Introducing the...
INTENSIVE SKILLS APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS
Now accepting applications for all Intensive Skills Apprenticeships!
World of the Hunter-Gatherer
6 Months (March – August)
Delve deeply into the skills and resources needed to thrive in a Hunter-Gatherer lifestyle. Learn in a wholistic manner, leaving the randomness of individual skills behind. Discover a whole new way of truly becoming a part of the world around us all and test what you have learned in the full survival outing that is the culmination of the program.
›› Learn more about this program below. ‹‹
World of the Bow: The Ultimate Hunter
3 Months (September – November)
Immerse yourself into those skills which were second nature to the ancient hunter. Plunge full on into the arts that ruled the hunter's life: bow-building, arrow making, flintknapping, stalking, camouflage, game patterning, hunting skills, and more. Finishing up during the heart of bow season, this program will prepare you for a hunt like no other.
›› Learn more about this program below.
Secrets in the Stone
3 Months (December – February)
There is a world within our own that few people in this modern life ever come to know. For millions of years rocks were what sustained our species — without rock, we simply would not have survived. Journey through millions of years of history — from the basic tools of early man, through the advanced flintknapping techniques of the Clovis and Folsom cultures, to the current methods used by modern knappers around the world today. Discover the Nine Basic Steps of Flintknapping that will open up for you a whole new world.
›› Learn more about this program below.
About the Apprenticeships
I have always had difficulty with the "randomness" of individual classes, and their lack of continuity and integration. This desire to bring a wholistic experience to the teaching and learning process has lead me to design these Intensive Skills apprenticeships.
Designed to be more than simply an immersion into primitive skills and survival, each specially designed curriculum provides a holistic structure to the learning, through which you will increase your knowledge and abilities exponentially. But even more important, you will gain a thorough and visceral understanding of the connections between the skills &mdash of how they work together!
Our focus will be on providing you with a solid base in the fundamental essence of each skill. By really coming to know a skill from the ground up you will discover how the whole of creation revolves around that understanding. A new way of looking at the world will begin to dawn, and you will see they ways in which you can pull knowledge from many different aspects, and pieces from many different skills, to bring them together into a whole new skill; a new and dynamic way of learning and understanding your connection with Creation, and with Earth Mother.
Requirements
- There are no minimum (or maximum) skill-level requirements for any of the Intensive Skills apprenticeships. Whether you are a skilled outdoorsperson, someone who has taken classes over the years, or one who has to this point been only an armchair enthusiast, will make no difference when we are reviewing applications.
- Participants will be chosen based on the answers in their application, and our belief that they will be productive and accepting members of the "tribe".
- We are looking for small groups of dedicated seekers who are willing to put forth effort. You must be dedicated, self-motivated, prepared to learn and always ready to try.
Program Particulars
We want these to be programs in which it will be practical for almost anyone participate. As such, we have designed them in a way that will NOT require you to quit your job, be away from your family or uproot your life.
- Each apprenticeship program is limited to a maximum of 4 people.
- Participants will meet for one weekend each month (Friday morning through Sunday evening) for intense instruction of the month's skills, an outline of the accompanying lessons and coming month's homework assignments, as well as a debrief of the exercises from the previous month.
- The first weekend of each month is the standard time set aside for the Intensive Skills programs, however variations may occur as the final dates will be based on the schedules of accepted participants, and agreed upon by all participants.
- Participants will camp on-site over the weekends, with full access to facilities.
- Participants will also receive up to eight hours of individual mentoring time each month.
- Participants have the opportunity to attend any other 1, 2 or 3 day workshops being taught during the time frame of their session.
- All materials are included in the tuition cost. A deposit is due upon acceptance into the program, with the balance due on or before the first day. This deposit is non-refundable. We do not currently provide tuition assistance or work-study programs, however requests for payment plans may be considered on an individual basis.
NOTE: A limited number of Residential spaces are available for an additional fee.
For more information on the residential aspect of the program please e-mail info@practicalprimitive.com
For upcoming session dates, tuition and application deadlines, see the program descriptions below.
