THREE TREES EARTHWAYS GATHERING
Traditional Arts, Primitive & Survival Skills, Simple Living Skills Gathering
October 2nd - October 6th, 2019
THE GATHERING
JOIN US FOR:
HANDS-ON CLASSES....LOCAL/WILD/ORGANIC MEALS....CANOEING ON THE CHIPPEWA RIVER....HIKES THROUGH NORTHERN FORESTS DURING PEAK FALL COLORS.
OUR EXCELLENT INSTRUCTORS WILL BE SHARING THEIR SKILLS IN MANY DIFFERENT AREAS!
EXAMPLES OF CLASSES
WILD EDIBLES
BASIC AND ADVANCED RIVER CANOEING
FLINT KNAPPING
BRAIN TANNING FURS
ARROW MAKING
RAW HIDE CONTAINERS
SURVIVAL SKILLS
BARK CONTAINERS
WILD RICE PROCESSING
CANDLE MAKING
MEDICINAL PLANTS
SOAP MAKING
ALTERNATIVE HOUSES
BUSH GUNS
...and more
Instructors and Presenters
Gigi Stafne
Professional Herbalist MH, MH, ND
Gigi Stafne is an activist, educator, clinician and writer within ecological, health justice and natural medicine fields. She's been Director of Green Wisdom School of Natural & Botanical Medicine in the Upper Midwest United States and Ontario, Canada for 33 years, and former long time Executive Director of Herbalists Without Borders International, addressing issues of health and social justice globally. Plus, a whole 'lotta other plant and natural medicine adventures and explorations in-between! She practices a lifelong passion for the plants, people and this precious planet. Join invites you to join one or more of her sessions.
Amy Schmidt
Gathering Director
From life in wigwams, tipis, log homes, etc Amy is always adapting to life and her wonderful family. She has had a passion for simple primitive life for 20 years and considers herself a forever student of the natural world. After spending 9 months training and living in primitive conditions she had been for ever changed. This gathering is her brain child but has been inspired by all the extremely talented and passionate people she has been blessed to meet and teach along side . She is excited to bring to all these people together here in the midwest for this fall gathering!
Tavis Lynch
Certified Mushroom Expert
Bio: Tavis is an amateur mycologist from northwest Wisconsin. He has been studying and identifying mushrooms for nearly 40 years and teaches several mycology classes throughout the state. He has been a commercial mushroom forager and cultivator fir many years and is the author of the book, “Mushroom Cultivation.” He leads dozens of public and private forays each year and is a certified mushroom expert by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture.
George Hedgepeth
Briar Patch Outdoors
I have taught ancestral skills since 1990. I first started out at the Center for American Archaeology in Kampsville Illinois teaching identification of useful plants based on the species we were finding in samples form various prehistoric sites in the lower Illinois River valley. I worked on several types of replicated prehistoric structures as well. Also, I started my education in stone under Dr. Toby Morrow and Tim Dillard; both manufacturing and use.
Tammy Michielson
Maple Hill Farm Soap and Candle Maker
Our story began in 2006 when we moved to a farm with our two young boys. We have never looked back and now we are home to grass fed beef, free range chickens, pastured pigs, and a flock of sheep. We raise our animals with the utmost care and hope that we are providing a quality product from animals that have lived a quality life. We welcome groups, families, and just the curious consumer to our farm for as behind the scenes peek at the job that we love. Know your farmer, know your food. Our sheep are the main animals on this farm. We milk them twice a day and some of that valuable milk is put into my handmade sheep milk soap and lotion. We believe that what we put on our body is just as important as what we put in our body. I make all my products in small batches and use quality ingredients - no artificial fragrances or dyes. Essential oils and botanicals for scent are a must for my own sensitive skin.
Blake Southard
North Winds Wilderness School
I am Blake Southard: I am the program director and head instructor at North Winds Wilderness School. I was formerly the Program Director at Future Necessities. My vision is to help anyone who wants an increased sense of self reliability, or anyone who wants to get closer to nature achieve their goals. We work with adults and children. We have several options for class size and length, we also prepare custom classes and programs for your group. I specialize in awareness training, Friction fire making, Primitive Hunting, Fishing, and trapping. I teach: Fire making, Shelter building, Foraging edible plants, Survival kit making, Brain tanning, Natural camouflage and stalking, Rewilding Philosophy, and prehistoric arts.
Gregg Southard
North Winds Wilderness School
Gregg works very hard to help people connect to the land and to their own wildness by immersing them in plant studies. Gregg Specializes in: Foraging for edible plants, and plant medicine, as well as Hide tanning and outdoor cooking. His passion for plants is very visible as well as his dedication to getting people back outside.
