I am curious to now what, if any, culture or peoples have influenced people in their bushcraft learning. Personally I was always interested in the Native American and still find the subject fasinating but recent study has also lead me to decover that the Saami peoples still have a very traditional skill set which we europeans tend to totally over look.
Cultural influences
- Thread starter Gary
- Start date
Not sure if this is along the lines you were thinking about, but the more I learn about bushcraft the more interested I am in plants and herbs. The way I'm finding my way into this is very much from a Pagan/Green Witch perspective and associated texts, (as well as starting to grow my own herbs etc) that talk not just of the practical uses of flora but the spiritual aspects as well which interests me just as much. For me bushcraft is not just about skill, it's about a dialogue with nature.
For me its the 'Amerinds', the Berbas and the Slovenes.
The Berba dessert(or is it desert?) skills haven't changed for centuries, just use slightly more modern tools, and up in the Julian Alps a lot of the old guys still practice traditional skills using traditional tools, i.e. they make do without GPS, SAKs, pezzo ignition stoves, etc.
Got a lot of respect for them all.
The Berba dessert(or is it desert?) skills haven't changed for centuries, just use slightly more modern tools, and up in the Julian Alps a lot of the old guys still practice traditional skills using traditional tools, i.e. they make do without GPS, SAKs, pezzo ignition stoves, etc.
Got a lot of respect for them all.
For me it would the Native Americans(First Nations) and Early frontiers men and women the fur trappers and prospectors.
But I am open to any individual or culture I can learn from even my own which has alot to offer me as well.
James
But I am open to any individual or culture I can learn from even my own which has alot to offer me as well.
James
personally i think in the uk we have our own folklore
as kim says there are a lot of old texts myths and stories many of them rooted deep in our culture
yes other cultures such as american indians or the pygmies of borneo are interesting, but perhaps not so relevant to our specific environment here in the uk
palm huts dont do too much good in a sleet bearing force ten gale :yikes: for example
in many ways modern culture has removed us from our climate and nature in general, i see bushcraft as a way of preserving old skills and traditions
was impressed by the stories of western people who reintroduced (to polynesians?) the fire plough to people whose entire culture had lost this particular skill
but for UK bushcraft often we need look no further than farming communities and "travelling people" ( no offence , many know them as gypsies or tinkers but i understand these are offensive terms, many of the ones i met on the continent preferred to be called Roma)
it really is all around us in the uk
so often i read stuff on here and think - "i already knew that" , maybe being brought up in the country helps
perhaps my biggest mistake is to assume that everybody already knows what i already know
which is one reason why i enjoy this forum so much, i am reminded sometimes of how much i know, and sometimes how little i know
keep on sharing, and keep on asking
it is all good
Tant
as kim says there are a lot of old texts myths and stories many of them rooted deep in our culture
yes other cultures such as american indians or the pygmies of borneo are interesting, but perhaps not so relevant to our specific environment here in the uk
palm huts dont do too much good in a sleet bearing force ten gale :yikes: for example
in many ways modern culture has removed us from our climate and nature in general, i see bushcraft as a way of preserving old skills and traditions
was impressed by the stories of western people who reintroduced (to polynesians?) the fire plough to people whose entire culture had lost this particular skill
but for UK bushcraft often we need look no further than farming communities and "travelling people" ( no offence , many know them as gypsies or tinkers but i understand these are offensive terms, many of the ones i met on the continent preferred to be called Roma)
it really is all around us in the uk
so often i read stuff on here and think - "i already knew that" , maybe being brought up in the country helps
perhaps my biggest mistake is to assume that everybody already knows what i already know
which is one reason why i enjoy this forum so much, i am reminded sometimes of how much i know, and sometimes how little i know
keep on sharing, and keep on asking
it is all good
Tant
Paganwolf
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Im with you Gary Native american indian ways and the shamanic/paganistic paths connect me with nature and bushcraft, earth religions seem to blend well with bushcraft ways and frendships, as sitting around the campfire talking story telling, creating things and helping and educating each other is a big part of life that has been erased by TV, Xboxes gameboys ect...thats why its so nice on here as it connects you with like minded people and gives you the warm satisfying feeling your not alone out there in the world of bushcraft ,its more of a campfire than a computer/internet cyber world, 
For me, again it's Native Americans and also Slovians, my wifes family have for generatons farmed the same valley and worked the woodlands on the lower mountain sides.This gave them a subsistence living with no electricity or inside loo until about 20 years ago. Proud peasants if you like.
