The Black-tailed Deer arrived for their first ever
exploration at Lookout Mountain Forest Preserve. The group circled up and the
mentors nominated a leader of the day; their job is to gather the group’s collective
focus and pass out jobs. Once everything was in order the mentors informed the
Explorers that they knew of a great spot to harvest some Western Red Cedar for
carving material that was roughly a half-hour up the trail. After some
deliberation the group’s plan for the day was to harvest the cedar, continue
working on their chopsticks projects and knife skills, and play a few rounds of
Spider’s Web while seeing what this new location had to offer.
Before heading out one of the mentors passed around an
object that looked like a piece of fruit leather and felt like suede. He went
on to explain that the object was called tinder fungus. “Fomes fomentarius or
Horse Hoof fungus is a polypore that grows on Birch tree snags. The name, Fomes
fomentarius means, ‘to use as tinder’. It is extremely flammable, but has a
nice slow burn, which makes it excellent for starting fires”.
Elaborating the mentor explained that in 1991 hikers found
the preserved remains of a naturally mummified man who lived between 3400 and
3100 BCE in a glacier in the Otzal Alps between Austria and Italy. Ötzi
the 5000-year-old “Iceman” was found with a similar polypore fungus in his
pocket. He is thought to have carried the mushroom to preserve fire, use as
insect repellent, and as bandage. How exciting to think that in harvesting,
processing, and practicing the technique of using tinder fungus as fire starter
we’re carrying on a tradition that is at least 5,000 years old. Connecting the
Explorers to natural history and stories behind Earth skills brings meaning,
relevancy, responsibility, and an element of sacredness to learning this
knowledge.
With some inspiration we headed on the logging road in
search of our destination. It wasn’t too long before we were side tracked due
to large piles of Vine Maple and Salmonberry that were cut in order to clear
the encroaching brush back from the logging road. Recognizing the opportunity
we stopped to harvest what we could carry. Vine Maple, although common in our
forests, is not a plant that Explorers Club harvests in large quantity due to
the impact it would have on our local ecosystem. Vine Maple wood is great for
carving walking sticks, tent pegs, bows for bow drills, and has also has traditional and practical uses within Salish populations to make sturdy bow staves and baskets, axe handles,
and frames.
The mentors informed the group that in order for the natural
world to thrive the practice of Earth Skills is not just the search for a
specific resource that an Explorer might need at a given time, but it is more
the endless search for life giving resources that often results in the land
providing just what we need.
Acknowledging an opportunity for the Black-tailed Deer to
serve their elder Explorers Club community the group-helped harvest enough Vine
Maple to make thirty bows for fire by friction kits. The boys were informed
that three elder Girls Explorers Club groups were currently working on this
fire skill and had planned to harvest Big Leaf Maple bows from logging lands
because of their abundance and quick growth rate, even though they were not as
ideal as Vine Maple. The connection between finding the ideal resource, being
able to give it as a gift, and a low impact way to glean was recognized by the
boys and they were excited to help. Way to go Explorers!
Circling up to revisit our plan the leader of the day took
votes and the group came to a consensus that each of the Explorers would harvest
enough wood to make a few tent pegs and then find the nearest location to
carve, lunch, and play a round of Spider’s Web. Turning off-trail fifteen
minutes up the logging road the boys found a quiet patch of second growth Cedar
and Douglas Fir and got to work carving after we revisited our safety
guidelines. The boys showed great focus and responsibility with their projects and
ended up making some usable tent pegs.
After some lunch the group was ready to decompress with a
round of Spider’s Web. Setting up the game course on a flat bench laden with a
thicket of tangled Devil’s Club and Salmonberries between two steep ridgelines
the boys started to sneak and crawl towards the food source. It turned out that
the location was extremely difficult for the flies to reach the food source and
had provided excellent vantage points from which the spider could hunt with
ease.
Coming in covered with mud and bark after well over a half-hour
we gathered up for a closing circle. The flies had failed to retrieve the food
source. Games have the power to teach children in a way that adults often
cannot. A major take-a-way from our game was the boy’s persistence and positive
outlook in the face of adversity. The mentors asked the boys what it was like
to face the daunting task of retrieving the food source in a hard to navigate
location coupled with the ever-watchful eyes of the spider. They talked about
how although they were discouraged at times or experienced discomfort their
desire to problem solve and improve their techniques in order to best the
spider outweighed the negatives and changed their outlook. They also mentioned
that they were thankful for the challenge that the games and the spiders
provided.
This display of maturity and depth of character is some new
territory in the Black-tailed Deer and is powerful to witness. The mentors
circled back to a concept that they had talked about in the group’s first year of
the BEC regarding the route meaning of competition, “to trade courage”. Trading
courage means giving your best to those you compete with. It means playing with
honor and character, showing one another grace, compassion, kindness while
challenging them build skills and problem solve.
Our mentors are thankful for all the support and
encouragement that allows us to mentor, work at skills, and play games along
your boys in the natural world. It is a pleasure to witness the group grows
through experience in wisdom, connection, and as leaders.
For more pictures from our day together please visit the
Black-tailed Deer photo album from the day.
