greens in fat-rendering bowl
- Skinning Waabooz (Snowshoe Hair)
- Making Amik (Beaver) stew, Wawaskeshi (Deer) head stew
- Felling Jingob (Balsam Fir) for spring burn, using boughs for bed and hearth.
Freezing Over Moon 2008 (October -November):
Residents:
Klara ('05) and Joscha ('03) arrive from Germany for 2 Moons (months). Marcus ('05) continues.
Wild Mooners and Guests:
Jonah ends his Moon.
Story:
German yearlongers (Wilderness Guide Program graduates) bring experience from wilderness courses (one of which is also one Moon (month)) from their homeland. Early on, the question is asked: "What is your intent for being here?" Old patterns of making things black-and-white are brought to light. How are we to be a pioneering camp and also honor our need for comfort? We began recognizing the pendulum-swing between "I will be tough and bear it" and "I can't take this anymore, I want out!" We realized that self-care=circle-care, and that abundance is a necessary part of the balance, along with scarcity.
Getting a good camp flow going requires plenty of dry firewood, stacked neatly and close to the hearth, and regularly replenished. Using smart planning, we implemented a chore system for bringing Fire and boiled water to the hearth every morning, and set up the evening meal ahead of time. We focused on getting clear on everyone's needs, and the need to speak up if you have them.
We also brought awareness to camp cleanliness, including personal cleanliness. We are representatives of our camp and its lifeway. Do we want to attract people who value taking care of themselves, or masochists? We bring out a utility pot for sponge bathing and scrub each others' backs, vigorously!
Finding a balance with primitive cooking meant bringing the pot into play (for veggies) to reduce stress, save time, and provide extra energy for other ventures. Thus, we discovered the treat of drinking warm water. We found neat compromises that allow us to be more comfortable and develop the skills that we value most (like using a modern convenience, such as a mason jar to hold rock-rendered fat, and using a gouge to finish the rendering bowl.)
We also experienced sharing hot rock rice-cooking (and having our first batch of our own harvest from Rice Camp.). Our ways of rendering fat evolved from rendering fat individually in our own personal bowls, to having a group fat bowl, to having a bigger group fat bowl in which we can render a whole food drop's worth of fat (three days' worth) at one time. Also, there was an experiment with cooking greens and roasting nuts with hot rocks.
Cisco fishing involved catching silvery swimmers late at night, in near freezing waters, on the shore of a lake, using rubber boots and suits. Two people dragged a "seine," a long net out into the water, turning it around and returning to shore so that people with flashlights and hoop nets can scoop out any Fish brought in. Whopping them on the head and returning to our warm dens, we were tired and ready for dreams.
We collaborated on different techniques and ways of listening to each other's dreams, and sharing our own. We discovered a flow of dream sharing that is less routine and more spontaneous than having a dream sharing time in the morning; sharing when we want to share or when it feels right.
Discovering patterns in our relationships: foregoing victimization flagging (an awareness raising tool for helping someone see when they are being a victim, as opposed to being empowered) for a more personal approach. Everyone gets to see how he or she takes part in the pattern. Solutions come naturally from this common awareness.
Clan Knowledge:
- Marcus: When in a unique place, how to stay healthy long term (rather than suffer and deal). Also, a chance to look at the personal pattern of wanting to be the "tough guy:" drinking water (disregarding tannins), teeth (not watching out for rocks), food (eating anything, like char, rot).
- Discovering your inner "Duct tape-Man:" When you're in the woods and that voice comes up that says, "What are you doing, jerk? You can't do this, you should go get a hamburger..." Everybody has him. Sometimes you have more than one, and they argue. He has that name because you want to put duct tape on his mouth.
Observations:
- Northwest winds and clear skies. Little snow. One below zero night.
- Coyote is close to camp.
- The Ermin goes active - his white furry body scurrying through the lean-to, looking for food (we hide our meat, fish and fat.)
- Snowshoe hare tracks are seen more now on the thin snow.
- Turkeys and Grouse are about. A male Spruce Grouse and three females frequent the southeast of camp.
- Ponds, creeks and lakes begin to freeze over.
Projects:
- Gathering winter wood.
- Streamlining hearth.
- Maintaining immaculate softwood pile.
- Re-stuffing earth lodge smoke hole pillow.
- Sewing birch bark panels onto the earth lodge, and mounting the earth-lodge's new smoke hole cover.
- Cisco fishing.
- Gathering Cedar for bow drill kits.
Conclusion: As the cold comes, camp loosens up. We become more self-secure and at the same time more personally responsible. Looking back on past Moons, we see major lessons and start implementing changes that make life more lovely. Focusing on basics (warmth, food, water, fulfillment) we refine our skills to maximize efficiency and fulfillment and to reduce stress. To question a strict code of idealism opens up an acceptance of who we are and what we really want.
Falling Leaves Moon 2008 (September - October):
Residents:
Scott ('05) leaves after 3 Moons (months). Coyote ('04) joins for a 1/4 Moon (1 week). Marcus ('05)' visits mom for 4 days
Wild Mooners and Guests:
Jonah arrives for his Moon. Yearlong Seekers (Wilderness Guide Program participants) join camp for 1/2 Moon (2 weeks). Nathan (a previous Wild Mooner) returns to camp for a 1/4 Moon (1 week). Jim (friend of the school) visits.
Story:
Wilderness Guide Program Seekers set up "Grass Camp" at Mashkodens while gathering marsh-grass for rebuilding their "Wooly Mammoth" wigwam (a large wigwam at Nishnajida). Camp traditions evolve with different styles of cooking. Pack-frame tips are exchanged. Everyone comes together to maintain firewood, gather greens, etc.
Wild Mooners and residents move to winter camp (lean-to hearth facing the sun, and underground dens.)
The very personal question arises: "What am I doing here?" Uncovering fear and passion in the questioning, new paths start to open up, but are still daunting. Finding the awareness to give our gifts without demanding recognition and becoming resentful when it does not come all the time.
Old patterns of trying to control the self, others and situations meet their maker. Radically different approaches lead to questioning traditions, ultimately reinforcing some while others are left behind. Routine day sharing (the practice of sharing the day's events and discovered at evening meal time) and dream sharing (the practice of sharing dreams with each other immediately upon arising) are left behind.
Discovering relationship patterns that come up when we feel vulnerable and seek outside reassurance. Questioning how we can best encourage one another without propping ourselves and each other up on the wobbly support of advice-giving.
With Jim's prairie restoration experience, we set about raking a perimeter for a spring burn at Mashkodens. We consult with one another and elders and decide which trees will come down.
Three days straight of rain test our ingenuity: we create a two-sided lean-to to keep us dry and get on the ball with firewood to keep our Fire going all day. The first snow follows, shocking!
The pot is brought in to boil water for Nathan and Jonah - personal filters are too slow. A new watering hole is used for cleaner water.
We are gifted two road kill Deer in a 1/4 Moon (one week). They are putting on fat (first in heart, kidneys, legs and neck.) Also receive a raccoon (at least a 1/2 inch of fat in some spots.)
Clan Knowledge:
- Deer rugs require care: sun them and shake them out to release dust and prevent mold.
- Felling trees safely: Chop wedge out of side, tree falls toward, 1/2 way into tree. Switch to opposite side, move up 3/4 hand length and chop new wedge. This creates a hinge that ensures tree does not pop off of stump while chopping. Push to fell once hinge is thin enough.
- Leaves are falling; everything is yellowing.
- North wind. 1/4 Moon (one week) of low pressure warm air, but cold wetness was followed by a high pressure system with gusty winds.
- Cattails are fluffing themselves up.
- Bunchberries are found here and there.
- Maples have shed their leaves.
- Turtle eggs (painted turtle, perhaps?) are found in small craters and appear to have hatched.
- Star-Archer is in the East, early morning.
- Coyotes are vocal on first frost.
- Sphagnum moss has red hints in it; club moss has a yellow 'poof.'
- Very deep holes dug within and around Mashkodens, along with paw tracks.
Projects:
- Refurbishing pack frames (sanding, oiling, replacing rawhide.) Redesigning straps on food-carrying rawhide backpack.
- Pack-framing winter wood across the bog.
