Still Point work day

I want to thank those who came up and helped us over the weekend. We had a great time at Still Point, the new home of our summer programs as well as other survival based workshops. We were there for a work weekend and several volunteers showed up to help with trail maintenance and splitting wood for the winter. I think it was almost 4 cords. Two of our volunteers braved the storm and the mountain roads to help out. On Sunday I even had the chance to cut my leg with the chainsaw. Now thats living dangerously. Thankfully it wasn't serious. I also had the opportunity to go on an incredible sunrise walk where I ran into several deer. Stalking on the wet forest floor weaving through the paw paw saplings feeling everything wake up around me and start there day. It was refreshing to say the least. When i got back to the cabin I sat and looking at the fog that sat in the Shenandoah Valley due. It made me feel like I was above the clouds on the tallest mountains in the world. This place is magical.

To say the least, we are very excited to purchase this property and start sharing it with everyone.

We Found a Home... Now We Need Your Help!!

Ancestral Knowledge is a non-profit organization with a mission to teach ancient technologies, activities and philosophies that support a sustainable lifestyle to urban youth who do not have previous wilderness exposure, or the money to pay for these experiences.

Your support has allowed us to provide 14 scholarships for local youth during the spring and summer of 2008. Many Thanks!

How can we do more? One of our goals is to purchase land to host our programs. This is becoming increasingly important as every year we have a larger demand for our programming. Our greatest limitation is not having a home base to support weekend and week long overnight camps. Overnight camps in wilderness settings have a powerful influence. We also have no local affordable program locations, which allow many of the activities we consider essential to our mission.

What's new!!! Our work has become highly valued by our local community and because of this growing relationship Ancestral Knowledge has been offered an incredible opportunity in joint ownership of 35 acres that includes access to an additional 1400 acres bordering the Shenandoah River and Appalachian Trail. This property is part of the Rolling Ridge Foundation near Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.

This 35 acre property includes access to a retreat house, cabin, pond, and includes open access to the Rolling Ridge Foundation's 1400-acre land preserve. The preserve offers scenic views, hiking trails, river access, mountain streams and waterfalls. The entire area can provide an ideal place for Ancestral Knowledge programing... there is no highway noise, no airplane traffic, and no other campers or people. For photos and a description of the land, go to: Rolling Ridge Foundation Website.

For Ancestral Knowledge to take part in this opportunity, we need to raise $50,000.

Through private and corporate sponsorship, we have already raised $25,000!

Why so inexpensive? We will be purchasing the 35 acres with three other groups in a time-sharing agreement. This is a once in a life time opportunity and we are jumping at the chance.

Here is where you come in... We could really use your help in achieving this goal. All donors will receive a tax-deductible donation receipt.

-- Corporate donations of $1500 or more will be offered a personally designed one-day team-building outing.

-- Individuals and Families who donate at least $500 will be invited to attend a weekend getaway on the property.

-- Everyone who donates $75 or more will receive AK tee shirt.

Donate Here

Or send a check or money order to P.O. BOX 295 Mt. Rainier, Maryland 20712 If you have any questions please contact us at (301) 277-1276 or by EMAIL

Mid-Atlantic Primitive Skills (MAPS) Meet Wrap-up

Ancestral Knowledge is proud to say this year's MAPS Meet was a great success.

The overall feedback? "Totally awesome."

Okay, so there were some hiccups, but taking into considerations the growing pangs of the event and adjusting to a new site, everyone seemed quite pleased with the event. Even so there will be obvious changes for the future.

Boy Scout Camp William B Snyder was a fabulous camp. The natural resources on the property were amazing. Edible and Medicinal plants everywhere, Clay on site, Greenstone just down the road, a huge wet land that was just incredible, tracking opportunities galore and the 12x12 tents were a treat for sure. Even the dining hall was ultra modern and with AC (we were spoiled).

The Kids Program was a Great success. I heard nothing but good things about it and we hope to have it again next year. Thank you Living Earth School!