Now the next generation has taken over the farm and whilst still using their woodcraft skills, (some of their carvings are fantastic) they have diversified into running a sports lodge in the mountains,running shooting holidays for wild boar, deer,etc mostly geared at the Italian and German market.
they also have some bear there but do not shoot them as they seem to be declining in numbers, however my wifes uncle did get a bear swipe his arm not so long ago, no lasting damage though.
They still retain the skills passed down from generations, I only hope this is maintained as they become modernized.
Now the next generation has taken over the farm and whilst still using their woodcraft skills, (some of their carvings are fantastic) they have diversified into running a sports lodge in the mountains,running shooting holidays for wild boar, deer,etc mostly geared at the Italian and German market.
they also have some bear there but do not shoot them as they seem to be declining in numbers, however my wifes uncle did get a bear swipe his arm not so long ago, no lasting damage though.
They still retain the skills passed down from generations, I only hope this is maintained as they become modernized.
Some good replies there - and thank you kim for reminding me of Wicca (not wholly bushcraft but certainly a branch)
And yes Tant' we do have our own folklore (and that was why I asked this question) because ours is vanishing so fast. Like the Saami culture I might add.
We had our own forms of shamanism, and crafts and skills. We had our woodlore and customs now its so far gone its hard to find and those of us looking to learn the craft are left with skills borrowed from other cultures!
Can anybody enlight me/us to truely British aboriginal skills - either PM me or here on the thread as I think it is time for us to revive and save what is left - in many senses we are the guardian of this knowledge and woe be tide us if we let it slip through our fingers!
And yes Tant' we do have our own folklore (and that was why I asked this question) because ours is vanishing so fast. Like the Saami culture I might add.
We had our own forms of shamanism, and crafts and skills. We had our woodlore and customs now its so far gone its hard to find and those of us looking to learn the craft are left with skills borrowed from other cultures!
Can anybody enlight me/us to truely British aboriginal skills - either PM me or here on the thread as I think it is time for us to revive and save what is left - in many senses we are the guardian of this knowledge and woe be tide us if we let it slip through our fingers!
I agree that native british crafts and skills are very thin on the ground and I think partly this is because of the tiny size of the country we live in... in much larger countries, peoples have had a chance to live in relative isolation and some skills have survived to this day, handed down. In the UK, isolation hasn't really been possible and nearly all of what is known is either made up by looking at other peoples or by finding artifacts that have been buried and trying to figure out what they were used for.
As with the spiritual side, I can get a little overwhelmed with this because I know that when eeking out a living in what was a much harder place to live, many of the people did not have time to be heavily spiritual and as today, it is my belief that many of the people only paid lip service to this kind of thing. making true spiritual people of old a rare thing and probably quite elitist.
I am more interested in the comonalities with people living in very similar environments as even in the stone age, humans had the ability to cross into and from continental europe and share trinkets and ideas. I bet that when the first people travelled to meet others in europe they muct have thought the world was getting pretty small, as we do today with high speed video conferencing and air travel for £20.
I do have great respect for native peoples, from the aboriginals to native americans to sammi but only for keeping these skills alive. The reason these people have the skills is because they embraced change in the first place, from fire making ability, to hunting with bows and not rocks and for making better textiles. I find it rather upsetting that it's ok for us lot to get the latest battery or fuel cell technology in our super efficiant cars but to effectively hold these people bech because we think it's great they have these skills.
That's one of the main reasons I hugely respect learned teachers of bushcraft such as you lot... you all post here using the ever evolving internet but you retain and quest for the knowledge of bushcraft and ancient ways of living.
It's a paradox innit!
As with the spiritual side, I can get a little overwhelmed with this because I know that when eeking out a living in what was a much harder place to live, many of the people did not have time to be heavily spiritual and as today, it is my belief that many of the people only paid lip service to this kind of thing. making true spiritual people of old a rare thing and probably quite elitist.
I am more interested in the comonalities with people living in very similar environments as even in the stone age, humans had the ability to cross into and from continental europe and share trinkets and ideas. I bet that when the first people travelled to meet others in europe they muct have thought the world was getting pretty small, as we do today with high speed video conferencing and air travel for £20.
I do have great respect for native peoples, from the aboriginals to native americans to sammi but only for keeping these skills alive. The reason these people have the skills is because they embraced change in the first place, from fire making ability, to hunting with bows and not rocks and for making better textiles. I find it rather upsetting that it's ok for us lot to get the latest battery or fuel cell technology in our super efficiant cars but to effectively hold these people bech because we think it's great they have these skills.