- Bending saplings to create hoop frame for smoke hole cover.
- Felling four Balsam Firs for next spring's burn.
- Using boughs to spruce up floor in winter lodge.
- Digging peat from the bog, drying it and stuffing it in the walls of the winter lodge for insulation.
- Stuffing dried sphagnum moss in doorway for insulation.
- Resetting lodge entryway boards in mushy peat.
- Marcus dry scrapes a Beaver pelt. Scott tans a Deerskin. Marcus tests the new smoker out on some Deer hides. Fleshing hides for Deerskin rugs.
Conclusion: A dynamic Moon of many comings and goings. Stale habits are jumbled up and what is left in the aftermath is a stronger and more open Mashkodens. Project work slows as the focus shifts more to quality of life.
After Ricing Moon 2008 (August - September)
Residents:
Scott ('05) returns from some time away and joins Marcus ('05).
Wild Mooners: None.
Story
With two people communication is simple and vital. There developed a morning flow, beginning with a "warm-up" project (digging peat or carrying wood, usually) and then sharing dreams and plans for the day over breakfast. Each goes their own way during the day (doing laundry, working on personal projects, etc.) sometimes joining together for an afternoon project, and then collaborating on dinner, where we sum up our days for one another.
Routine of hot rock rice cooking is set up for working together. Luscious milkweed pods are gathered and enjoyed (cooked with hot rocks as well.)
Feelings of insecurity and struggles around comparing oneself to others and ideals come up. We turn to one another for empathy and support. Dreams bring tons of awareness and new options.
With different perspectives on personal patterns of victimization, victim flagging (helping others be aware of victimization) is a challenge to salvage. Utmost is a sense of shared purpose, so each person gets clear on what he values in the practice and the details are sorted out from there.
Clan Knowledge:
- Napping and increased fat consumption help with dwindling energy levels.
Observations:
- Beaver gets very active to the west of camp (downing many trees and leaving wide swaths from dragging them,) eventually taking up residence in the caramel pond.
- Creek plant life browning over (picker weed, grasses and lily pads.)
- South wind prevails: warm, little to no rain.
- Football-sized holes dug in sandy conifer soil.
- Needles and leaves dropping.
- Gray jays and Blue jays square off.
- Chipmunks with mouths stuffed with acorns; not interested in traps. Chipmunks sample from the cordage around camp for nesting.
- Competing N/NW and S/SW winds, sunny and warm or cold and rainy/cloudy. First frost.
- Abundance of blackberries, greens, chokecherries, milkweed pods.
- Medium-sized bird with red head patch appears.
- Plantain seeds dry up.
Projects:
- Blazing a cross-bog trail for gathering winter hardwood.
- Starting on a new smoke hole cover for the winter lodge (designing it, gathering and bending saplings for frame.)
- Digging peat for winter lodge insulation.
- Gathering and drying moss for winter lodge insulation and women's Moon times (menstruation).
- Stuffing peat in winter lodge walls - especially in squirrel-holes.
- Making hide-smoker (big rock!)
Raspberry Moon, Children's Moon & Rice Camp 2008 (August)
Residents:
Brum ('05) leaves for journey. Scott ('05) joins camp. Marcus ('05) is here.
Wild Mooners and guests:
Kerstin leaves for journey. Nadmadewining community (the school's administrative center) joins the Children's Wild Moon: Chris (01), Susan and son Diindiis, Ray and her son Rene, Stephanie and her son Cedar and Lety move out to camp. Elsa and her son Luuk join with Scott. Jaime and Enrique take part in a portion of this Moon, completing their Wild Moon. Jim visits for a few 1/4 Moon (one week) with grandsons Kyle and Jason.
Story
An explosive Moon: Mashkodens is filled to the brim with new faces and the shouts of children. Also, camps join when Mashkodens travels two days by canoe with the yearlong Seekers (Wilderness Guide Program participants) from Nishnajda to... Rice Camp!
Children's Moon
With up to twenty men, women, parents and children, the circle flexes as primitive cookers go full-out, readying meals for cohorts away gathering berries, canoeing, hide-tanning or hiking. Day sharing (the practice of sharing everyone's personal day at evening meal time) evolves for brevity's sake: unnecessary details are left aside to emphasize dream-guidance and explore reactive relationship patterns.
Hot rock cooking comes into its own due to special dietary needs. The clan comes to know how to cook wild rice in a Cedar log using only Fire and stone. The skill becomes more and more refined - to be passed on to later Wild Moons and new Mashkodeniens.
Every morning adults volunteer to spend time with the children - who oftentimes roamed and played wherever they liked. Some helped them set up a play place in the woods, including a ropeway for climbing. Others told stories to the children at night in the warmth of the lodge or held them near the hearth while their parents were off in the woods.
The children had their own Fire circle, where they practiced relationship with Fire: starting, tending, and cooking over it. They also joined in canoe forays to fish and gather berries; a child and his mother fed half the camp with fish one evening.
All of the adults had the chance to experience relationship with children. Finding ways to engage them without controlling or denying their truths (Instead of "Hey don't play with that tomahawk," we said, instead, "Want to try out putting the tomahawk in a safe place just like we do?") Also, we worked to acknowledge the children's struggles, while being aware of their method of coping (i.e. throwing a tantrum) and finding support with other adults in sitting with their pain without feeding old patterns of placating in response to whining.
Victimization awareness was in store for many adults too, with continued flagging; some feeling as if they were making their way past old mirages of helplessness, frustration, anger and disconnection. A major awareness for this was finding ways to express rather than repress; breaking through the wall of self-judgment and silencing.
The large number of people sparked new relationships and revitalized old bonds. A women's culture - long absent at Mashkodens - was supported with women's circles.
The long, warm and sunny days provided ample time for swimming and sunbathing for young and old. Groups banded together for impromptu Raspberry and greens-picking expeditions, filling themselves and bark-baskets to return home for their circle.
Ricing Camp
As the Children's Moon neared its close, Mashkodens met up with Nishnajda's Seekers and headed north - a huge flotilla of canoes - to the ricing lake. Rice Camp united the two camps with their own traditions and birthed a new one, giving Mashkodeniens a chance to share their primitive cooking skills with the yearlong Seekers.
The end of the Children's Moon marked the departure of all of Mashkodens except for Marcus, who was honored to stay on as part of Rice Camp. This also marked the breaking of the circle of Mashkodens, which had for a long time included both Brum, a resident, and his partner Kerstin, a Wild Mooner. In celebration of their continuing journey, a feast was held and by firelight one could hear the stories of their shared adventures, struggles and gratitude.
After tearful goodbyes, Marcus joined the yearlong Seekers in empowering themselves by gathering their own Snails, Fish, Clams, Crayfish, Frogs, greens and fruit. And of course, there was Ricing! Inspiration: word came that the next white season's (winter) Rice supply was all to be self-gathered at this camp. Passion flared and the camp kept the boats out from dawn to dusk. Couple by couple built relationship with the rice, the "knocker" deftly pulling and knocking rice into the boat with cedar ricing sticks, the "poler" standing to navigate the boat through Rice beds with a long forked pole.
Gathering food was paramount to be sure, but the Seekers also had the chance to explore their relationships with one another, spending long hours together in a boat, and sharing the new and sometimes trying circumstances of a nomadic camp. Victimization flagging was tested in great detail - feeding enthusiasm for breaking free of frustrating blockages and leading to new awareness of the patience and humility it takes to grow together again.
With some experimental tries at hand-processing the Rice, the 19 bags were sent to the processor and a feast was called to celebrate the harvest and breaking of camp. Marcus and the newly returned Scott made their way back to Mashkodens, and left the Seekers to continue their yearlong journey.
Observations: Milkweed leaves ripe, Raspberries are in, Fish biting near logs and Julia Creek.
Projects:
- Gathering berries and greens.
- Hide-tanning (Jaime, Ray and Enrique tan their first Deer hides.)
- Hot rock cooking, wild rice and milkweed.
- Catching Frogs and other animals for food (Snakes, Dish, Clams.)
- Brum finishes his bow.
- Marcus makes and breaks one and a half Cedar paddles.
- Marcus makes Cedar pack frame.
