I went a number of yrs ago, and it was disbanded by The Man. Illegal hide-tanning and other culture-eroding shenanigans were taking place.
Anyone attend in recent yrs? Experiences to share?
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Iâve been a few times, not last year though & wonât be making it this year. I havenât seen one without a serious drama incident, but I do think itâs excellent for a free event; I respect the organizers a lot. Some good earthskills workshops for sure, however the focus often becomes oppression & healing discussions, so keep that in mind. Itâs an earthcrusty festival atmosphere but not bad in the way Rainbow Gatherings go IMO. One of the ones I went to we slaughtered and processed two adult goats and made a ton of goat jerky and fed everyone who wanted to from the goats for the week, lots of stew. Provided food is often meager as itâs rotating volunteer cooking, often too many people for the communal, and whatever people want to carry for miles to bring for cooking. Really I would say your experience comes down to what you make of it, as you can instigate workshops and make awesome stuff happen. Just make sure to prepare for drama, long morning circles, cultural appropriation discussions, some wingnuts, and lots of crusty folk. Bring skills materials, go on plant walks, meet cool people.
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That âReclaim Rewildâ zine cover incidentally was created by Sky and Griffin who ended up moving to Alaska to rewild (Sound familiar?). That zine is awesome. I stayed in a wigwam that Sky and Griffin made at Wild Roots in NC. I always wanted to chat with them around a fireâŚ
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But to actually reply to the initial questionâŚI have been to such gatherings and they can be fun. I went to one such gathering in 2004 called âFeral Visionsâ in Twin Lakes, Oregon. The following things may or may not have happened: 1) John Zerzan and Feral Faun/Wolfi Landstrecher had a much anticipated debate (Wolfi had accused John of fawning over Ted K too much). Once the debate started, Feral Faun simply went for a dip in the lake. In other words, he won the debate. 2) A shadow puppet play was performed by the BASTARD collective where I was featured as âanthro boyâ as part of a collective of rewilding wingnuts who had a biodeisel truck. The magical rewilding mystery machine had a bucket in front to automatically pick up roadkill. The premise of the play was John Zerzan was looking for the most primitive way to fix his glasses and ran into various characters along the way⌠3) The camps divided into two sides: theory and practice. Many people wanted to debate and discuss anarchism ad nauseum. While others were cracking jokes, tanning hides, making baskets, shooting arrows, doing sensory awareness games (like making out), etc. I hung out with the practice folks and had fun.
I would go to an event like that again if it was closer to where I currently live.
I recommend Saskatoon Circle if someone is looking for rewilding skills type folks to hang out with. http://www.saskatooncircle.com/Welcome.html
A somewhat similar fun event is âCounter Countâ which is a free version of the primitive skills event Winter Count (which happens in Feb near Phoenix AZ).
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thanks for the reports, @autumnleavescascade and @dennis. The one I went to yrs ago was great fun, especially the crusty ppl and wingnuts! the only drama came when the cops came and started looking for excuses to threaten ppl and shut the thing down. And sadly, the whole thing ended all too quickly.
There was a delightful sprite-like guy who i believe had been wearing the same pair of buckskin pants since the late 1960s â led an awesome workshop on grafting plants. And a plant walk led by a super-knowledgable guide, and a workshop on tinctures, and some hide-tanning. And lots of rad zines spread over the ground, and just a great vibe in general.
I wonder if the gathering has been growing over the past decade, as ârewildingâ trickles into the mainstream. Any sense of how many ppl attended? When I went it was perhaps 80-130.
Iâm based in NM these days, may well venture to CO to check it outâŚ
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@dennis The early âFeral Visionsâ gatherings were all Black and Green Gatherings. I didnât go to the ones out west, but hosted and attended the ones out east which, IMO, were the best gatherings Iâd ever been too. Werenât you at the one in TN?
I appreciated the B&G ones the most because, at least out here, they werenât so split on theory and practice and there was a general back and forth and universality to those themes being tied. Discussions were all great and sometimes hilarious.
There were definite camps at the TN one in particular (a âFire and Iceâ âhealing campâ, for example), some drama for sure, but I had a great time. Made it a point to get shit on at every morning circle and my âmosquito honeyâ workshop did make it on the board. Loved it.
We definitely are overdue for another and I was hoping to pull it off this year, but itâs going to have to be pushed to 2016.
I was always surprised at how few people I know have been to the CO gatherings. It hasnât been practical for me to go, but for all I know there might be 20 people or 200 people. So itâs hard to gauge.
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You can always catch up with Sky by reading her interview in Black and Green Review no 1!
/shameless plug
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I had no idea there were other Feral Vision gatherings, let alone with similar âdebateâ and âpracticeâ camps. I wasnât at the one in TN.
People might not know what @primalwar means about âFire and Ice: Disturbing the Comfortable and Comforting the Disturbed while Tracking Our Wildest Dreamsâ or healing camps. Fire and Ice was book written by Skunkly Munkly and Laurel Luddite about their experiences becoming rewilders. It seems a bit of an underground classic among green anarchist circles.
Skunk (he goes by a different name now, but Iâll use Skunk) and Laurel went on a reconnecting tour that held workshops in different towns. At each place they would do Joanna Macy grief exercises and sensory awareness games. At a talk for the book that I attended in Olympia, Skunk and some other rewilders gathered to discuss reconnecting/rewilding. They served tepid roadkill coyote stew as one of the group was peeling membrane off a dried coyote hide. The workshop and book talk blew me away and pretty much set me on the rewilding path Iâm on today.
I doubt Fire and Ice will ever get republished, so I would hold on to each copy with care (if you can get one). Skunk seems to have disavowed it (heâs a friend of mine and I talked with him about it) and probably wouldnât allow it to get republished. Hereâs a copy for $45 (!).
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@primalwar Kevin, if you do have a Black and Green gathering let me know. Iâd be into doing some hide stuff. Not a full workshop (brain tanning take three days which would detract from the gathering I think), but just an introduction to bark tanning, brain tanning, fur tanning, etc.
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Should we get a âcommunal lending libraryâ in the works? Shipping is no minor deal, but if someone wants to read my copy, pay for shipping and not destroy it, Iâm certainly fine with that.
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I think 2016 is the year. I also have access to a lot of larger hides (bison, cattle) which can be great for having a group of people work them, but could also have a scraping workshop and a tanning workshop with a previously scraped and prepped hide.
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@primalwar I cannot wait until the B&G gathering, I hope itâll be in August⌠What a great read this post was.
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Still kicking around the idea of a gathering and have some places in mind as well. Low key things are definitely in the works and wonât be announced online. But with moving so late in the year, definitely not ready to commit to getting a gathering going for 2016.
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I have an extra copy Iâd be glad to trade or share.
Iâd be interested. Anything in particular your looking for? Iâm shedding a fair bit of my library. I donât even know everything thatâs in there. Heh.