Descriptions
The World of the Hunter-Gatherer
Program Length: 6 Months
Next Session: March – August 2009
For most of our collective history our ancestors lived as Hunter-Gatherers, existing within the natural boundaries, patterns and balance of the earth. More than the skill and knowledge of that time has been lost to our modern selves; our very connection with the natural world around us has been severed, leaving many people feeling as though they are missing something very important in their lives. It is this connection that we strive to rebuild in the World of the Hunter-Gatherer.
Throughout the six months we will approach the skills of our ancestors in a different way than you will find by taking regular classes. No one skill is learned in a vacuum — instead, each is woven into the next so that very soon you will see how basketry relates to shelter building, which relates to water, which relates to plants, which relates to traps, which relates to tracking, which relates to flintknapping, and so on and so on and so on. A large portion of this program focuses on becoming more familiar with the plant kingdom and our dependence on it. By the end of your time you will intimately know a minimum of thirty-five plants (but probably many, many more) and be able to prepare and use each one in multiple edible, medicinal and utilitarian ways.
By building this type of wholistic base of knowledge in the ancient skills you will be better prepared to face any challenge you may encounter, in any eco-system in the world. We will go deep into the principles that lie beneath each skill so that very soon you will come to realize that you do not need to know every design for every trap ever thought of — you will instinctively know the basis for the one you need to create for this situation, in this place, with these materials.
At the end of this intensive process you will have the opportunity to test yourself against what you have learned in a week-long survival experience that is the culmination of our program. The purpose of this outing will not be to live a perfect, easy, comfortable week — although we hope you will! Rather, it will help you to look honestly at yourself and your skills, see where the knowledge has permeated your being and where you are still in want of a more thorough understanding and further practice. It is during this experience that you will discover how much has truly become a part of you…
The Earth will take care of those who take care of Her — if you are ready to begin doing your part to help take care of the Earth, if you are prepared to work hard, get your hands dirty, try, fail, try again, become frustrated, keep going, and discover the absolute joy that comes with finding your true place, your true purpose within the bounds of Creation, then this program is for you.
During your 6 months you will:
- Build 4 different styles of shelter
- Identify, harvest and use a MINIMUM of 35 different plants
- Work with 5 methods of fire-by-friction
- Discover a multitude of uses for natural cordage, including clothing
- Learn to hunt, fish and trap using primitive methods
- Build 3 bows, including a greenwood bow with stone tools
- Become proficient at tarcking over all types of surfaces & trailing and patterning game
- Master the 9 Steps of Flintknapping
- ... and much, much more!
Tuition: $3800 (There is NO application fee. A $1000 deposit is due upon acceptance to the program.)
Application Deadline: January 31, 2009
To apply for The World of the Hunter-Gatherer program, fill out the online application form or download a printable version below.
All applications for this program must be received by Midnight, January 31, 2009.
Applications must be filled out in their entirety; incomplete applications will not be considered.
World of the Bow: The Ultimate Hunter
Program Length: 3 Months
Next Session: September – November 2008
NOTE: Application Deadline extended to August 20
(Eddie is in the mountains of Pennsylvania with the Hunter-Gatherer group on their Survival Outing and won't be back until August 19 so if you've been thinking about applying, you now have 4 extra days!)
When most people think of hunting today they envision shotguns, rifles, tree stands, feeders, high-fence game farms and guided hunts on private land. A far cry from the ways used by our ancestors long (and not so long) ago!
There was a time when the Hunt was considered sacred. The chosen animal had been "set aside" in order that the people might continue to survive, and it was the responsibility of the hunter to harvest that animal in an honored and respectful manner. This is the goal of the Ultimate Hunter — to return to the mindset in which the hunter crafted all of his own tools, tracked and stalked his prey, found the animals that needed to be removed for the good of the herd, and feed and clothed his people through skill, stealth, cunning and art.
Our focus for this program will center around the bow, all that it represents, and all that goes along with the ancient hertiage and lineage of those who carried it before you. You will build your own self bow, harvest your own arrow shaft materials, knap your own arrow points and craft your own arrows. You will learn to shoot instinctively and be able to do so from any position; whether on your feet, your knees, your stomach or back will make no difference. You will learn to track, and to pattern game so that you will not only know their movements now, but where they will be at any given time of year. You will discover how to become virtually invisible on the landscape, move silently through the woods, and stalk closer to animals than you may have thought possible. Your awareness of all that goes on around you will increase exponentially, so that you will soon be able to tell when an animal (two-legged or four) is moving through an area that you can neither see nor hear.
