But, I’m considering doing Kamana One again with the intent of following through to Kamana Two. Recently something has changed the way I feel; four months ago I made a deal with myself that I would go outside to sit spot every day regardless of how I felt about it. I just kept doing it and kept doing it even though many times I didn’t enjoy it, my sit spot kept calling me back.

Four months later and I can’t get enough. I recently started a free online copycat version of the Kamana program called Wolf Camp Journey, which I had planned on doing for two months. But recently, I’m feeling like doing the journal entries and the maps seems more like work than play. Especially the researching hazards. I learn a lot and enjoy it, but I’m not sure if my enthusiasm is sustainable in the long (the Kamana program can take years).

I have a few opinions about this feeling: I come from civilization. Sitting outside in the woods alone isn’t fun for a civilized human but once I did it for long enough, that changed and I think I did too. Maybe the field exercises and more school like components of the Kamana program eventually become more enjoyable. Also, while the Kamana program does offer some correspondence and mentoring, like you said this in no way can replace a real mentor. I’ve been to workshops facilitated by people who’ve done the Kamana program and their enthusiasm for nature was so contagious and inspiring. I’m hoping to find someone in my area who is willing to work with me on a face-to-face level to help guide me through the Kamana program into junction with the Wilderness Awareness School folks.

I don’t want to make this seem like a willpower issue. I think willpower is largely an illusion and in my experience has done a lot to foster feelings of guilt and resentment. What kept calling me back to my sit spot was that I felt better every time I left. Part of me is afraid that Kamana program could ruin this for me. But I think I’m going to go for it.

I really liked reading this post. I know it’s old, but I’d love to hear what you have to say about the Kamana today. I’m going to start a thread on this on rewild.info as well.

James

http://www.anarchistnews.org/?q=node/10135

Have you heard if the Palace is having another skill share this year? I went to last year’s one in the summer, it was a blast. Nice to see that there are other folks who enjoyed those kids company too.

I definitely think we need people creating new cultures, but ones that are anarchistic; egalitarian, sustainable, non-hierarchical, earth-based, etc. but at the same time we should support those people who have decided to resist the various manifestations of domination.

That said, I will say that the anarchist sub-culture in the west, definitely seems to be lacking any real resistance. It seems that people have resorted to lifestyle changes (veganism, dumpster diving, not showering) which in my opinion doesn’t do much to resist civilization.

Rewilding on the other hand does not seem like a movement at all, but a process. A process that is often appealing to anarchists.

My attachment to anarchism as a label is my attachment to the resistance movement that i am a part of. It is also an attachment to the rage i feel at the destruction of all that i love. If i didn’t feel hate, i don’t think that i would feel anything.

Normally I wouldn’t bite a comment as vapid as yours but since I’m totally bored and not really wanting to read my insanely technical book about the origins of the Indo-European language group…

Indigenous people needed quite a bit to learn to live with the land. They had cultures that had developed for thousands of years in particular landbases. Cultures that had mythologies, rites of passage, rituals, languages, customs, taboos, governments, land management practices, clothing and tools that all developed slowly and from a cultural mindset that already existed for them. They did this because they had tight-nit family groups working together to continuously regenerate their cultures. We live in a fucked up civilization, have indoctrinated minds of domination and slavery, pacifism and domestication. We do not have tight-nit family groups with thousand year old practices. It’s entirely ignorant to say that “just going out into nature” to learn these things is as easy as you’ve stated. If it were that easy, why has no one done it? As Tamarack Song put it:

“I’m going to give you all some straight talk, in hopes that it will help to steer you on to a track might get you somewhere. The reality of the situation is that I have not met, or heard of, a single person in the past 40 years who has used the approaches that we have been talking about, who has been able to return to primitive living. This includes the authors of the popular books. Yeah, they might talk a good talk, but look at what they’ve actually done—a month in the mountains, a solo year in the woods, some time in Alaska—is that really living the Old Way? Where is the clan? Where are the elders? The children? Where is the example and clan memories to learn from?

“Why didn’t it work for them, and why won’t it work for you? Because they carried civilization with them into the wilderness, and you likely will as well. You can learn all the skills you want, and The Mother will spit you back out just about as fast as you went in. The more stubborn individuals will last a few months or maybe a year, but rest assured, they’ll be back.

“Why? Because they didn’t do their work. We come from a technological society, so we naturally think that substituting primitive technology for civilized technology is our doorway. The only problem is that Native people are not into technology. They spend only a couple hours a day providing for their simple needs, and they mostly use simple means. Look at their tools—few and crude, and their craftwork — basic and utilitarian. What a Native person excels at is what I call qualitative skills—how to sit in a circle with your clan mates and speak your truth, how to find your special talent so that you can develop it to serve your people, how to use your intuition, the ways of honor and respect, how to live in balance with elders and women and children, how to speak in the language beyond words, how to befriend fear and live love. Without these skills, you will surely die. Or else you’ll go back to the life that shuns these skills.”

While I actually think he inaccurately describes hunter-gatherers (i.e. “crude” baskets) his main point stands true.

I think that rewilding offers an outlet for the resistance ideology without the hate. That’s why I differentiate between the two. If rewilding were to become another hate culture, I would abandon it and start something else. I’m concerned with creating the world I want, and that’s what I write about. I talk about what I don’t want by showing examples, in this instance anarchist subculture. I don’t “hate” anarchists. I hate the anarchist hate culture. LOL. I have many friends who identify as anarchists, many that are also rewilding. There is a difference between individuals and their culture(s). Many anarchists of the hate culture hate on me. They send their hate my way. Of course they do. They think I am one of them and “not doing it right” as Willem said. Individually I might be more like them, but not culturally. I’m working towards creating a culture, so this is why I talk about cultural stuff. I didn’t mean to alienate you, and so I’m wondering how much it’s your own attachment to your label than the culture of hate… especially if, as you said, you agree with me on my critique?

As Plato once said, Democracy is the second lowest form of government, only surpassed by Tyranny.

“Craig
Jan 7th, 2010 at 1:24 pm
But I think the bigger problem is that people are stupid.”

Bingo.

“Harry
Jan 9th, 2010 at 5:51 am
First of all, we need at least some of the things we have created.”

I advocate for modern medicine (trauma/emergency medicine mostly), public libraries, the history of philosophy, linguistics, and certain scientific disciplines (LHC not being one of the important ones) being saved. I’m all for trashing the rest. Oh, except for the programs that keep watch for asteroids/comets/etc. - I mean what use if we finally get our shit together and then WHAM-O, ninja comet decides to erase us but we could have pulled an “Armageddon” and deflected it while Aerosmith sings in the background? Be kind of pointless. But other than that I’m happy off in the woods with knives and campfires.