We have reviewed your comments!! Thank you for all the suggestions that will allow things to run a bit smoother next year. Evaluations forms are a great place to voice suggestions and opinions. Here are some changes that will make a big difference next year (if we are a Snyder again):

• We will utilize the front half of the camp to limit the distance traveled
• We will centralize the camping and teaching areas
• We will have a bulletin board at the central fire with all the sessions and map posted
• We will have a larger work trade group and a smoother volunteer crew system
• There will be a "meet the instructors" session on Wednesday after dinner so everyone can see the skill and ask questions about them before hand
• There will be a map to the instructors teaching areas posted in the dinning hall and at the central fire
• The session announcements will be after dinner prior to the next days activities so we waste no time at the fire
• There will be a baby sitting Co-op for kids 6 and under. (this will be run by the parents, we will supply the sign up sheet)
• The Camp organizer will have an assistant/helper
• Check in will be at the front of camp
• There will be an archery range

Here is the good news:

Ancestral Knowledge raised over $1100 from donations and through the silent auction. $660 for land, $260 scholarships and $200 for programming.

Thank you all for your support. Especially, a grand thank you to all the instructors.

If it wasn't for the instructors willingness to teach and the participants eagerness to learn this event would never happen.

Thanks MAPS Meet 2008 Skill Session Instructors

Keith Grenoble, Jeff Gottlieb, Jack Davis, Jan Macario, Tim MacWelch, Hub and Kate Knott, Cal Reed, Eric Bravo, Lauren Jacobs, Matt Bukowski, Robin Blankenship, Fuz, Bill Kaczor, Guy Neal, Snow bear, Joe Murray, Chris Maness, Russell Cutts, Jim Roaix, Chuck Acker, Dan Coates, Stewart Grey, Rick and Jamey Hueston, Matt Cohen, Wendy Nufer, Mark Seaver, Doc and Linda Garcia, Christina Gordon, Marsha Verber, Owen Budd, Wesley Greene, Stewart Grey, Owen Budd, Natalie Nicklett, Brigitta Carr, Benjamin Shender, and David Friedman

We hope to see you all again next year.

Week Long Youth Programs in the Woods

Ancestral Knowledge has two week long youth programs this summer.

Check the dates

The programs are "Woods Wise" and "Wisdom of the Woods." Note: "Woods Wise" is a prerequisite for the more advanced "Wisdom of the Woods" program.

Become "Woods Wise" as we explore our natural surroundings, becoming more comfortable in the wilderness. Our one-of-a-kind nature camp provides an exciting week of adventure and games while we wander through one of our local forests. The participants will learn how to blend and flow within nature while working together in small groups to hone their awareness skills and learn about the natural world. Wandering with no time or destination the campers are guided through experiences that nurture their connection to the earth and allow them to feel at home in the natural world. While in a safe learning environment, with experienced instructors, our participants will learn several ancient practical skills. These skills include: Primitive Pottery, Animal tracking, Lost Proofing, Basic Wilderness Survival, Plant identification, Caretaking, One-match fires, & Much More....

"Wisdom of the Woods" is a wilderness survival workshop. This program is the next step in becoming closer to the earth and all that it offers. This week long day-camp will show you how to use your instincts to survive in the woods as well as give you more advanced skills for long term adventures into the wilderness whether locally or abroad. During this exciting week of discovery you will learn such skills as fire by friction, shelter building, animal tracking, hunting and trapping techniques, wilderness awareness techniques, primitive cooking, pottery, and caretaking of the earth. While building the self esteem, confidence and motivation to be able to survive the elements, these skills will open the doors to a way of life you could only dream of. This is an experience bound to leave you with a new way to approach and experience the great outdoors.

Testimonial: These camps are amazing. "I've been involved with Ancestral Knowledge for a couple years now and every event I've done has been great. My favorite thing to learn at these camps is stalking (walking quietly to sneak up on animals). I think it's really cool to get camouflaged with mud and move without being seen. Now I really love going out in the woods in my back yard and trying to see all the animals that live there." - Sara, Woods Wise Day Camp 2007

See you in the woods...