- "The Nipple" (a hide-covered wigwam) is completed and placed atop the summer arbor for rain protection.
- A kids' ropeway and swing is constructed.
- Brum makes a buckskin hoodie.
- Kerstin is embraced by the power of Shkode (Fire!) and shares bow drill enthusiasm with newcomers.
Blueberry Moon 2008 (July 2008)
Residents:
Brum ('05) continues his guiding relationships at Mashkodens (the primitive camp of the Wild Moon), along with Marcus ('05) who returns from a visit to his homeland on the east coast.
Wild Mooners:
Jim and Noah arrive for their Wild Moon, experience the thresholds (points of discomfort in immersing oneself in the wilderness) and leave early. Kerstin continues her relationships at Mashkodens. Enrique and Jaime have their Wild Moon (overlapping into the Children's Moon.)
Story:
Wild Foods Camp
Previous adventures yielded clan knowledge about food locations, so the camp embarked on a 3 day all wild gathering foray. Traveling by canoe, they rebuilt a shelter at the site of fish camp. With access to water down the hill, the group takes a divide-and-conquer approach to food gathering. Some dig for tubers, while others set up fishing rigs, while others catch Frogs and Crayfish or pick berries by the bowlful. Everyone seems to find a niche.
Those gathering wild foods are made privy to a land walked by an area elder who is familiar with glacial history. After taking detoxification measures and finding everyone in good health, they learn not to take wild edible advice from anyone and everyone.
Victim Flagging
After four Moons (months) in the making the victimization flagging ritual still comes up against the same struggles. Both residents and Wild Mooners are frustrated and feel as if they're not being heard; a meeting with elders leaves everyone with food for thought. How can we best support one another in feeling responsible and empowered about our feelings and the situations we find ourselves in?
Intimate Relationships
With two couples, different perspectives on intimate relationship feed growing clan knowledge on what works.
Sweat Lodge Trip
The clan travels to Nishnajida and sets up a nomadic camp for Sweat Lodge woodcutting and the ceremony. A surprise downpour brings the circle together and calls on their improvised shelter-building skills and the ability to hear and speak to one another in times of stress.
Projects:
- Hide-tanning (Jaime dives into relationship with Wawashkeshi (Deer) tanning her first hide, along with Enrique - Brum, Kerstin and Marcus work on hides as well.
- Carving cedar rock boiling bowl.
- The camp spends 3 days living off wild foods exclusively.
- Gathering (greens, berries, roots.)
- Frog and Crayfish hunting.
- Experimenting with hot rock cooking in Cedar log (eggs and Milkweed.)
- Brum and Kerstin's fishing day at Wolf Lake.
- Brum and Enrique's Deer butchering.
- Crafting.
Zagomeh Moon 2008 (June - July)
Residents: Brum ('05), and Marcus ('05) hold steady.
Wild Mooners and Guests:Story
A Moon ripe with controversy starts off with Brum's family visiting, unaware of the camp tradition of immersing ourselves (such as leaving behind outside food, books, water bottles, etc.) So begins a Moon theme of inspiring ("Wouldn't it be cool to drink straight from the stream, like an animal?") rather than enforcing ("We don't have books out here, so I'd prefer it if you give them up,") and the resulting "go team" spirit and "stop it" enemy-feelings. Brum's family brought with them an adventurous spirit: lots of swimming, walking, talking and canoeing.
Passion sends Marcus adrift by canoe in search of Cedar pack frame pieces. He returns with 4-5, after canoeing through a thunderstorm, drenched and satisfied. Greeted by his circle around the hearth, he is provided with a ready cooked meal and a Fire to dry next to. Passion also brings Jake a new name - "Cordage" - for that thing he can just seem to sit and do forever! Kerstin is also gifted with a new passion for Fire as she helps bring it to her clan (after 2 Moons-months-- of trying) with her banana-smelling Fire kit. Brum also embarks on a spirited journey; creating a bow from a stave he gathered.
Almost no Heart berries - hah! A contrary Moon. Instead, Zagomeh (Mosquito) kisses! A buzzing teacher of acceptance, and inspiration to learn about protecting ourselves with mud, bear fat, running, Sweet fern, sleeping-tripods, even "castles."
A Sweat Lodge ceremony at Nishnajida (Wilderness Guide Program camp) beckons the Mashkodeniens to travel and set up camp nearby for a few days - jokingly referred to as "Mosquito" camp. Mosquito-camp activities included gathering greens, cooking orange peel delights for the feast at the end of the ceremony, crafting comfy bough-beds, and experiments in mosquito-proofing everyone's beds. Mashkodens and Nishnajida were also given time with Mani - an Ojibwe elder - who shared stories of her growing up and experience on the reservation.
Another adventure was the 3-day scouting trip where they learned more about setting up a temporary camp on the thoroughfare of the Eagle River. After doing some fishing, scavenging (including a Pike the size of a small child!) and exploring, they return.
Hot days for "dipping," and long days to show us how important enjoying one another's company is. Togetherness was a continual stumbling block and challenge throughout the Moon. The main "group project" called the nipple - a miniature wigwam frame lashed with spruce root and covered with rawhides - stopped and started as group tension around the project ebbed and flowed. Some learned about how lecturing doesn't inspire --- waiting for everyone (or trying to force them) to feel the same way can get tedious - just do it!
Awareness-raising rituals exploded during this Moon, calling attention to language (using the word "good" rather than a truly expressive term for feelings), loaded question patterns, and many, many more, sometimes firing people up to try new things, have fun and get excited, other times seeming to get in the way of a sense of togetherness, spontaneity and joy. How to share differing awarenesses (on cooking, Truthspeaking, dream sharing) in a way that most opens people up (rather than triggering defensiveness.) With all the challenges of this Moon, Brum and Marcus were continually brought to ask themselves what they did have to share, in the face of fears of not serving their circle well enough as residents.
Clan Knowledge:
- The feeling of paddling into the unknown (dwindling passion) versus paddling with a destination.
- If you're going for it...just DO it! Trying to turn around once you're on course is a hassle for you and your circle.
- Brum's fasting/diarrhea. Linked to shellfish bacteria, and coming off 3-day fast too hard.
- Lost proofing and weather forecasting (workshop with Tamarack and Lety)
Observations: Sunning turtles. Agongos (Chipmunks) active! Gaag (Porcupine) at ski hill. Frog eggs.
Tracking story: Scared Eagle rises up from Amik (Beaver) lodge, note rotting smell. Soaring above, Eagle seems reluctant to leave sight of lodge. On return (in canoe) note Raven in same area. Land to find Amik (Beaver) carcass, skeleton, and scaly tale.
Projects:
- "The Nipple" summer-arbor rain cover (spruce root gathering, pole bending, lash-tying).
- Tanning big hides, little hides. Sanding hides. Kerstin's first hide! New hide smoker and smoking hides.
- Brum's pillow.
- New panel for wigwam roof.
- Deadfall trapping for Agongos (Squirrel).
- Brum experiments with bow stave.
- Brum works on his hand drilling.
- Kerstin makes Fire.
- Kerstin makes a willow basket.
- Crafting ironwood wedges.
- Gathering and working cordage.
- Food pit willow basket.
- Gathering greens.
- Brum's fishing passion.
- Drying leeks.
- "Hunting" amphibians.
- Brum carves on Cedar log.
Wild Leek Trip 2008 (5 days in May)
Residents:
Marcus ('05) and Brum ('05)
Story
Passion is stoked as the residents embark on their journey to find Leeks. With renewed confidence in their directions a new route is found: a tiny creeklet along a dirt road. Helping one another portage their boats and gear, the residents set off down the creek, not expecting the sleet that greets them shortly thereafter!
Further refining their canoe skills, the narrow creek demands much squeezing, pushing, shimmying and a few short canoe-pulls to reach a wider section. Amik (Beaver) plays his part as the canoes make their way down dam after dam (perhaps 40 in all!)
Days of silent paddling ended with choosing a landing spot with easy boat access and solid ground for a hearth and bedding. A simple camp was set up where simple meals were eaten, and simple joy was shared, as the sun set behind the trees.
Each morning the pair set off at dawn again, drinking from their canoes, later to stop and rest and eat breakfast after burning their morning energy off.