Scott Oeth
Bull Moose Patrol - River Canoeing
Scott Oeth is an avid outdoorsman who has particular interest in traditional winter and canoe camping techniques of the north woods. Scott is a Registered Maine Guide, an Eagle Scout, and a Minnesota Master Naturalist. As co-owner of Bull Moose Patrol, Scott teaches outdoor skills, guides wilderness trips, and blogs about his adventures.
Nick Dillingham
Black Thunder Studio
Nick was born in the southwest swamplands of the Michigan Territories. He has been studying and teaching traditional heritage skills for many years, learning and working along side many of the top instructors and elders in the Great Lakes Woodlands area. Aside from being a reclusive swamp witch who's often lured out of hiding with offerings of scrap steel for his knives, he's a master basket maker, natural fiber artisan and crooked knife maker. He's also an accomplished historical Woodlands recreation craftsman, having his work in many museums as well as in historical and cultural institutions across the midwest and northeast. Nick is one of a handful of people responsible for reintroducing crooked knives and the traditional "4 Tool" techniques to modern Bushcraft, and changing our current understanding of this tools history and use.
Tim Ewert
Black Ash Baskets, Traditional Bows
Darrik Walker
Brain Tanning
Steve Gorg
Knots and Wild Rice Processing
Ben Piersma
Bens Backwoods.com
Ben’s full time job is testing, researching, and selling tools and outdoor goods for life in the north woods. He uses hand tools like axes, hand-saws, and knives daily for fishing, hunting, foraging, self reliance, and bushcraft. Ben has designed several production knives as well as outdoor gear and is consulted on design by different manufacturers. Ben is a expert with a camp axe and has produced "Safe and Efficient Camp Axe Use" DVD as a teaching aid. Ben has spent most of his training with Mors Kochanski, and Karamat instructors Kelly Harlton and Dragan Uzelac with the focus on survival and bushcraft in the boreal forest. Ben lives in the woods of northern Michigan and runs Bensbackwoods.com , a bushcraft and survival supply company.
Nick Gordon
Announcements
Traditional Arts
Birch Bark Containers - Ferdy Goode
Combining natural materials from the forest including cedar bark and wood, birchbark and spruce roots; simple tools are used to create a Native Style Bark Container! Material fee $40
Birch-bark canoes 101 - Ferdy Goode
An Introduction to the birchbark canoe
Native Style Traditional Snowshoes 101 - Ferdy Goode
An introduction to Native style snowshoes
Mokotagen (Crooked Knives) -Nick Dillingham
Black Ash Baskets -Tim Ewert
Stone Pendant Necklace - North Winds Wilderness School
There is significant evidence to support the idea that when humans started decorating themselves, was around the same time that spoken language, and sense of self came into our lives. Archaeological evidence from Blombos cave puts this around 90,000 years ago. In this workshop we will discuss the history of human decoration, and we will work with soapstone, and both stone age and modern tools to create our own beads and pendants.... $5.00 Material Fee This is a 4 hour workshop( 2 sessions)
Brain Tanning - Derrik Walker
Derrik will be demonstrating all the steps involved in tanning deer hides in a traditional way.
Flint Tip Arrows - Andrew Minnick
FLINT TIP ARROWS Andrew will take his expertise in knapping to show primitive arrow making with flint tips. Participants will be able to make and take their own arrows!
Raw hide Containers - Amy Schmidt
Learn the principles of working with raw hide to form usable containers and vessels. Folks will make a small vessel during class. Class limit 15. Please bring extra scissors. Material fee $5
Pottery - Nick Gordon
South American Matisse - Show and Tell : Nick Gordon
Bushcraft Expedition in the Amazon Jungle A Unique Cultural Immersion with One of the Most Remote Tribes on the Planet! What does bushcraft mean to those who rely on the so called “Bush skills” in daily life? To explore this question, Nick Gordon of NOW Outdoors along with Joe Flowers of Bushcraft Global took a truly one of a kind cultural immersion deep in the Amazon Jungle. Indigenous men and women became our teachers and the jungle was our classroom. These men and women are from tribes only recently contacted and met us hundreds of miles down remote rivers to share their rich culture and insights to living in the jungle. While working through extreme language barriers, we focused on a variety of crafts and skills such as blowgun making, bows, traps, baskets, machete skills, canoe paddle carving, fire building, shelter craft and more. We participated in ceremonies never before filmed, explored wildlife both day and night, and even learned to make curare poison and joined in hunts with the Matis, learning how they spot and stalk monkeys while wielding 12 foot blowguns. Join me for this first ever presentation with photos, artifacts, and stories from the Amazon!
Processing Wild Rice - Steve Gorg
Chippewa River Canoe Tour - Scott Oeth
Chippewa River Canoe Tour Scott from Bull Moose Patrol will lead a short canoe cruise on the historic Chippewa River. Here's a chance to practice your technique, and enjoy the local waterways. This event is weather dependent. It may be moved to a flatwater lake location, or cancelled all together if water levels, wind, and temperatures are not suitable for an on-water paddle. Limit 10 participants.