AK Spring Wild Edibles Class (Meet the Plants)

Comments from a student.

On 10 May, AK students met with AK foraging afictionado "Hue" in Greenbelt Park to discover edible plants and have a few blood seeking tick encounters under a rain threatening sky. The class discovered many edible plants growing in the park and were amazed to also discover that many grew in their own backyards. Hue also brought some Ramps (Allium tricoccum - Wild Leeks) and Japanese Knotweed (Fallopia japonica) pie (yes, it was yummy!) from his recent foraging class in West Virginia the weekend before for us to taste. The Ramp tasted like a cross between an onion and garlic... raw it was powerful, but I think it would be excellent cooked. The Knotweed pie was reminiscent of rhubarb, very tasty. I had wished there was more.

Allium tricoccum, known as ramps, ramson, wild leek, or ail des bois (french), is a member of the onion family (Alliaceae). They are found from the U.S. state of South Carolina to Canada and are especially popular in the cuisine of the US state of West Virginia and the Canadian province of Quebec when they emerge in the springtime. Found in groups with broad, smooth, light green leaves, often with deep purple or burgundy tints on the lower stems and a scallion-like bulb strongly rooted just beneath the surface of the soil. Both the white root and the broad green leaves are edible.

Japanese Knotweed is an invasive plant native to eastern Asia in Japan, China and Korea. The young shoots and stems are edible as a lemony spring vegetable, with a flavor similar to mild rhubarb. In some locations, semi-cultivating Japanese knotweed for food has been used as a means of controlling knotweed populations that invade sensitive wetland areas and drive out the native vegetation. Harvest these hardy plants to the ground and eat them whenever you can. Now worries cause they will return next year.

Among the edible plants we discussed we also found and examined poison hemlock and learned how to distinguish it from other commonly found edible plants in Greenbelt Park; Wild Carrot and Yarrow (fennel looks them most like poison hemlock, but is not found in the park). In ancient Greece, hemlock was used to poison condemned prisoners. The most famous victim of hemlock poisoning is the philosopher Socrates. Sometimes the characteristic red spots found on the stem and branches are referred to as "the blood of Socrates" in reference to his death.

A useful tip to determine whether a plant is poison hemlock rather than wild carrot or fennel, which it resembles, is to crush some leaves and smell the result. Wild carrot smells like carrot and fennel smells like anise or licorice, whereas the smell of poison hemlock is often described as mouse-like or musty. Considering the high toxicity of poison hemlock, if the plant cannot be identified it must be discarded.

All in all, throughout the day we identified and sometimes tasted over thirty wild edible plants. Definitely, we learned so much that I'm not sure I will remember all of it and hope to take the class again next year. I especially liked sampling the cattail shoots. Nice flavor.

The overnight heavy rain was threatening all day with sprinkles once or twice, but it was welcomed weather. The rain kept the ticks on the ground rather than waiting for us on the tail grasses hope to catch a ride when one of us walked by. Ticks have been such a nuisance at the park in recent years because of the high deer population, short mild winters and dry summers. Only after some afternoon sunshine did we begin to have problems with tick... good thing Hue duct taped everyone's pants to their shoes and conducted many tick checks.

Hotels Can be Green Too

There is nothing better than spending a satisfying night in your home made leaf shelter, eating a wonderful array of freshly picked edibles, serenaded by woodland sounds while under a blanket of stars. We all know Ancestral Knowledge teaches these skills well.

Escaping on a wonderful vacation, in a beautifully appointed hotel room with all the creature comforts, isn’t so bad either. But have you ever wondered though where the hotel obtains those beautiful woods floors, dressing cabinets, marble counters, bed linens, and other lovely accoutrements and what it is doing to our environment? Eco friendly accommodations are becoming increasingly popular and include more that snuggling up in a cozy tent. Now you can see green beyond the trees outside your tent. For those whose “greendar” is increasingly on alert, many hotels are also seeing green and employing eco-friendly strategies.