Different styles of paddling, (seemingly opposite at times), and communication demanded Truthspeaking work and clear communication. Sometimes slower, sometimes faster, the leader taking turns at the tail and vice-versa, a dynamic flow evolved to create a sense of togetherness. Old habits of comparison, insecurity and resentment surfaced and were allowed to play themselves out.
Rest stops meant naps and spare time on foot for scouting the land, and whatever may be around the next bend.
The sense of unknown, and the simple directions challenged the trust of the residents in another. Dreams came with a suggestion: Give up control.
By the third day, spirits were waning. Pushing on, the residents were unsure if they were heading in the right direction. Running low on food, the question of whether to push on and fast loomed overhead. Fear and passion stirred. The morning of the fourth day brought a joint decision: turn back, the adventure was reward enough.
Wondering at overlooked possibilities, some extra scouting was done on a rest stop. The gifting way responded in kind! A Grouse spooked up, revealing a clutch of eggs to supplant a dwindling reserve. An intuition that the leeks were nearby grew, and passion for completing their mission re-ignited in the canoers.
Around a turn, where the day before there was simply a patch of grass, an entire Wawashkeshi (Deer) carcass rested on the side of the creek. The animal had barely been touched, and one leg lay in the water. Wide-eyed and amazed, the residents thankfully butchered the animal, working together in the hot sun to bring the meat home. Guts were cleaned and used as containers for holding the meat; the large liver, heart and lungs all fitting inside of the animal's empty placenta. The Wawashkeshi (Deer) was apparently a mother, although when found, her placenta was empty, raising the question of how she died.
Landing again and again to scout a nearby Maple ridge (where they'd heard the Leeks should be) one of the residents finally discovered a small patch of Leeks. Shortly thereafter more were found - a lot more!
Feasting on the last of their food reserves, with the Deer-meat stowed away in a cool bog, the two slept through the night and recharged their reserves in order to focus on picking Leeks the next day. That morning the residents entered a haven of fragrant green shoots - giving thanks, plucking them by the thousands, and enjoying the full-bodied flavor of success.
Continuing their return trip for an undetermined number of warm days inspired turning the canoes into "coolers" by surrounding the meat with cool Moss. Overflowing with bounty, the top of the boats barely cleared the water.
Satisfied, the residents still feared the return trip; 2-3 days of canoeing and portaging up all of those Amik (Beaver) dams. Paddling on, familiar sites gave way to curiosity - "Did we go this way before?" Then, a familiar road? Upon further investigation a new route was discovered: the road. Options were weighed, and initial excitement gave way to a seemingly more sober approach: stowing the meat in a bog the two canoes were carried, Leeks and all, for a long distance. To give muscles a chance to relax the carrying styles were rotated, as each person helped to carry both canoes. Many rests were taken.
As the portage neared its end, a last push was made as the return to the known freed up energy in the residents. By evening they were again next to the creek of fish camp, where they ate dinner and tiredly remounted their canoes. The final leg of their journey took place in the dark, quiet, starry night. Home.
The real journey ended with telling the story to their circle, and with the welcome embraces they received.
Clan Knowledge:
- Kimball Creek is *very small* at the beginning, and can be confused as not navigable by canoe. Leads to wider section of Kimball with LOTS of Amik (Beaver) dams. Way to Leeks is to descend dams - return trip would most likely require ascending 40 or so dams.
- To get to the river from the Creek took 2-3 days of paddling.
- A canoe can be used as shelter, propped up on supports, to protect from rain. Also helps to hold body heat closer.
- Leek patch the size of a football field. LOTS of Leeks.
- Wawashkeshi (Deer) organs (intestines, stomach, placenta) can be used as "bags" to store meat
- Canoe naturally "pushes" away from larger landmass under water (can avoid going off-course by taking turns wide around encroaching sandbars.)
- Portage over steeper Amik (Beaver) dams. Otherwise canoe nose may go under.
- Fast-moving water (rapids) do not need to be portaged past if going upstream and there are enough rocks. Can do in-water portage, balancing on rocks or sitting in boat and pull self with rocks.
- Wake and paddle early, eat during first rest stop.
- Can carry canoe for 5 miles (tied front and rear "handles" to poles which went across shoulders like yoke) (also alternated holding the canoes and laying poles inside)
Observations:
- Grouse eggs found under rotten birch log. Clutch of 11.
- Riverkill Wawashkeshi (Deer) with empty placenta and rear leg in water (where'd the baby go?)
Projects:
- Setting up camp each night (basic hearth, bow-bed, canoe rain cover, food at a distance)
- Scouting
- Harvesting "riverkill" Wawaskeshi (Deer), making gut-bags and a "cooler" with Sphagnum Moss
- Gathering Zhigagawaans (Wild Leeks) and drying/blanching them.
Suckerfish Moon 2008 (April - May)
Residents:
Marcus ('05) and Brum ('05) continue.
Wild Mooners:
Kerstin's third Moon. Kati's Wild Moon.
Story
Spring moves in and things really get moving! Sucker Moon was a dynamic time, with lots of projects, canoe trips, creature sightings (and scavenging) and lessons in being a circle.
Moving out of the winter lodges and into the summer wigwams, we could better appreciate the dawning light of day. For this Moon we decided to remain using the lean-to for meals to take advantage of its southern sun exposure. The weather during this Moon gradually became warmer and sunnier, slowing the fall of snow and melting what was left. Baths in the ponds and washing clothes by hand became more and more attractive with this change. Ticks also came out of the woodwork, sometimes a dozen at a time to be found on our bodies, and taught us how to care for ourselves by routinely checking, removing and properly killing them around camp. With the threat of Lyme Disease, we built awareness about what type of Ticks to watch out for and other warning signs of being at-risk.
As the days lengthened and warmed much time was spent crafting: we did the lounging technique of carving a bowl or bow drill kit and reflecting, or in the muscular working of tanning a hide into softness.
What was eaten reflected the changing mood of the relations - eggs (Chicken, but also scavenged Duck, Goose, and Robin eggs) were popularized for fireside roasting (or other fancy techniques, like "frying" in an orange-peel. Also, the richer, fattier and starchier diet of the white season began to wane, with more greens being consumed to cleanse. Other natural cleansers made themselves available in time: Labrador Tea and Leather Leaf were gathered and brewed into a spring tonic. Also cleansing: buds and catkins popping up all around - each with its own developing flavor to try and monitor!
Animal activity was intense! Sightings were abound of animals around the creek, some of them drinking, others swimming and still others preying for food. The time of the Geese was upon us, and one could hear them calling out in the sky and watch the way they tracked one another in the air, and how pairs of them moved in the water. The animals gifted themselves to the passionate Scouts in camp: a Goose found by the waterside, butchered to taste her meat for the first time and plucked for crafts; a never-before-seen "Tiger Fish" found half eaten, perhaps by a bird-of-prey; an old friend (Suckerfish) twice found laying in the same place at the bottom of the creek, later speared and renamed "Laying Around Fish;" and the spirit of spring brought big eggs, little eggs, dull eggs and bright eggs.
As the Fish People became more active, experiments in line-and-hook fishing started up, using a variety of baits. A Wawashkeshi (Deer) butchering happened at the start of the Moon, with this particular Deer bringing clan knowledge about when an animal is too far gone to eat.
Elders visited camp, sharing insight into intimate relationships as well as passion for learning a native language.
Fish Camp
The clan sets out for adventure! After overnighting at the prospective Fish Camp, they canoe up creek - northward - in search of a fabled patch of Leeks. The territory goes from vast lakes to open creeks to narrow channels overgrown with Alder. Canoeing takes on a new meaning; ducking underneath, pulling through and squeezing between obstacles. After a short portage, the trip continues, and in a maze-like setting of solitary, wind-swept Spruces and yellow grass, uncertainty sets in. The directions are vague, and no clear outlet to the next leg appears. Some land their canoes and scout for more information while others rest. The day and the group push on, passionately digging into their reserves and exploring all possibilities for a route. Eventually it becomes clear that motivation is uneven, and communication is needed for the group to make decisions and hold together. The guides decide to find the Leek patch on their own after the Moon, and the group sets up camp to rest their tired bodies on the way back to Fish Camp.