It is through the learning of these skills that the sacred aspects of the hunt will re-emerge for you. The entire experience will be enhanced in a way that modern hunting can simply not match. To sit in a tree stand or wait in a ground blind in the hope that an animal will come down your path or to your feeder will no longer be enough. Instead, you will be drawn into the world of the ancient hunter, where you must match your wits with the animals and prove yourself worthy to take home the prize.
The timing of this program is such that it culminates during the height of bow season. Throughout the three months your projects, exercises and homework assignments will all have been working toward preparing you to take part in a hunt unlike any other you have experienced. It is here that you will find the World of the Bow. It is here that you will enter the Realm of the Ultimate Hunter.
During your 3 months you will:
- Build your own self bow from a hickory stave
- Harvest and craft your own arrows
- Flintknap your own stone points
- Learn to shoot instinctively from any position
- Become proficient at tracking across almost any surface
- Begin to pattern game now for any time of year
- Become invisible on the landscape
- Move silently through the woods
- Stalk game closer than you thought possible.
Tuition: $1750 (There is NO application fee. A $750 deposit is due upon acceptance to the program.)
Application Deadline: August 15, 2008 (Extended to August 20)
To apply for The World of the Bow: The Ultimate Hunter program, fill out the online application form or download a printable version below.
All applications for this program must be received by Midnight, August 15, 2008. (Extended to August 20.)
Applications must be filled out in their entirety; incomplete applications will not be considered.
Secrets in the Stone
Program Length: 3 Months
Next Session: December 2008 – February 2009
"Primitive means First, not Worst." This quote from Scott Silsby is one of my favorites, and is more true when it comes to stone than in almost any other aspect of primitive skills. In truth, without stone we would not be here. Without stone tools we would not have survived. And when it comes right down to absolute basics, stone is the only thing we can't live without.
Many years ago I wrote an article for the very first issue of Primitive Archer magazine that was titled "Secrets in the Stone". When I decided to design an Intensive Skills course around flintknapping I could think of no better name for the program, and no better theme around which to build the curiculum. Over the last 25 years or so that I have been working with rock I have learned many lessons, and discovered many secrets that lay within the stones on which I have worked. However, the biggest lesson that stone has taught me is that my meager human life span is not nearly long enough to learn all that stone has to teach. This program will the beginning of your own journey with stone, and will give you a jump start into a vast new world.
Beginning with the earliest and most primitive of stone tools, you will work your way through millions of years of history and discover how, far from being inferior, stone tools in many cases work as well as or better than their modern conterparts. From there I will take you through the 9 Steps of Flintknapping, which will open up to you the entire world of points, knives, daggers and blades. We will move into the more advanced techniques of the Clovis and Folsom cultures, including fluting, and you will learn how to properly notch, haft and sharpen your points so that they can be used for display or for hunting.
The language of stone is the language of energy, and slowing down enough to hear and understand what the rocks are telling you will bring you many new insights into all aspects of your life. Working stone can be an empowering experience or a humbling one. Or both. This rock has been sitting and waiting for millions of years for you to pick it up. How patient can you be to learn what it has to teach you?
During your 3 months you will:
- Discover the lost world of stone tools which are comparable or even superior to your knife
- Master the 9 Steps of Flintknapping and open up the entire world of stone arrow points, knives, daggers and blades
- Learn the secret to getting & keeping points sharp enough to hunt (or to shave)
- Make your own flintknapping tools from both modern and traditional materials.
Tuition: $1750(There is NO application fee. A $750 deposit is due upon acceptance to the program.)
Application Deadline: October 31, 2008
To apply for the Secrets in the Stone program, fill out the online application form or download a printable version below.
All applications for this program must be received by Midnight, October 31, 2008.
Applications must be filled out in their entirety; incomplete applications will not be considered.
If you have any questions about the program feel free to give us a call, or send an e-mail to info@practicalprimitive.com.
Printable Application Form
To apply using the online application click here.
If you would prefer to mail in your application form, you may download a copy here.
Please mail your completed application to:
Intensive Skills Studies Program
Practical Primitive
61 Honey Locust Dr.
Toms River, NJ 08755