Hotels are now including a variety of elements such as locally woven fabrics, regional woods, foods and other materials, low flow toilets, solar heating, gray water, and even providing informative global warming literature in individual rooms.

The following questions might help to gauge a hotel’s environmental commitment:

• Does the hotel use renewable energy sources like small hydro, solar, wind or geothermal systems?
• Are harsh chemicals used, such as scented laundry supplies, carpet cleaners and air fresheners?
• Does the hotel make charitable donations such as extra food, old linens, and towels?
• Does the hotel support local causes and community conservation efforts?
• Does the hotel provide education materials or information about green?

If you can’t find a hotel that meets your green standards, come with your children to AK classes to learn how to build a home away from home - like a brush shelter or leaf hut equipped with the latest in wilderness commodities.

See you outdoors.

Additional Resource: EnvironmentallyFriendlyHotels.com provides a list of over 2800 green hotels worldwide and ranks them based on 29 criteria.

Ref: http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/03/16/travel/16green.html

National Wildlife Federation's "Green Hour"

Everything parents can do to get their children reconnected to nature from home backyard adventures to attendance in local nature camps is important. Ancestral Knowledge is dedicated to helping you with first rate nature demonstrations, classes, programs, and camps in the Mid-Atlantic Region.

There are also many tools out there that help parents to maintain their children's newly found interest in nature in between our scheduled events. One such tool is the National Wildlife Federation Greenhour.org. It was created to give parents and caregivers the information, tools, and inspiration to get their kids -- and themselves -- outside.

As a society, we are raising the first generation of Americans to grow up disconnected from nature. That's the bad news.

The good news is that the steps that got us here are easily traced, and the way to work toward reversing them is clear.

Most importantly, by giving our children a "Green Hour" a day -- a bit of time for unstructured play and interaction with the natural world -- we can set them on the path toward physical, mental, and emotional well-being.

The National Wildlife Federation recommends that parents give their kids a "Green Hour" every day, a time for unstructured play and interaction with the natural world. This can take place in a garden, a backyard, the park down the street, or any place that provides safe and accessible green spaces where children can learn and play.

Ancestral Knowledge can help make up those Green Hours your children missed for whatever reason. Our kids camps and classes disconnect them from the electronic screen and reconnect them to nature. Register soon.

Business Leaders Reconnect Children to Nature

Are you in the Maryland, Virginia, and Washington DC business community and want to help reconnect Children to nature? Wondering what you can do besides supporting regional and national campaigns to connect children to nature?

Help your community in a more targeted effort by supporting Ancestral Knowledge, such as funding a bus service for under-budgeted school nature field trips hosted by AK, funding under-served children to attend AK Camps or, even, sponsoring an AK event at a local school. Become a financial sponsor of AK as we work to connect children and parents to nature.

You can sponsor AK outdoor classrooms for schools. You can underwrite AK to build a nature center with locally provided nature programs for vulnerable children, or help AK join with a land trust organization to protect open space—and build AK family nature centers on that land.

For your own employees, business employers can sponsor on-site nature-based child-care centers, as well as nature retreats for employees and their families. Businesses can also help to fund research, e.g., to gather knowledge on how best to create child/nature friendly homes and neighborhoods. Such research could focus on the relationship between nature experience and worker productivity, health, reduced absenteeism, and so forth.

In any event, get involved in your community.

Contact Ancestral Knowledge.

Americans Spending Less Time in Nature

From NPR's 'Morning Edition':

'Every year, a smaller percentage of Americans are fishing, camping or engaging in other nature-based activities. Since the late 1980s, the percentage of Americans taking part in such activities has declined at slightly more than 1 percent a year. The total effect [...] is down 18 to 25 percent from peak levels.