Along the way Willow is gathered and baskets are begun, sitting in the sun, while the stems are fresh.
On arrival at Fish Camp, a shelter is set up on a high hill in a bright hardwood forest next to the creek. Scouts had delivered the fishing equipment ahead of time so that when the time came they would be ready. Fishing began almost immediately, with the equipment arranged at a site used by the ancestors of this camp. Thanks was given, and questions were asked: "What direction does a spawning Suckerfish swim, and why?"
A weir was constructed with the smooth black rocks that lined the creek, and the equipment was arranged so that fish would have to funnel into a more vulnerable spot. Fishing became the project, as the whole camp came together - sometimes with growing pains - to maintain the equipment, check for Fish, share knowledge, and ensure the day's catch was picked up while fresh. Nadmadewining (the school's administrative support center) played a role in picking up buckets of Fish twice a day.
While the thrust of Fish Camp was catching Suckers, other activities also took place - mainly building strong leg muscles traversing the "mountain" of a hill between Fish Camp and the creek. Some soaked up sun while softening deerskin, tanning hides. Some wandered the area, in search of new materials that were provided, such as bark for cordage, burls for bowls, and woods rare in base camp.
The Fish spawning waned and as the clan synchronized itself to this flow and began preparations to break camp. Experiments in smoking hides *and* fish resulted in a delicious contribution to the feast, part of a thanks for the wider circle's support in receiving the gift of Suckerfish.
As the Moon came to its end, the Wild Mooners paddled back to base camp as the guides prepared for their journey back into the unknown in search of luscious Leeks.
Conclusion
The nomadic camps (Fish Camp and the thwarted Leek expedition) brought awareness about comfort zones. Compare the feeling of having a "safe place," food, shelter, familiarity with a new camp, or simply the collective contents of the clan's canoes. Confidence was found in self, clan and the relations: strength to paddle on, a voice to be heard, a circle of humans and non-humans to listen, help you carry your canoe, inspire you, feed you, quench your thirst and soften the ground you lay upon.
Clan Knowledge:
- Deer guts (intestines, placenta, stomach) can be used as storage pouches. Turn inside out, stick meat/fat in them and freeze. Or clean and dry and oil (too brittle?)
- Better to keep reading material at camp as little as possible. Long or multiple articles can be overwhelming - experience it instead!
- Hemlock can be used to make amazing cordage (like wide nylon straps!) Aspen makes poor cordage.
- Guiding is not being a tour-guide (making everyone comfortable.) Lead with passion; expect someone to take care of their own needs and communicate, and they eventually will.
- Hygiene when using creek for water: drink upstream from washing places
Fishing:
- Store fish in a pool with fresh water flow to keep it cool
- Kill Fish latest possible to keep fresh
- Check equipment often
- Arrange proper pickup times (2x daily if necessary)
- Repair equipment (close gaps, especially in rear)
- Make sure fish can't slip under equipment (lay low) and close gaps below with rocks
- Carry equipment with 2 people to prevent breakage
- Get a good seal when inserting inner cone
- Fish catching as a group project brings up frustration and patterns of not being clear, avoiding discomfort, etc. The challenge to do it and feel like we're choosing to do it (as opposed to the old victimization pattern of, "I guess...if I have to!").
- Checking equipment in cold water --- also sharing clan knowledge so that everyone can have the same awareness about using equipment.
- Unevenness of passion - in fishing, canoeing, etc. The passionate expecting the least passionate to share their inspiration and their knowledge. Tendency to do more and communicate less (leaves others out in the cold and not as able to engage as well - no need for the whole clan to keep making the same mistakes)
- Punky-Aspen-smoked Suckerfish tastes awesome.
- Improvised Birch Bark basket (fold bark and use split sticks to hold in place)
Eggs:
- Cooking (roast by Fire with hole to relieve pressure and rotate, in orange peel with fat chunks, in banana peel, deep fry in bear fat with hot rocks)
- Egg explosions are a blast! (They can lift large rocks, burning embers, sticks in the Fire.)
General
- Wild animals are different than domesticated ones - more aware of surroundings (less easily spooked) - Kerstin: civilized animals "behave strange."
- Hang wool blankets in summer wigwams to cut down on draft
- Best primitive way to cook a head so far: use ultra hot ashes of brush Fire, bury head and root vegetables (even stuff with root vegetables), rotate and monitor. Even better would be to singe hear off, as skin is edible, sticky, and delicious
- "Good Flag" introduced: When answering questions, such as, "How are you?" we tend to instinctively answer, "Good." What does good mean? Encourages more solid, story-like, seeable, hearable and smellable descriptions of things. Easier to relate.
Observations:
- Big Turtle (Snapper?) by downed log bridge across Furbush Creek - he goes on land too, pregnant Agongos (Squirrel) or Ajidamoo (Chipmunk), Geese pair in pond by yurt and on Julia Creek (males with red head patch and more alert to danger - looking around), Beaver &Muskrat on creek, Deer, Ermin, Snakes, Squirrel with babies (sometimes holding them in her mouth as she moves), Canadian Geese stop by for a while, Eagles (especially by the creek).
Projects:
- Move to summer wigwams (bough beds, clean-up), cover barren lodge-tops with sod (together with Nadmadewining Community).
- Gathering willow and making baskets
- Suckerfishing: (creating weir, and an experimental bark lean-to.)
- Kati crafts a bowl (cool!)
- Kati works on bow drill
- Lots of hide tanning
- Basketmaking using dried and fresh willow
- Leatherwork (Brum's tomahawk cover, Kati's wallets and pouches).
- Bone work (Kerstin and Marcus make jewelry and tools - knives, awls, needles).
- Spring cleaning (big Fire! - discovery of head cooking), making torches with sphagnum and Birch Bark.
Maple-Sugar Moon 2008 (March - April)
Residents:
Ty's ('04) last Moon. Brum ('05) and Marcus ('05) continue living it. Coyote ('04) joins camp for a Moon.
Wild Mooners and Guests:
Sarah visits and spends nights at camp. Kerstin's second Wild Moon. Kimmy comes for her Wild Moon. Scott comes for Wild Moon and departs early, facing the first threshold (discomfort in the immersion experience). Luke spends an evening with camp. Katie visits Wadikwan (Bough) Camp.
Story
The grip of the white season starts to let loose. Thick snow gives way to oranges and reds underneath. The creek moves once again.
In this spirit the clan also begins to emerge from their partial hibernation. Less and less time is spent in the winter lodge, as meals out in the clear and warming air of the lean-to are more inviting. Layers come off; everyone can't help but laugh at this new ease in movement! Sun bathing and snow bathing - still invigorating - become brother and sister. The days lengthen, and clanmates respond by taking up more crafts; curling willow around itself to form baskets, soaking and poking animal hides, and arranging spare scraps of buckskin into new shapes.
It's at this time - freezing nights and thawing days - that the flow inside of trees revs up. Feeling the same thing, the camp knows what is in store for this Moon: Maple sap!
Sugar Camp
Mashkodens packs its bedding, bow drills and food stores and walks across the still frozen lakes to Nishnajida (camp of the yearlong Wilderness Guide Program). The cold bites their faces and challenges comfort thresholds as they cross the simulated tundra of the lake. In a south facing clearing populated by dense raspberries in the green season, they kick and dig with their hands to clear snow. Close by there is a patch of old-growth Maple trees.
A covering under which to sleep and eat is chopped, woven and plopped together from downed trees, Jingob (Balsam Fir) boughs and dead-bark. Boughs are gathered for a plush bedding cushion as well. The structure is an impressive sight and sleeps seven, all cozily snuggled up next to one another. Every morning the dawning day stirs the first creatures to rise, and not too long afterwards there is warmth; Fire, while people are go on walks, gathering materials, exploring.
Sugar camp means tapping trees: finger-thick and hand-length stems of a local pithy shrub are cut to size, hollowed out and carved to snugly fit inside the tree. Nadmadewining (the school's administrative support center) joins the operation, drilling holes and providing equipment to collect sap.
As Wild Mooners empty sap jugs into a collection container, they often enjoy a sweet and nourishing taste of the Maple flow - and it was GOOD! All in all there are about 70 taps, each with a collection container that needs to be lined up to catch the dripping and checked so it does not overflow or come loose.