Primitive and Survival Skills
Survival Atlatl - Victor Adhearne
Learn to make a survival atlatl from the local trees. Learn how to pick the correct branch, harvest it, and carve it. Class size 15
Atlatl Darts - Victor Adhearne
Come make an atlatl dart to go with your new survival atlatl! Class size 15
Throwing the Atlatl - Victor Adhearne
Learn how to use your newly made atlatl and dart. Full explanation of physics and the importance of developing proper form. Class size 15
Bush Guns - George Hedgepeth
Bush Guns: This will be an in-depth look at selecting fire arms for long term use in all environments, from the arctic to tropical jungles. A rubric will be developed to allow each student to fit a gun to their needs, whatever the conditions they will be experiencing. Classic authors like Calvin Rutstrum, Finn Aagard, Horace Kephart, and Townsend Whelen will be consulted for their experiences.
Flint Knapping Demos -George Hedgepeth
Flint Knapping Demonstration: George will demo the production and use of several types of tools from stone. There was bushcraft before there were Moras and Silky saws!
Meat Foraging- George Hedgepeth
Meat Foraging: Somewhere between picking berries and hunting moose is the realm of meat foraging, the art of putting protein in the pot from all sorts of non-conventional sources. Crickets, frogs, mice, and other small meat things will be thoroughly explored.
Selection and Management of Backwoods Sharps - George Hedgepeth
Selection and Management of Backwoods Sharps. How to pick bush tools that will work for you, keep them in prime condition, and use them efficiently. This is aimed more at beginners, but all are welcome. We will be making a sharpening system to take home in this class. Class size 20. Material fee $3.00
Stalking and Natural Camouflage - North Winds Wilderness School
Stalking and Natural Camouflage: Moving silently in a natural environment. Blending in with your background. There are so many reasons to move silently in the bush. Learning to move with the wind, stepping between sticks and blades of grass. These are the ways that you get closer to wildlife. You become a part of the background. When you are a part of the baseline animals will stop noticing you, and you can get closer than ever. Whether this is for hunting, photography, or just to be a part of it all. In this workshop we will get dirty, we will crawl and stalk, and hide. We will work with clay and mud to create a natural camouflage that will far surpass anything that you can buy in the store. You will learn walking postures that are in alignment with nature, You will learn how to blend with the background using natural horizon lines, and shadows. You will also learn how to see what might be hidden by reversing the ideas of hiding. This class is very fun, very hands on, and very in the dirt. Class size 10.
Simple First Aid Herbs - Thursday 10/3/19 ONLY!! Gigi Stafne
Along the meandering medicine trail, discover what is close on hand to help your body with common ailments and injuries.
Abo Flint Knapping - Andrew MInnick
ABO FLINT KNAPPING Learn the ancient ways of chipping stone knives, projectile points with stone, bone, antler, and wood. Hammerstone, soft percussion, indirect percussion, and pressure flaking techniques, with antler will be explored in depth, as well as tips and tricks in maximizing results with natural tools. Andrew has been knapping exclusively with primitive tools for over five years, and enjoys replicating and experimenting with stone tools in the field. Class size 8.
Bucksaw Build - Ben Piersma
Bucksaw Build: Learn how to build a 24" bucksaw with basic materials to help process your firewood needs.
Safe Camp Axe Use - Ben Piersma
Safe camp axe use : Learn the 4S's of axe safety and how to fell, buck, limb and split fuel for your fire.
Wilderness Camp Setup
Wilderness camp set up: Learn how to set up a quick lean to tarp, build a raised super comfortable bough bed, and build a pot suspension system for cooking over a fire.
Flint Tip Arrows - Andrew Minnick
FLINT TIP ARROWS Andrew will take his expertise in knapping to show primitive arrow making with flint tips. Participants will be able to make and take their own arrows!
Rabbit Pelt tanning -Amy Schmidt
Learn how to take a raw fur and turn it into a beautifully soft, usable material. This class utilizes domestic hides and will discuss wild rabbit uses.
Knots to Know - Steve Gorg
Simple Living Skills
Soap making -Tammy Michielson
Beginning Soapmaking - Let's turn water, lye, and a few oils into some hardworking and beautiful bars of soap. Nothing beats handmade and who doesn't want to know what they are putting on their body! Trust me, once you see how easy the process is, you will be making your own soap from now on.
Cheese Making - Rachel Mifsud
(Day 1) Mozzarella: In this class you will learn how to make fresh mozzarella. We will also begin some quick cultured cheeses that we will continue to process throughout the weekend. (Day 2) Goat cheese: In this class we will make goat cheese as well as continue to process the cultured cheeses started on day one. (Day 3) Cultured cheeses: In this class will discuss the process of making cultured cheeses. We will talk about different types of cultures and the different methods for producing different types of cheeses. We will also finish up the cultured cheeses started on day one.