Mark Barrow, a Virginia Tech environmental historian, says the changes described in this paper are potentially historic. He says it's worth remembering that Americans have changed their attitudes toward nature many times over the centuries: It has been seen as evil, something to be tamed, a source of wealth, and as what Barrows calls a romantic playground.

In that view, Barrow says, experiencing wilderness was "connecting with something divine, something that was primal and part of who you were as a culture."

But Barrow says this study makes him wonder whether a new era may be dawning, one in which the wild is a place best seen at zoos or on plasma-screen TVs. "It clearly seems to be the case that we seem to not need to experience the natural world in the ways that we did previously," Barrow says.

The new study also says Americans might not be the only people changing in this way. Numbers from Japan show similar declines in things like park visits.

This evidence of losing touch with nature does not bode well for the Earth's future or children ever wanting to learn any of the sciences like biology, geology, or botany. Ancestral Knowledge is dedicated to bringing the "wildness" experience back to where it belongs in the American Psyche by teaching our children to see the wonders in nature and fostering that spark of curiosity.

Ancestral Knowledge Battles Against Nature Deficit Disorder

Our main goal here at Ancestral Knowledge is to bring the inner-city youth back to nature through programs like the ancient skills demonstrations we have held at the Washington D.C.'s Capital Hill Day School and other youth focused programs. In addition, we help maintain connections to nature with adults through our partnership with the Wilderness Survival program a Georgetown University. And, have provided experiences to adults who have lost touch with their childhood memories of the outdoors and want to regain that healthy relationship.

Our youth and adult programs are helping reduce Nature Deficit Disorder. We have seen some of the results with the kids we have continual contact with and it is encouraging.

Nature Deficit Disorder?

Almost two years ago the National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, hosted the National Dialogue on Children and Nature Conference. The focus of the conference was on saving our children from nature deficit disorder. You may have heard of this phrase before, it is the title of a book by Richard Louv, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder. Louv in his acclaimed book argues that today’s children have lost their connection to the natural world because of the addictive character that the modern world of television, computers and video games has on our children.

Hear Richard Louv talk about his book at NPR.

Some of the actions, solutions, and opportunities that the conference participants suggested are still useful, but we have not seen much progress in making them reality other than limited research on the benefits of exposing children to nature.

Health-related actions: Conduct research on the benefits of exposing children to nature instead of pharmaceuticals; incorporate the health benefits of nature into medical and nursing school curricula; and encourage pediatricians to prescribe nature time for stress reduction and as an antidote to child obesity.

Education actions: Assure that every school utilizes nearby; offer students in-nature time during teacher in-service days; create new partnerships between schools, farms, ranches and public parks; establish a national Nature Bee; and ask each student to be personally responsible for one living thing.

Societal actions: Create a “Take a Child to Nature” day; persuade AARP to create a nature-mentor program; establish a child-nature impact assessment for all built environments; and engage religious organizations.

Locally, AK has been fruitful in establishing at least one of the possible solutions--ancient skills educational and nature programs--to local schools and universities. Parents can have a voice too by calling teachers, school boards, and congressional representatives to encourage more funding and focus on getting our children out in nature and, of course, signing up their children for outdoor experiences.

Let's work together for a better future.

Urban Abo Pottery

Ancestral Knowledge collaborates with Joe's Movement Emporium, another area non-profit, to teach local kids primitive skills. We work with 30+ kids (ages 5-14) every Friday at Joe's teaching ancient arts like primitive pottery. Interestingly, the kids just loved sticking their hands into the wet clay and squeezing it through their fingers.

The first day we brought clay that had been sitting by a warm corn burning stove, the second day the clay had been left out in the cold. Not expecting there experience to differ from the previous session, they had a delayed shock from its cold temperature. It was a treat to see their faces and hear their expressions after their senses kicked in and recognized that something was different.

After a week of letting the moisture leave the pots, we heated them in a fire in the Joe's gravel parking lot. Due to open air fire restrictions inside the beltway we used a barrel to fire the pots in.