Although the weather seemed right at first, the warm weather went elsewhere during sugar camp - the flow from the trees slowed in response. Eager to try a stronger brew, yet not having enough sap to warrant an all-out boiling, the clan experimented with removing ice chunks from sap (frozen water) leaving a more concentrated solution.
At their snow camp a few lakes away, the yearlong Seekers (Wilderness Guide Program Participants) would pay visits as they anticipated the completion of their time at Nishnajida. Mashkodens, or "Wadikwan (Bough) Camp" as they named themselves, also trekked to the Seekers' snow camp to check out their lodges, lean-to and primitive cooking techniques.
Before Wadikwan Camp broke and returned to Mashkodens, a Sweat Lodge ceremony was held and a final feast for the yearlong Seekers. A special fruit salad topped with concentrated sap marked the occasion. The final romp included the whole school community: Mashkodens, the Seekers from the Wilderness Guide Program, and all of Nadmadewining (kids, parents, staff and guides) dancing and singing in the mucky snow around a bonfire.
With the sap stuck in the trees and projects at Mashkodens calling to be worked upon, we broke camp: materials scattered, and the whole area camouflaged.
Back at Mashkodens projects continue. Clan members find themselves in new situations, discovering unknown strength and tenderness. Canoes float down the creek for the first time since freeze-up as the excited paddlers gawk at the surrounding wintry wonder.
Trapping tapers off as the Waabooz (Snowshoe Hare) are invigorated and prepare to bring new life for the next turn of the seasons (year).
A false spring inspires an early move into the roomy summer arbor. The clan holds out even as snowstorms and chilling winds blow through the open-walled shelter. Blankets are hung to hold in heat and cut down on draft, creating a sort of improvised yurt. Just as everyone was gearing up for more sun, snow piles up knee-deep. Even in the rebounding cold, passion stirs and projects continue to be sewed, carved and envisioned.
As the Moon comes to a close a final feast is held for Ty, Mashkodenien and coordinator for the Wild Moon program, as he and his sweetie Sarah return to their homeland in Canada for new beginnings. Brum and Kerstin also set off traveling to learn new skills with neighbor and contributor Paul. Marcus and Coyote remain in camp as Coyote prepares for a new leg on his journey as well.
Clan-Knowledge:
- If willow is gathered while the snow is still thick, much energy is spent digging into the snow to cut low on the shoots.
- Burying root veggies and whole cabbages in the ash underneath the Fire yields delicious results. Trouble with sand leaking in (even after a hollowed-out log was buried to hold the sand out) leads to exploring other options. Talk about a potential clay-oven beneath the hearth.
- Trees with rough bark can be used to upbraid a hide while softening
- A spear for picking up underwater creatures can be fashioned like a double set of tongs with a long handle
- Hare snaring can be stopped to allow the hare clan to breed and renew. Twenty-five hares in total were snared, almost entirely to the east and northeast of camp.
- Skewering Fish - through the mouth and almost into the tail (but not through or it will slide), and then stick skewer bottom into the ash by the Fire. Rotate as it browns. Keeps clean and frees up space around the Fire
- Roasting whole beets, celery roots and turnips by the Fire. Accumulated char can be scraped or sliced away. They stay juicy this way, better than being cut.
- Choose nomadic camp sights away from roads - more secluded means more stealthy! Can be a game not to be sighted.
- Passionate exploration of a native language can bring up emotions such as resentment and fear of offending and are great to explore openly in the circle.
Observations:
- Canadian Geese arrive overhead in flocks, sounding!
- Birds calling again, Frogs and Insects come out from their hiding places.
- The creek thaws
Projects:
- Hide work: Kimmy tans first hide, Kerstin scrapes and brains first hides, Ty experiments with softening on an Oak tree, Ty busts out his scrap bag and starts sewing a blanket, giving some scrap to Kimmy to sew a pouch. Ty finishes his buckskin yoke, Brum works on his buckskin shirt.
- Kimmy makes her first willow basket at Wadikwan (Bough) Camp
- Snow washing (ourselves and our clothes)
- Burying root veggies in ash-log under Fire
- Kimmy skins her first Waabooz, and Squirrel/Chipmunk
Sugar Camp ("Wadikwan (Bough) Camp")
- Building an improvised lean-to
- Fluffing up sleeping areas with boughs
- Making taps (gathering, hollowing-out and carving)
- Tapping trees
- Setting up sap-catchers & monitoring them
- Concentrating sap by removing ice
- Drinking sap!
Between program break (Late February 2008):
Residents: Ty ('04) and Marcus ('05) remain at camp for nights and mornings, sharing dreams over breakfast. Brum ('05) and Kerstin go traveling.
Story:
The circle fragments as people go their own ways and pursue new activities not open to them during the Wild Moon. Passion is a stumbling block for some as the lack of togetherness leaves them yearning, sometimes trying to fill with ineffective substitutes.
Conclusion:
What parents, educators and bosses teach is, push and do something no fun (without choice) and fantasize about doing something fun (on "free" time.) Applying that to the Native lifeway can have frustrating consequences. How to work towards seeing life as more than a job: something fun, hard, worth getting fired-up about?
Residents: Ty ('04) and Marcus ('05) remain at camp for nights and mornings, sharing dreams over breakfast. Brum ('05) and Kerstin go traveling.
Story:
The circle fragments as people go their own ways and pursue new activities not open to them during the Wild Moon. Passion is a stumbling block for some as the lack of togetherness leaves them yearning, sometimes trying to fill with ineffective substitutes.
Conclusion:
What parents, educators and bosses teach is, push and do something no fun (without choice) and fantasize about doing something fun (on "free" time.) Applying that to the Native lifeway can have frustrating consequences. How to work towards seeing life as more than a job: something fun, hard, worth getting fired-up about?
Crust-on-Snow Moon (Late January - February):
Residents:
Ty ('04), Brum ('05), and Marcus ('05).
Wild Mooners and guests:
Kerstin and Nathan. Visitors Paul, Chris ('01) and Luke join for dinner, take walks or to help build the snow lodge.
Story:
The first Wild Moon.
Daily Ritual
Daily rituals are pieced together from the experience of the residents of Mashkodens and new ideas. Rousing from our insulated dens in the blue-snowed dawn brings the clan together on cold mornings. Everyone slurps down some wild water after the hole is chopped open. Wool-bulked bodies wander off in different directions for Da'I walks (poop rituals), wood-gathering and to observe trap lines.
The clan reunites around the lean-to where they rest and take shelter from wind and snow. A bow drill powered by someone's hand brings Fire, and breakfast is roasted. Meanwhile, dreams are recalled and the feelings and messages behind them are explored. Day plans are hatched and fulfilled with dreams, fruit and nuts; everyone scatters to walk through their day.
Scraping flesh, sewing clothing, blankets or pelts and experimenting with new knots and camouflaging snares - among other things - fills the day. Some come together on group projects, such as the snow shelter. Deer rugs are collected and used to scoop, haul and dump snow on an ever-heightening mound. Whitewashed Mashkodeniens take turns burrowing into the mound as a divot turns into a cave turns into a little room with an elevated bed. The Jingob (Balsam Fir) trees offer boughs for loft, and an Elk hide is retrieved for further padding and insulation.
All can see the sun dipping toward the trees: root vegetables are dug out of an ash-pit where they are sometimes cooked underneath the Fire. On cold, clear nights someone crawls into the earth lodge holding burning coals and ignites them in the flu-fed clay Fire hearth. Sitting in a circle inside, layers are shed and food is prepared and dispersed. Skewers of meat and fat drip over tall flames, and cuts of sweet potato sizzle on hot rocks next to the coals. After - or sometimes even during - the meal, the spirited strip down to their skins and stumble into the pristine winter night outside, where they abrade and wash their skin with the snow lying around them. Those still inside stoke the Fire to people-drying height and the clan reunites again - sharing heat and smiles.
Stories of the day are shared around the circle as the warm glow of the Fire casts shadows on the latticework of the lodge. Articles by Tamarack are read aloud, on primitive cooking, intimate relationship, victimization; whatever the Wild Mooners are experiencing at camp.