That's one of the main reasons I hugely respect learned teachers of bushcraft such as you lot... you all post here using the ever evolving internet but you retain and quest for the knowledge of bushcraft and ancient ways of living.
It's a paradox innit!
Gary said:
I understand what your saying and have looked into British cultural influences on bushcraft. Here are couple of links that may be useful.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/index.htm
http://www.englishheathenism.homestead.com/introduction.html
I agree we need to preserve and promote our 'native' stuff. We need more people like Jack Hargreaves and that wonderful program that wer on telly when I were a kid.
Can't remember what it was called but had really good classical guitar theme tune (Tales of the Alhambra?) and show cased traditional skills and tools.
Wish they'd put it on Sky...
Can't remember what it was called but had really good classical guitar theme tune (Tales of the Alhambra?) and show cased traditional skills and tools.
Wish they'd put it on Sky...
Gary said:
That's a difficult one, we've been invaded more times than a place that's been invaded loads of times and with invasion comes a huge cross section of knowledge and a vast and changing skill base.
I guess you may mean further back than that, before lots of marauding saxons/vikings etc turned up?
Anybody got a time machine?
Kim, the skills of the saxon woodsman are as much as part of who we are and what we should know as the paleolithic hunter gahterers. Wicca, druidism etc are or mythology,
Our being invaded, first the celts, then the romans, then the saxons, then the normans and then the vikings all add to our rich history and tradition and all should be embraced equally - in theory we have more skills and variety of skills there than the native americans and the san bushmen put together!!
Familine, gruel of blood and oats sounds good to me - modern black pudding or saxon blood sausage follow a similar thread as does the Masi habit of bleeding there cattle for food.
Our being invaded, first the celts, then the romans, then the saxons, then the normans and then the vikings all add to our rich history and tradition and all should be embraced equally - in theory we have more skills and variety of skills there than the native americans and the san bushmen put together!!
Familine, gruel of blood and oats sounds good to me - modern black pudding or saxon blood sausage follow a similar thread as does the Masi habit of bleeding there cattle for food.
I absolutely agree, just wasn't too sure what you meant by 'British' because I'm not always entirely sure what that means. However, that's a completely different discussion.
Guess that says it all really!
We are probably one of the most embroidered nations in the world and as you say, every aspect of that has it's place.
Guess that says it all really!
We are probably one of the most embroidered nations in the world and as you say, every aspect of that has it's place.
No matter where one is from,his or her ancestors were of a culture that relied on these skills to live and to lead us to where we are now.
Follow your own Traditions before they disappear completely??
Why do you want to try and follow someone elses traditions when you have your own?? :?:
They are there you just have to look for them. :roll:
>> http://trackertrail.com/nativepeople/wannabees.html
:wave:
Why do you want to try and follow someone elses traditions when you have your own?? :?:
They are there you just have to look for them. :roll:
>> http://trackertrail.com/nativepeople/wannabees.html
:wave:
For me, it all started at the age of 10 / 11 with an archeological excavation of a stone-age camp near the place I was living at that time. It was great to see bones (with cut marks), small pieces of flint (broken knife blade & arrow heads), charcoal and other exciting stuff coming out of the ground. 
Later there was an article in the local newspaper with some pictures of the findings and a picture / drawing of the camp with people living in it - to give people a bit of an impression how it looked like in those days.
Later on in life :shock: (I'm not that old) I read Robinson Crusoë & Huckleberry Finn
But the real bushcraft trigger (to start practicing it) must be the Australian Aboriginal people & the Bushtucker man.
Jakunen:
DESERT - Big open space with lots of sand ... (no, not the beach)
DESSERT - Is what you have after dinner (diner is french).
You're British mate ...
:rolmao: 
You should have known the difference
Later there was an article in the local newspaper with some pictures of the findings and a picture / drawing of the camp with people living in it - to give people a bit of an impression how it looked like in those days.
Later on in life :shock: (I'm not that old) I read Robinson Crusoë & Huckleberry Finn
But the real bushcraft trigger (to start practicing it) must be the Australian Aboriginal people & the Bushtucker man.
Jakunen:
DESERT - Big open space with lots of sand ... (no, not the beach)
DESSERT - Is what you have after dinner (diner is french).
You're British mate ...
:rolmao: You should have known the difference Similar threads
