Hunter-Gatherer Apprenticeship
This apprenticeship program is for beginners of a rewilding lifestyle and those beginners who are interested in living at Wilder Waters Community one day.
You will learn practical skills of a hunter-gatherer life-way, including but not limited to: botany, foraging, bowhunting, fishing, hide-tanning, friction fire, flint-knapping, bow-making, primitive cooking, animal processing, herbal medicine, natural history, fiber arts, tracking, and nature observation.
Botany will be a major focus for all apprentices because it is a foundational skill for many other skills; you must be able to identify plants to craft a bow-drill, to forage food or medicine, to create cordage, etc.
We will also be learning and discussing the ‘softer’ skills of communal living, awareness, village-mindedness, and ancestral child-rearing among others.
seasonality
Your specialized program will be tailored to the time of year and the seasonal activities of the community.
This is the ultimate place-based instruction so you will be learning and doing what is important for each season of the year. This requires flexibility, determination, an open mind, and a lot of philosophical discussion over our shared meals. Please see below for some example moons and its corresponding activities.
Whirling Wind Moon (Dec 22-Jan 11)
Ice-fishing, winter evergreen foraging, sewing hides, tracking, chaga harvesting
When the Spruce Tips Fall Moon (Jan 12-Feb 9)
Ice-fishing, winter evergreen foraging, sewing hides, tracking, chaga harvesting
Spring Moon (Feb 10- Mar 10)
Ice-fishing, winter evergreen foraging, sewing hides, tracking, chaga hunting
Egg Laying Moon
(Mar 11-Apr 8)
Maple sap harvesting and processing
Alewife Moon
(Apr 8-May 8)
Spring greens foraging, hide-tanning, dip-netting smelts and alewives, turkey hunting
Summer Moon (May 9- Jun 6
Coastal harvesting, processing hides, basketry, foraging, primitive technologies, lake and stream fishing, turkey hunting
Ripening Moon (Jun 7-Jul 5)
Cattail harvest, digging clams, coastal fishing, harvesting berries
Feather Shedding Moon (Jul 6-Aug 4)
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Autumn Moon (Aug 5-Sep 3)
Bear hunting, berry harvesting, scouting for deer hunting season, wild rice harvest and processing
Harvest Moon
(Sep 4-Oct 2)
Wild-rice harvesting and processing, berry harvesting, fishing, bear hunting, deer archery hunting
Freezing Moon (Oct 3-Nov 1)
Harvesting acorns, deer hunting, squirrel hunting, grouse and moose hunting, harvesting walnuts
Frost Fish Moon (Nov 2-Dec 1)
Processing hides, squirrel hunting, grouse hunting, deer hunting
your instructor
Arthur Haines
Registered Maine Recreation, Fishing, & Hunting Guide.
M.S. Botany & Plant Pathology.
Skills include: foraging, bow-making, fiber arts, friction fire, hide-tanning, flint-knapping, fishing, hunting, primitive cooking, herbal medicine, tracking.
Cost
MINI-SEMESTER (28 DAYS OR ONE MOON)
$2,300—includes instruction, camp site, compost toilet outhouse, shower, kitchen & laundry access.
SEMESTER (84 DAYS OR THREE MOONS)
$6,300—includes instruction, camp site, compost toilet outhouse, shower, kitchen & laundry access.
Optional add-ons:
$400/moon—bedroom rental in communal house
$300/moon—cabin rental
$1,000/moon—for each additional adult family member
Children are encouraged to join and are free of cost!
Although we will all be foraging, hunting, and fishing frequently and sharing in the harvest of such activities, which will supplement your diet (more or less depending on the time of year), you will be expected to provide your own food during the program.