The Fire is "shut down" to a bed of glowing coals - fed by the air coming in through the flu - and the lodge is sealed. Last minute preparations are made; teeth are brushed, journals are written in, things are put away, as everyone retires to their respective burrows for another long, dream-rich sleep.
Primitive Cooking
Used to microwaves and grocery stores, the clan aspired to relate more directly to their food. Eating twice per day, time was freed up for walks and projects and a quiet was created to listen closely to their body's rhythms. Roasted, skewered and pit-cooked, the food they ate was from the fibers of plant and animal bodies - unprocessed other than by their own hands.
The whacking of nutshells...slicing and peeling fruit, and trying out new pieces, seeds, and rinds that are usually tossed aside...burying roots and digging them out from underneath a Fire...smacking lips with the exotic flavor of whole baked cabbage...examining a new animal meat, organ or fish...and - of course - feeling inspired by the sight of an overflowing cabbage-leaf burrito.
Without a pot to render in, fat posed a problem. Skewering it worked okay - but so much of the renderings were lost in the Fire. The least one could do was drip over a neighbor's roasting sweet potato. Orange cups, reflector walls and hot rocks were brought in to explore fat-saving alternatives.
Pit cooking was another food puzzle. Buried beneath layers of sand, bark, moistened grass and food, superheated rocks would help form steam to *theoretically* cook the food. Different variations of materials and layering techniques were attempted to cook the food more thoroughly.
Walking Trip
The first nomadic camp was a walk through the forest, over a lake, through a forest again and then over a smaller lake, at Nishnajida - the yearlong Wilderness Guide Program camp. Women, children and men of the school's extended community greeted Mashkodens -bedrolls tied to pack frames. All helped to prepare for the once-a-Moon Sweat Lodge; hauling wood, filling water buckets and collecting boughs.
All took part in the ceremony, although only those who had previously observed were permitted to sweat. As bare, giggling and shivering bodies huddled around the enormous Fire, an elder passed from person to person with a smudge bowl. Those who were entering the lodge silently passed in - emerging later that night.
A feast was held in celebration within the warming confines of the yearlong Seekers' winter wigwam. An insulated lodge with Fire hearth similar to Mashkodens' peat-clad winter wigwam, the Nishnajida lodge instead uses Sphagnum Moss between its walls to create dead airspace. That night as the Seekers returned to their remote snow camp and the support staff returned to the school, Mashkodens rolled out their bedrolls and lined themselves around lodge to rest up for a walk home the next morning.
Banishment
Within the first few days of the Moon, Marcus - one of the guides - left his circle behind. Sensing the gravity of the situation, a brother called a talking circle. Banishment was proposed and the circle went around with the talking stick, taking in different perspectives. Marcus and his clan opted for banishment as a means to see what was intended for him: would he make his way back into the circle by letting go of trying to control? He packed his things and left immediately the next morning.
Camp life continued without him. Four days away from camp, in the wilderness, alone. With him was a pack frame, bedroll, Fire kit and food. If he did not fulfill the banishment, he had agreed to move on and leave this circle behind.
Marcus completed it, returning with a smile to a feast of Coyote head (his favorite) his clanmates had pit-cooked for him. Sharing the story of his time away he basked in the warmth of the lodge and his kin. A later walk brought the whole clan to the magical spring Marcus had been called to during his banishment.
Victim Flagging
Living so closely with each other, some in the clan gained fresh perspective on old feelings. They saw dynamics of complaining and advice-giving and, remembering their past relationships, began to wonder if that's all they ever knew. Watching the self-feeding nature of this victim-complaint and enabler-rescuer duo, they thought, "There must be some other way!"
Victim flagging, a tool the guides had limited experience with from their yearlongs (Wilderness Guide Program), was introduced. Pretty soon, when someone would say, "I can't do it - it's all your fault," they would get a "V." The enablers, chiming in with, "You shouldn't react that way," or "Maybe if you owned your feelings," would find themselves getting an "E."
Unexpected results including confusion, frustration and anger left the guides wondering how to properly use this tool. Meetings with the elders left them resolved to keep trying, and encouraged everyone to take personal responsibility for themselves.
So began a long road of uncovering personal biases and fears that lay hidden beneath layers of unconscious thought and feeling.
Pattern Breaking
In order to distinguish themselves from a weekend workshop, the Mashkodeniens wanted to really go for immersing themselves. Feeling uncomfortable in this new lifeway, conversations would sometimes run back to familiar places and things for comfort. Or, into the future, to a time when things would be easier, or more exciting. Flags for these and other situations were invented with the idea to consciously evolve the camp's culture:
- Outside stuff flag: Perhaps talk about story of the day, nature observations, etc. rather than cars, TV shows, etc. Clan mates will pretend not to even know what a car or TV shows is.
- Future projection flag: The now is sacred, where is the wind coming from, what is the expression on her face? Brought up when comfort is sought through fantasizing about some other time.
- Awareness flag & games: Brought up in rooms and in front of screens we tend to slip into tunnel vision. Wake up! What's happening around you?
- Debwewin: Loaded question awareness sweeps camp. How can we most directly ask for information without encumbering our clanmates with having to figure out what we really want?
- Stating Intention: A pattern breaker, which encourages openness and consideration. Often a pause is needed to consider the relationships involved in an activity. Giving is receiving: showing openness and consideration elicits the same in others.
- Ojibwe language: The opportunity to learn a Native language can mean making new connections to the land. Letting go of old ideas of Deer and Porcupine so new relationships with Wawashkeshi and Gaag can develop.
Feast
For the first-time an end-Moon feast was held. A ritual to hold onto. Body-length skewers of tender meat, veggies cooked with bear fat within hollowed out squashes, drums and dancing. The program ended and the guides went on "break."
Clan-Knowledge:
- Wawashkeshi (Deer) hides can be used to carry snow to toss on a snow lodge
- A "mattress" can be fashioned with boughs, by laying them on their side within a sheath of wool blankets sewed together - extremely cushiony and soft!
- Waabooz (Snowshoe Hare) pelts can be fashioned into insoles by
1) Borax the pelt on each side and allow some time to dry
2) Back the pelt with buckskin, sewing it together - or - just plop the pelt into a mukluk/boot, making sure the hard facial area is overtop of foot - Tongs for picking things out of the Fire: A length of Hazelnut the size of a forearm, split partway and insert twig as spacer (tying optional)
- Cooks Deer heads (with fur on protects meat from ash/sand), whole cabbages and roots
- Flip food halfway through the day for even cooking
- Needs something to protect from sand
- Scooping food out makes ash disappear fast
- Hard to get enough heat (partially cooked)
- Can acquire bitter taste from grass or bark
- Hold skewer over something to catch it (orange cup, veggies, meat/fish)
- Dice and place in orange cup next to Fire; rotate
- Dice and place in orange cup/bowl, and render with small hot rocks; stir
- Fold and fill a cabbage-leaf "envelope" skewer (only Denise could do this)
- Cut food to frying thickness and place on hot rocks around hot Fire, place chunk of fat on top of food
Cooking under Fire
Pit cooking
Rendering fat
Observations:
- In our footsteps especially, *millions* of Snow Fleas
Projects:
- Pelt-tanning Amik (Beaver), Ma'inganon (Coyote), Esseban (Raccoon)
- Fur clothing (Brum's Esseban hat & mittens, Waabooz mukluk insoles)
- Winter-wood gathering
- Building a snow lodge
- Waabooz (Snowshoe Hare) snaring
- Plucking a wild Turkey
- Brum and Kerstin's home-made "mattress"
- Kerstin's dream-catcher
- Bow drill kits - Kerstin's first Fire
Forming Moons (Late 2007):
Who was there: Ty ('04) arrives to coordinate the Wild Moon Immersion. Marcus ('05) goes from nanny to Mashkodenien. Sarah - Ty's sweetie - arrives to study under Tamarack. Brum ('05) arrives from Sweden to head start Mashkodens with Ty and Marcus. Kerstin arrives before first Wild Moon. Nadmadewining (the school's administrative support community) plugs in.
