Primitive skills group teaches the lost arts of survival

Published in the Frederick News Post on Friday, June 13, 2003

By Susan Guynn
News-Post Staff 

Staff photo by Sam Yu 
Joe Schilling of Germantown operates the bellows, made from a heavy duty garbage bag, 

a plastic water bottle and a length of pipe, to fire up his primitive forge during the 

Mid-Atlantic Primitive Skills meet held at the Catoctin Quaker Camp recently.

THURMONT -- Guy Neal unrolled the tanned animal hide. Inside was a chaotic-looking clump of plant fibers he had harvested and cleaned from stinging nettle and dogbane plants. Taking a few stems of dogbane from a nearby stack, he flattened the dry stems between his thumb and forefinger.

"It has a pithy shaft," he explained to the onlookers who had gathered around. He demonstrated the cleaning process by peeling away the plant's reddish-brown outer fibers in long strands then, with nimble fingers, showed them how to twist the fibers into cordage using a technique he developed.

"With this method I can make about six inches in a minute," said Mr. Neal, who lives near Johnsville. His method, he said and demonstrated, is less cumbersome than traditional cordage-making methods.

Mr. Neal was one of several demonstrators at the recent Mid-Atlantic Primitive Skills (MAPS) second annual rendezvous held at the Catoctin Quaker Camp in Thurmont. MAPS was created in 1997 as a means to help people become more proficient at a variety of primitive skills and to live in harmony with the Earth. About 120 people attended the gathering.

"There are about a dozen (primitive skills) rendezvous around the country but there are no others in this area," said Kevin Haney of Thurmont. He's the MAPS coordinator and co-coordinator of this event that drew participants from as far away as Indiana, Florida and New York. MAPS events are open to anyone interested in learning primitive skills.

There were demonstrations and hands-on workshops on beading, tracking, basic flint knapping, herbal medicine, tying knots, primitive blacksmithing, mushroom identification, natural gardening, finger weaving, bird language, wilderness navigation, arrow and bow making, and quill work.

As rain poured down outside, Gina Hamlin worked at a table inside the stone lodge showing others the basics of Native American quill work done with porcupine quills. The quills were a valuable commodity for trade, she said, as examples of quill work have been found in Florida, far beyond the range of porcupine habitat.

"Generally it was a woman's job to do quill work," said Ms. Hamlin, who lives in Denton. The quills were purely decorative and the women created colorful designs and patterns using natural and dyed quills. Sometimes the hollow quills would be used in their natural round shape or they could be flattened and stitched onto knife sheaths, war bonnets, headdresses and ceremonial garments.

The designs were unique, she said, though some symbols and colors held spiritual significance, depending on the tribe.

"The cross of four directions has spiritual meaning," said Ms. Hamlin. East could symbolize birth and life; south could be warmth or intelligence; west death and "going home to the spirit land"; and north may symbolize cold or the physical aspect of life. "It was very tribe specific and the colors would signify that," said Ms. Hamlin.

She's been doing quill work for about seven years. The quills she collects are taken from road kill. The quills are dyed and dried. Before using them for the decorative sewing work, they must be rehydrated in water. The quills are stitched on to brain-tanned deer hide using artificial sinew. Brain-tanned hide has a bit of elasticity which makes the stitches invisible to the casual observer.

"I taught myself to do this, first through books," she said, then from other skilled quill workers in New York. She now enjoys teaching the skill to adults and Native American children in the Eastern region of Maryland where she serves on the Maryland Commission on Indian Affairs.

The interest in learning primitive living and survival skills is growing, and the reasons are as varied as the people who participate. An attraction to the Native American lifestyle and a disenchantment with the traps and trappings of modern society play a part in motivating some, according to the MAPS Web site. But a recognition of modern society's disconnectedness with nature may be the primary motivator.

Kate White lived in Washington, D.C., when she started a "play group" for her son. Her own interests led her to include nature-based activities.

"I was just a mommy passionate about nature," said Ms. White. "I wanted my child to grow up having relationships with people and with nature."

But the play group became more of a program to the mothers as the women commented to her that they wanted the knowledge for their kids and themselves, and "once I added living in harmony with nature it became a big thing," said Ms. White, who now runs an Earth-based skills program for women in Vermont.

"It led me to seek to understand why women wanted to know these skills," said Ms White, who is an avid animal tracker.

"Tracking is male-dominated and, mainly, primitive skills are taught by men," she said. Men, in general, often feel threatened by women who are adept at these skills.

"Men and women have different needs when it comes to learning outdoor skills," said Ms. White. "Women have issues around safety that men don' t have. It's not even in men's awareness."

Men approach the skills from a factual, competitive perspective. Women, she says, tend to be noncompetitive and view the skills from a relational perspective. Her research is based on interviews with other women trackers.

From her research she discovered that women's needs weren't being met in learning these skills from men.

"Women have unique needs in learning these skills: safety, a supportive relationship, they like context and they have a relational way of learning. When they see a fox, they want to know how foxes are related to the environment," said Ms. White.

From her research, she created Earth-Based Skills for Women, as well as a nature-based program for children.

"This is not a feminist cry," assured Ms. White. "It's a support of family and bringing things back into balance."

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On the Net:

Mid-Atlantic Primitive Skills Group: www.mapsgroup.org

Earth-Based Skills for Women: www.dummerstonarts.com

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