Off Grid Food Preservation - Rachel Mifsud
Off-grid Food Preservation: We will discuss different ways of preserving fruits, vegetables, herbs, mushrooms, meats, and dairy products without the use of a refrigerator, freezer, dehydrator, or dehumidifier.
Camp Fire Cooking
Campfire cooking: Campfire cooking doesn't mean you need to be limited to hot dogs on a stick and foil packets. And roasting the perfect marshmallow doesn't need to be a game of chance. This class will teach you to control your cooking fire so that you can do everything from making the perfect s'more to deep frying fish to baking a pizza.
Pine Barrens Edibles and Ecology - Sam Thayer
Pine Barrens edibles and ecology: The Great Lakes Region is home to the most extensive pine barrens in North America, with a small section located near Bruce. Learn what pine barrens are, how they form, and about the unique plant community they support, including a variety of shrubs and trees producing edible nuts and fruits, as well as edible and useful herbs.
Foraging the Floodplains - Sam Thayer
Pine Barrens edibles and ecology: The Great Lakes Region is home to the most extensive pine barrens in North America, with a small section located near Bruce. Learn what pine barrens are, how they form, and about the unique plant community they support, including a variety of shrubs and trees producing edible nuts and fruits, as well as edible and useful herbs. Foraging the Floodplain: Learn about the diverse array of wild food plants characteristic of river floodplains as we hike along the Chippewa River.
Wild Fiber Plants - Sam Thayer
Wild Fiber Plants: We will discuss the major types of plant fibers found in our region--tree barks, bast fibers of herbaceous plants, and roots. We will discuss more than 20 native fiber plants for all sorts of uses, including coarse bindings and lashing, twine, rope, and high-strength uses like thread, nets, and bowstrings. We'll talk about harvest methods and timing, fiber removal from stalks, processing methods like braking, retting, and carding, and cordage making. We'll identify several species in the field and get to harvest fiber and make some reverse-wrap cordage.
Apotheca - Thursday 10/3 ONLY! Gigi Stafne
Your Personal medicines are closer than you think! Along trails, woods, wetlands, the botanical staples of your northwoods apotheca!
Eco-Herbalism and Ethical Wild Crafting - Thursday 10/3/19 ONLY Gigi Stafne
Herbalism and foraging are more popular than ever! First do no harm; a principle for personal health and ecological health. Walk lightly in all practices. Be guardians to plants at risk.
Wilderness Inspiration - Thursday 10/3/19 ONLY Gigi Stafne
Nature inspiring journaling based in botanicals. Bring your journal, sketchbook, and open hands and heart!
Candle Making - Tammy Michielson
Candle Making - Our candle process utlizes lead free wicks, phthalate-free fragrances and fun. We will be making three fall scented candles for you to take home. Bring your energy and let's do an easy project that you can enjoy in the months to come.
Wild Mushroom Identification Walk - Tavis Lynch
Join Tavis on a identification walk looking for fall wild mushrooms!
Mushroom Cultivation Seminar - Tavis Lynch
Learn to manage every inch of your space to its highest value. Grow a mushroom! In the garden, in the backyard, in the bathroom, anywhere you have space, you can fill it with healthy, delicious mushrooms. Learn the basics of mushroom cultivation and walk away with the skills to use your space more wisely. Class limit 40
Alternative Building Techniques Discussion/Demo - Amy Schmidt
Winter Camping - Nick Gordon
Wilderness First Aid - Nick Gordon
Wilderness Canoeing - Scott Oeth
OLD FASHIONED ORCHARDING - Sam Thayer
Growing trees for food is an ancient practice that it's easy, sustainable, and rewarding. Learn the basic steps of growing food trees the traditional way: without pesticides or herbicides. Well cover planning what to grow in different soils and climates, transplanting and Care, pruning, fruit thinning, training, mulching, mowing, propagation, fencing, pest control, disease management, ground cover, managing soil fertility. Visit our Orchard - where we grow 50 Apple varieties, 20 native Woody species, and more than two dozen edible Ground Covers - to see these principles and practice!
Registration Information
Pricing Table
Event Participant Adult (ages 13 and older)
Event Participant Youth ( ages 9-12)
Daily Event Day Pass Adult (No meals)
Click on Box Below to Register!
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Fleece Pullover Hooded Sweatshirt
Order your 2019 Gathering Sweatshirt! Pick up at the gathering!
Contact
- Trails End Youth Camp Bruce, WI
F.A.Q
What are the sleeping accommodations?
Are there showers?
What food is provided?
On arrival day, Wednesday, we will be having a potluck for dinner, so please bring a small dish to pass!
It's a great way to meet and greet participants and instructors!
