The focus of this course is to let go of some of the stereotypical survival teachings and establish a relationship with the earth through the skills of the Hunter-Gatherer. By treating the earth like our home, we can become more comfortable and let go of the conquering notions that the term “survival” sometimes has associated with it. 

In the Hunter-Gatherer course, you will acquire the tools necessary for being comfortable walking the wilderness with minimal to no gear, while learning the ancient skills we all once had for living off the land. We will be foraging, trapping and hunting our food with the tools the land offers us, and expanding our awareness of the natural world as well as the Wild Within.

Hunter-Gatherer Walkabout Course skills focus:

· Natural Tool-making – use the materials available on the land to make all you need. Use sticks to make friction-fire, stones to make knives and other tools, plant fiber for ropes and cordage, and more.  

· Shelters - Creating warm sleep without a tent & sleeping bag, using local materials and traditional survival shelters.

· Edible & Medicinal Plants – Ethical gathering & preparation of wild edibles & medicinals.

· Trapping and hunting small game with primitive traps & other tools, and learn hand-fishing & spear-fishing techniques.

· Nature Awareness – learn how to use your senses to notice more, how to move silently through the forest, how to have more wildlife encounters, and how to slow down to find a real connection with the natural environment.

· Travel Light - Learn simple ways to carry tools and gear for ease of movement through the land

· Primitive Cooking - Different ways to cook both animal and plant food

Course Outline:

Skills Camp (2 days)
Join us at True Nature Farm and make a few tools in preparation for the walkabout. 
Gather plant and animal foods and learn various ways to cook them. 

Walkabout (3 days)
Walk the beautiful desert canyons of southern Utah while collecting and gathering various foods from the land. 
Sleep upon the earth in different ways. Walking unencumbered, explore the beauty and riches of the Grand Staircase National Monument.

Solo (1 night)
This is a chance to practice the skills of the week without our tribe and allow the land and experience to sink in deeply to who you are. 

Sweat Lodge and Celebration (Last day)
Take a deep cleanse from the inside out with this ancient practice. Then join in good food and relaxation before your journey home the next morning. 



Course Information:

Course Dates:         June 12-19, 2011
Tuition:                   $695, Including meals & Instruction
Early Bird Special:  $595 if you sign up by May 1, offer is limited to the first 4 participants to sign up for the course.
Instructors: The course is taught by Dave Nessia, Eden Gal and other True Nature Farm staff.   

This is a condensed, affordable, yet uncompromised version of the 14-day hunter gatherer courses that Dave Nessia led and taught at Boulder Outdoor Survival School for 9 years.

Course Instructors:

Dave Nessia
Survival & Traditional Living Skills Instructor
 
Dave Nessia started learning edible plants at the age of 13. Directly after high school Dave's interest in the outdoors lead him to the Teton Mountains of Wyoming. A passion for being outside became a leading focus of Dave's life. Mountain climbing, skiing, and hiking were the jumping off point that lead to the primitive skills field in 1999. 
Dave has been teaching survival & traditional living skills ever since. He has worked for four reputable Wilderness Programs and has worked for Boulder Outdoor Survival School for the past nine years as a head instructor. 

Primitive Pottery, Bow making, hunting, and a new passion for log cabin building keep Dave busy in his off times. Dave feels that a connection to the creator is built through a connection of what is created.

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Eden Gal
Nature Awareness & Traditional Living Skills Instructor

Eden grew up in a small intentional community (Kibbutz) in the Israeli desert. From a young age he was wandering the wilderness, farming, and participating in communal living. 
After four years as a pre-school teacher and a counselor for troubled youth, Eden went on to deepening his studies in Nature Awareness, Permaculture and Native Survival Skills in the United States, spending time at the Tracker School, Wilderness Awareness School, and various Permaculture Organic farms.

Eden also spent several years traveling worldwide, learning traditional living skills from indigenous cultures in Central America, Asia, India and New-Zealand, seeking to understand the relationship between social and inner sustainability, between ancient and modern lifestyles, between the natural world and the wild-within.

In 2010 Eden co-founded True Nature Farm with the intention of creating a learning-circle and community for exploring the deeper aspects of sustainability, weaving together nature awareness, viable living skills and the personal sustainability.