We had an initial 90% success rate in firing the pots; not many broke or exploded. However, this success rate reduced to about 50% after handing the fired pots over to their young proud owners, many dropping them in excitement.

Everyone in the program did a great job making pots, beads and figurines.

Woods Wisdom Found in the Dirt

More and more research suggests that letting children play in the dirt is good for them. Contact with certain germs and parasites found in the great out of doors early in life, especially those found in the soil can be healthy for building sound functioning immune systems. Some researchers suggest that time spent playing outdoors in the dirt and mud, which is filled with mycobacteria, serves a role in protecting children from allergic and autoimmune diseases as well as acting as an antidepressant.

There is a higher occurrence of asthma in inner city kids that are more likely to play on concrete than in the dirt, and a low incidence of allergies in kids who live in rural areas like on farms where contact with soil is much more common. Hygiene hypothesis theory blames the modern preoccupation with cleanliness for contributing to the recent rise in the incidence of asthma and allergies.

Recent research conducted at the University of Bristol, United Kingdom, suggest that exposure to some bacteria found in soils induced the brain to make more serotonin, our "happy" chemical. Yes, dirt makes you happy... amazing.

Although some bacteria can cause disease, not all strains of bacteria are dangerous. For example, a considerable number of bacteria within our intestinal tract are vital to healthy existence. This doesn’t mean that eating dirt would be healthy though some children relish a daily diet of the stuff. Only superficial contact with our largest organ, the skin, is sufficient for building that healthy immune system and brain function.

Get your kids out in nature to give them a healthy immune system and more happiness. Schedule them for a Ancestral Knowledge Day Camp.

30 Jun – 3 Jul – Woods Wise Spring Break Camp (Greenbelt, MD) ages 8-14

7-11 Jul – Woods Wise Day Camp (Greenbelt, MD) ages 8-14

7-11 Jul – Wisdom of the Woods Day Camp (Greenbelt, MD) ages 8-14

21-25 Jul – Woods Wise Day Camp (Greenbelt, MD) ages 8-14

21-25 Jul – Wisdom of the Woods Day Camp (Greenbelt, MD) ages 8-14

28 Jul – 1 Aug – Woods Wise Day Camp (Greenbelt, MD) ages 8-14

28 Jul – 1 Aug – Wisdom of the Woods Day Camp (Greenbelt, MD) ages 8-14

Goodsearch.com Helps AK Earn $$$

What if Ancestral Knowledge earned a penny every time you searched the Internet? Or how about if a percentage of every purchase you made online went to support our cause?

Well, now it can! It is that easy... give to AK just by searching the internet or online shopping.

GoodSearch.com is a new Yahoo-powered search engine that donates half its advertising revenue, about a penny per search, to the charities its users designate. Use it just as you would any search engine, get quality search results from Yahoo, and watch the donations add up!

GoodShop.com is also a new online shopping mall which donates up to 37 percent of each purchase to your favorite cause! Hundreds of great stores including Amazon, Target, Gap, Best Buy, ebay, Macy's and Barnes & Noble have teamed up with GoodShop and every time you place an order, you’ll be supporting your favorite cause.

Want more info about Goodsearch? See their website or read about GoodSearch in the NY Times, Oprah Magazine, CNN, ABC News and the Wall Street Journal.

Just go to Goodsearch.com and be sure to enter Ancestral Knowledge as the charity you want to support. And, be sure to spread the word!

Emergency Wilderness Survival at Georgetown University

Ancestral Knowledge (AK) was asked to design and teach an emergency wilderness survival class for the Georgetown Outdoor Adventure Trainer (GOAT) program. On the weekend of 23-24 February there were about 25 GOATS on hand for AK wilderness survival instruction that included hands-on experience.

We covered all aspects of emergency survival; short term and long term survival techniques, 5-minute fires, fire by friction, proper insulation, and shelter. We also armed them with a compact emergency survival kit that would save their lives in a pinch. We included innovative aid-less navigation techniques like song lining to ensure that they could find their way if ever lost.

