Learn the survival skills that people of the land all over the world have practiced for thousands of years. This course is for educators, extreme beginners, outdoor experts or anyone interested in expanding their knowledge of ecology.
Long ago and today, native peoples all over the world lived in harmony with the earth. The landscape was their supermarket and the natural world around them was their intimate friend.
This is a fantastic introduction to the core principles of our hands-on, nature-based educational model. Each class explores various wilderness skills that are rarely covered in modern traditional education, such as:
edible and medicinal plants
awareness exercises
Indigenous ecology and mentoring techniques
how to survive in the wilderness
animal behavior, and more!
NOTE: We acknowledge native and other mentors who cultivated the knowledge used for this class, and understand the word wilderness does not justly describe landscapes co-created by indigenous peoples whose eco-systems were much more abundant with life and biodiversity than is currently happening today.
Dates and Pricing:
$35 per person per class (free for any Associated employees)
March 19: Basic Survival / Why Nature Connection is so important
Learn and make a survival shelter, gather water and make a fire. Come learn the basics of survival and have lots of fun while learning to keep you and your family safe. This course is for educators, extreme beginners, outdoor experts or anyone interested in expanding their knowledge of ecology and survival.
April 16: Spring Wild Edible, Medicinal and Useful Plants
Spring is a great time to eat wild edibles. Learn about many of our early spring plant relatives. Be prepared to sample and eat many new foods and have a great time.
April 30: Awareness / Bird Language: Wide Angled Vision / Fox Walking
Start learning the language of the birds. Learn how to move as one with the landscape and to find the wildlife before it finds you.
June 4: Advanced Survival Skills
Make your own bow drill fire kit and hopefully make a fire with it. Learn to make cordage (a type of rope) out of natural materials.
July 16: Summer Wild Edible, Medicinal and Useful Plants
This is the season of the berries. Learn much more about our plant relatives. Be prepared to sample and eat many new foods and have a great time.
August 13: Tending the Wild / Caretaking
Joey’s personal favorite! Learn why eco-systems collapse when indigenous peoples are removed from their land, and how native people gathered from the land in such a way that animals, food and biodiversity were greatly increased in their ecosystems. Class will include some caretaking the land projects.
August 27: Reading the Forested Landscape
This class will allow you to see what happened hundreds of years ago and see why the land is the way it is today. This is a really eye opening walk, once you go on it you will never see your eco-system the same way again.
October 8: Tracking Basic Animals
Learn clear print ID plus common animal gates some basic trailing games.
October 29: Fall Wild Edible, Medicinal and Useful Plants
Learn about the fall edible and medicinal plants. This is the season of the nuts. Learn the basics of many nut preparations.
November 12: Bamboo Crafts, Navigation and Grass Mats
So, we want to do some carving. This class is all about crafts mainly using the grasses. Make mats, clothing, Digeri doo’s, water bottles, spoons, rice cookers etc.
December 10: Winter Edible, Medicinal and Useful Plants
This class focuses heavily on dead twig id gathering and cooking roots and inner bark as food.
Educators
Joe Murray has been teaching nature connection since 1997 and has made it his life’s work to learn from the indigenous peoples of the earth and share the old ways with as many people as possible. During that time, he has mentored thousands of kids and helped design the curriculum for several wilderness schools and is a founding member of the nonprofit Ancestral Knowledge.
Renata Lynn will join us for our four-class edible and medicinal plant series. Renata is a clinical herbalist specializing in midlife women’s health with a focus on supporting women through perimenopause with herbal medicine and nature-based self-care practices. As a part of the healing process, she helps women deepen their connection with nature through guided interaction and experience. She holds a Master of Science in Therapeutic Herbalism and a Post Masters Certificate in Clinical Herbalism from Maryland University of Integrative Health, a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from University of Maryland and has been a practicing chemist for 25 years. Her herbal medicine practice is informed by tradition, science, and a deep respect for the role of nature in the healing process.
