Frequently
Asked Questions About Primitive Skills
and the Mid-Atlantic Primitive Skills Group
Why
do people practice primitive skills?
Everyone probably has somewhat different reasons, but there are a few common threads. Besides the fact that it’s just a fun thing to do, the ability to keep yourself alive in an emergency situation, a fascination with Native American lifestyles, and a disenchantment with the complexity of modern society play a part in many people’s motivations. However, perhaps the primary motivator for many is to be able to connect with Nature again on a deep level, something we’ve lost by being a part of modern civilization. To know that you can go out into the wilderness with no modern tools or crutches and live only on what Nature provides is a very liberating and enlightening experience. It re-teaches us that we all are connected to the Earth in a very intimate way and don’t have to depend on the machinations of the modern world for our sustenance. And this realization can lead us, if we let it, to a deeper spiritual understanding of man’s place in the universe.
What
are the most important skills to learn?
Most
primitive skills schools teach some version of what is called the “Sacred Order
of Survival”, which states that in order to survive in the wilderness, you
need four things in the following order of importance – shelter, water, fire,
and food. Most important is being
able to find or build a shelter to shield you from the elements, as hypothermia
and hyperthermia are perhaps the biggest killers in a wilderness survival
situation. The basic survival
shelter that most schools teach is the debris hut, simply a framework of sticks
slightly larger than your body, covered by a large pile of whatever debris is at
hand such as leaves, moss, grass, and branches, up to several feet thick.
In effect, it is a big sleeping bag made out of natural materials.
Such a shelter can keep a person warm without a fire at temperatures down
below zero degrees.
Water is
the next important element for survival, as a person can survive for weeks
without food, but only a few days without water. Fire is next, both for warmth
and for cooking and tool making purposes. One
of the first skills usually taught to primitive skills students is how to make a
fire by friction using an apparatus called a bow drill.
More difficult in execution but simpler in concept is the hand drill,
which is just a woody plant stem twirled by the hands on a notched fireboard to
produce a glowing coal. After some
practice, it’s actually possible to make a fire in the rain with these
materials.
Food is actually the last item in the Sacred Order of Survival, and is really only important in a long-term survival or permanent living situation. Many people are surprised to learn that they are literally surrounded by edible plants. Among the common plants that make a good meal are dandelions, plantain, thistle, purslane, lamb’s quarters, chickweed, burdock, wild mustards, and coltsfoot. And almost all acorns make an excellent meal for bread or soup after leaching to remove the bitter-tasting tannins.
Where do the skills you practice come from?
Since primitive skills must be based upon the environment where they are practiced, most of our skills originate with the Eastern Woodland Indians that were indigenous to the mid-Atlantic area. We are not trying to "be Indians", however, but rather attempting to reclaim the aboriginal knowledge that the native inhabitants of this land possessed. We are trying to relearn and pass that knowledge down so that it's not forgotten, because we believe that modern society must incorporate the spirit and earth-based philosophy behind that knowledge if it is to survive for much longer.
How
did MAPS get started?
MAPS
was conceived in April, 1997 by a group of Tracker School students who were
communicating on the Trackers Digest e-mail list (yes, we're aware of the irony
of a primitive skills group getting started on the Internet ;-). Kevin Haney, Joe Schilling (aka Deer Runner), Carl DeMarco,
and Cheryl Miller were the original “Founding Fathers”, and the first name
of the group was the Maryland Area Trackers (we changed to our present name in
1999). We started meeting regularly
to practice and share skills, and the group has been growing ever since.
Now we usually get 15-30 people at our gatherings, which are held every
couple of months. Most participants are
from the Maryland and Washington D.C. area, but we also have members from Virginia, West
Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Delaware.
In October, 2007, Kevin Haney finally retired after being the MAPS Coordinator for ten years. Andrew Pinger volunteered to take over this responsibility, and to help carry on MAPS into the future.
Where
do you meet?
We usually get
together within an hour or so of Washington D.C.
We've occasionally met at other locations in Maryland and Virginia.
Is
there a cost to join MAPS, or a fee for your events?
There
is no cost to join—all we do is put you on our e-mail list.
There is usually no cost for our regular events, unless we have a
workshop for which we need to purchase raw materials, in which case there can be
a small cost. Special events such
as the annual MAPS Meet in June do have a fee, but it is always just enough to cover expenses.
After all, our goal is to increase the size of the primitive skills
community, not to hoard pretty little pictures of dead presidents.
Do
you ever go out into the woods to really practice your skills?
We
occasionally do weekend trips where we take a blanket, knife, a little food
perhaps, and little else. This
gives us a chance to really hone our skills and find out how they work in
reality. The more hardcore folks
have done this for somewhat longer periods.
Whether or not you ever do things like this, however, it’s at least
comforting to know you can.
Isn't "primitive technology" really an oxymoron?
Not at all. "Primitive" is defined as "being of the first or earliest in existence." So the technology that has kept man alive for countless millennia is what we practice as primitive technology. And since longevity is the only true hallmark of the success of any technology, you could argue that primitive technology is the most successful of all!
Are children welcome at your events?
Sure! We believe that learning primitive skills is one of the best ways to teach a child a love and respect for the Earth. Of course, a parent needs to be with the child at all times. We usually don't have activities specifically for children, however.
Do
you have a newsletter?
No,
we do all of our communicating via an e-mail list maintained by the MAPS
Coordinator. If you would like to
get on it, send us an e-mail.
Event announcements and other information are also posted on this web
site.
Are
there any primitive skills schools that you recommend?
Many
of us are students of Tom Brown Jr.’s Tracker
School. All of his classes are highly recommended.
He gives courses in both primitive skills and earth philosophy. Most are given in New Jersey, either at his farm in Asbury or at a
primitive camp in the Pine Barrens. More
locally, Tim
MacWelch runs a school called Earth
Connection based in Warrenton, Virginia.
His classes are also highly recommended and he specializes in fire
making, edible plants, brain tanning, and stone tool making.
What
are the best primitive skills events to attend?
The
MAPS
Meet, of course! Other
than that, the Primitive Technology Weekend held at Oregon Ridge near Baltimore
every year on the first weekend in May is an excellent event. It focuses on knapping, but other skills are demonstrated as
well. The Jefferson Patterson Park
and Museum in Calvert Co., Maryland also has a Native American Technology Day
held once a year. And if you are
looking for a big rendezvous, the
Rivercane
and Falling Leaves Rendezvous put on every
spring and fall are highly recommended (they are located in North Carolina).