Story
The Split
Mashkodens becomes its own camp. Changing the pattern of calling Mashkodens "back there," meant thinking differently. It was a place where school staff would eat and take walks, but not its own camp. As residents settled in there were talking circles about the future of the camp.
Feelings were expressed and the options were laid out: Mashkodens would no longer be a satellite camp of Nadmadewining - available for recreation and evening meals. Now it was to "split" and become its own self-sustaining camp, with its own meetings, rituals and flow. In order to facilitate this, the school staff was asked to stay out of camp, except for scheduled visits when they too could become a part of the camp's flow.
Being so close to computers, phones, clocks and cars meant that - more so than Nishnajida - Mashkodens had to consciously take steps to assert its spirit as a Native lifeway camp.
Camp Traditions
The residents, now immersing themselves full-time at camp started to evolve their own rituals:
Dream sharing: Every morning dreams were recalled, and clanmates would listen on and tease out feelings and "switches" in the dream. Dream-guidance fed the whole clan as one person's dream inspired awareness in the whole camp.
Primitive cooking: The pot was given up, and creativity moved in to take its place. Skewered on sticks, fried on rocks and roasted by the Fire - food was delicious. A tradition of experimentation and intimate relationship with food begins.
Day sharing: A technique for sharpening memory and sharing clan knowledge, day sharing became each person's art. What teachings did the day bring and what were the juicy highlights?
Construction
Meanwhile, the guides were hard at work building winter lodging. A "lean-to on stilts," the Tan-to, was intended to provide options for tanning in inclement weather. Part lean-to, part earth lodge, the Den is the first of its kind (that we know of) using the natural warmth of the earth and insulating body heat for a 30 degree gain on outside temperature in the winter. A smaller, traditional earth lodge design was built for two people and camouflaged so well many visitors are unaware of it until shown exactly where it is.
Snaring
Throwing the last hunks of peat on the lodges just as things started to freeze, the guides were soon discovering Waabooz (Snowshoe Hare) tracks all around. After walking their trap lines daily they would ask each other, "Any action?" and share tracking stories and new ideas on trap design. Or laugh at one another for having missed the bright white Waabooz (Snowshoe Hare) sitting atop the lean-to.
Threshold Refresher
Between their yearlong and their time together the guides had spent much time alone or in the usual separated circumstances under which most modern people live. Snoring, gathering, trapping, eating and building together brought them to the thresholds they remembered from their yearlong. When tempers flared or the compulsion to escape surfaced they would often turn to the tools they learned the next camp over to bring them together again. The prospect of the Wild Moon Immersion (which they named together) fueled their desires to further develop and share these skills.
Click here for the building of the den photo gallery.
Click here for the building of the two-person lodge photo gallery.
Click here for the building of the tan to photo gallery.
Turns of the Seasons Past (2002-2007)
Who was there: Dozens of yearlong alumni and yearlongers-to-be. Visitors and volunteers to the school. The staff and community of Teaching Drum. Too many to name and plenty to give thanks.
Story
Intent
The yearlong Wilderness Guide Program introduced seekers to a lifeway that helped them connect to themselves on a deeper level, along with other humans and the natural world. Some graduates desired a place for practicing the skills of this lifeway and continue feeding its growth. This meant not only the physical aspects (cooking over fire, native-inspired lodges, gathering and trapping, fire by friction) but surely the social and mental as well (relying on a close circle of humans and nonhumans, practicing speaking from the heart and listening deeply, sharing dreams.) Mashkodens became this place, where yearlongers – and others – could foster a knowledge of what it is to be human among like-minded others in a wilderness setting.
The land
The 40 acres of bog, ponds, and prairie - even before purchased – was used by the school community to romp and play. Coordinating with a friend of the school to buy the land, in 2002 Teaching Drum split the property into ‘shares’ to spread the cost of the property among contributors. Everyone gave what they could afford, some with smaller shares, others with larger.
Circles
Throughout the years a plethora of circles ebbed and flowed through Mashkodens. The clan fluctuates from the loose circles of staff, volunteers and visitors to the group called the Longshadows (winter 2007-2008) attempting to dedicate themselves while continuing outside jobs. As the yearlong’s legacy of clan knowledge developed, the general trend was for each circle to increasingly immerse themselves in the lifeway. Side-by-side with yearlong veterans lived staff, visitors, and volunteers to the school. A transformation was set in place by the efforts of these circles – one which continues to this day.
-Thresholds: With their experience from the yearlong, returning graduates would almost always pass through the earlier thresholds surrounding comfort and mental confusion. It was the social threshold – seeking common purpose and the work of healing relationships with campmates – that seemed to be the camp’s continual stumbling block. Perhaps due to campmate’s mixed levels of involvement (outside jobs, partners at the school center, and different expectations of camp life) these circles never had the opportunity to recognize themselves and their potential.
Camp
As the turns of the seasons roll past a camp emerges. Gathering materials from the surrounding lands, Mashkodeniens met their needs for shelter, fire, and food:
-Summer Arbor: In 2003 the first summer arbor is built. A roof of beams, bark and peat held in the open air by posts, the arbor shelters the hearth and made possible camp meals in a variety of weather. An unnoticed spark from a large fire ignites the summer arbor in 2005. During the first organized Mashkodens gathering in 2007 the arbor is rebuilt, leaving the charred beams of the previous arbor to remind folks: mind the fire.
-Yurt (2003): Apart from the primitive camp, yearlonger Mary constructs a yurt of sticks, grass and canvas. Sporting a woodstove for white season stays, the yurt offers a home to many visitors and staff of Teaching Drum’s future.
-Two Cat-tail Cones (2003): Two lodges covered with Cat-tail - one housing a woodstove and the other with an open fire - were inhabited during the white season. The lodge with an open fire did not insulate because of the too-large smokehole. The other lodge would overheat just from frying an egg, and used canvas and sheets in addition to Cat-tail as insulation. During this turn of the seasons a group regularly cooked and slept at Mashkodens into the early white season. Talk of an earthlodge begun.
-“The Shitter” (2004): Yearlonger and staff-member Jason makes a place for himself on the property. In the neighborhood of the pseudo-primitive yurt, a tall and narrow cabin goes up. Using log-cabin construction Jason and his helpers make a very simple two floor structure. As an experiment the walls are chinked with sphagnum moss and peat. The cabin gets its nickname from its outhouse-like appearance. Jason explored the possibility of setting up a guardian-warrior camp during this time.
-Lean-to (2006): Tamarack’s assistant and yearlong guide Chris, along with volunteer Derrick, assemble a winter hearth. Taking advantage of southern sun exposure, the lean-to is crafted – like most other structures of Mashkodens – from logs, bark, and peat. Some of the peat is recycled from the collapsed summer arbor.
-Earthlodge (2006): Renewing the abandoned efforts of previous years Chris and Luke spearhead construction on the winter earthlodge with staff and volunteers (James, Didi, Ken, Evan, Darcy, Matt, Lety, Tamarack, Tim and Glen, among others) harvesting, bending, paneling, and weaving alongside them. Calling upon such a range of skills, the group goes for the most well-made lodge they can. The lodge bore her first circle that winter, keeping them warm with her clay-lined, air-fed fire hearth.
-Summer Lodges (2007): During the summer, yearlonger and school carpenter Luke and local elder and friend of the school Ken join up to build a grass wigwam. Later, at a fall Mashkodens gathering, a group builds a bulrush-thatched wigwam alongside. The bulrush lodge is rebuilt in later years, as the thatch has a tendency to fall out and rot.
A New Beginning on the Horizon
In 2008 the school community used Mashkodens extensively. Dinners under the arbor, hide-tanning, canoeing, and berry picking around camp, with nights spent under shelter of the wigwams. Word of a new ‘moon-long’ immersion program spread around Teaching Drum, and former seekers Ty (’04) and Brum (’05) were contacted to solidify the plan. Meanwhile, having returned to the school to fill in as nanny, Marcus’ (’05) heart was looking to build a more intimate circle. Having watched over the development of Mashkodens and the yearlong, Tamarack had in mind core camp principles of Native diet, truthspeaking (Teaching Drum’s word for speaking and listening from the heart,) and ‘flagging’ (a method to raise each other’s awareness when playing the victim.) The stage was set!