Georgetown Outdoor Adventure Trainer (GOAT) - A certified GOAT has completed a semester long training program that covers all the basics of wilderness survival and enjoyment. They have mastered all the necessary backcountry skills as well as how to make sure people are having a good time and getting something positive out of their wilderness experience.

The group built the most incredible survival camp along side the Potomac River including a debris wall for wind protection and heat reflection. They constructed the sweetest debris hut to sleep in, which two participants endure the icy cold night. They fully experienced wilderness living and how fulfilling it is to stay in a cozy shelter.

Field and Stream Columnist Learns Wild Edible Plants

Field and Stream’s columnist, Bill Heavey, is learning mid-Atlantic wild edibles jointly from Ancestral Knowledge and Earth Connection. Bill Heavey has come to learn from our hard gained wild edible knowledge to build on his own knowledge-base. Who knows, maybe Ancestral Knowledge and Earth Connection will give him some material for his column.

Bill Heavey’s Column

Bill Heavey has been a professional journalist for over 20 years and our favorite type of journalist too—full-time freelance outdoors writer (there are so few of them left these days).

Bill is currently an editor-at-large for Field & Stream, where he has written since 1993. He has also contributed to Modern Maturity, Readers Digest, National Geographic Traveler, Field and Stream, Men's Journal, Outside, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and the Best American Magazine Writing and Washingtonian Magazine. He has been recognized for his written work with two prestigious National Magazine Award nominations and awarded the American Pain Society’s (APS) first journalist award, the Kathleen M. Foley Journalist Award. I even hear he was nominated for president of the United States in 2008 by one of his fans.

Field and Stream has seen fit to bundle some of Heavey's best work into a single volume, If You Didn't Bring Jerky, What Did I Just Eat? (Atlantic Monthly Press, $23).

Amazon’s note on his book states, “[Field and Stream’s] first collection of Heavey’s sidesplitting observations on life as a hardcore (but often hapless) outdoors man. Whether he’s hunting cougars in the southwest desert, scheming to make his five-year-old daughter fall in love with fishing, or chronicling his father’s slow decline through the lens of the numerous dogs he’s owned over seventy-five years, Heavey is a master at blending humor and pathos—and wide-ranging outdoor enthusiasms that run the gamut from elite to ordinary—into a poignant and potent cocktail. Funny, warmhearted, and supremely entertaining, this book is an uproarious addition to the literature of the outdoors.”

Funniest outdoor book we've read in a long time. Recommended.

Message from the President

Welcome to the new AK Blog and our world of outdoor adventure, exploration and fun – with a purpose. The blog provides information regarding Ancestral Knowledge happenings and events. Check-in on us often. See what’s new. Take part in our excitement.

AK has been promoting and teaching ancient ways as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization for over four years. Our mission is to develop and provide outdoor educational experiences for children, families, organizations, and individuals to help open their mind, body, and spirit to our earth’s delicate environment and ecosystems.

I have been practicing and now teaching primitive skills for approximately 10 years. Each new skill I acquire and even incremental improvement of old ones, improves my abilities and offers new insights of how our natural world fits together in a poetic symbiosis. Our students also flourish and brim with enthusiasm, as they gain understanding and respect for the delicate web of life.

The outdoors has always been a natural environment for children to play. AK teaches wonderful skills to enhance their outdoor learning and excite their natural curiosity. Building shelters to protect from the cold and other hardy elements, foraging for tasty woodland treats, mastering the arts of stealth, stalking and camouflage to gain protection from enemies and to obtain food sources, tracking animals to understand their behavior are just a few of the activities which greatly enhance their experiences outside. Knowing how to use natural materials to survive and thrive also empowers our AK children while developing mindful adults.

We invite you and your family to visit our website and blog, and to join our growing AK community.

See you outdoors,

Jamey Hueston, President Ancestral Knowledge