Just returned from our aboriginal living skills course with Cody Lundin, which was a three day hiking and backpacking trip in the Verde Valley canyon. Quickly uploaded a video to give you a sense of where we were (more to come later!).
Before leaving, we were instructed to use the trip as a way to reconnect with nature and to observe. But further, I believe that the purpose of this trip was broad: to teach us about how people lived sustainably in the past by actually living that way (or pretty close to it) for a few days, to understand a true reliance on nature, to be sensitive to the amount of a resource (water, energy, etc.) we have within us and have available to us, to bond as a group, to understand how every action we make affects nature, and lots more I can't put into words right now.
1 pair of socks & 1 pair of underwear
1 blanket & 1 sleeping pad
1 baggie of sunflower seeds & 1 baggie of trail mix
[READ: no tent, no sleeping bag, no toothbrush/toothpaste, no sunscreen, no cell phone, no bathing suit, no toilet paper, no raincoat, etc.]
A few of my major takeaways (developed after a debrief with everyone this morning!):
1. Sense of community - We had to rely on each other to complete daily tasks from the path we decided to take to building and fire and cooking food to warmth at night. The food part really struck me, as today we have such little connection to where our food comes, and especially who works to make it available to us.
2. Literally leaving no trace behind - Tasks like sweeping the campsite area to be free of foot prints, crushing and dispersing the coal from the fire, and not moving plant parts to where they would not naturally be were really brought to our attention.
3. Using the materials readily available - We learned how to make discoidal knives by hitting two stones of the correct shape together at the right angle, how to make super strong rope from processing plant fibers, how to use coals for sun block, which plants were good for eating. And more, it caused us to become very observant of and sensitive to the details around us.
4. Always being in "conservation mode" - With limited resources available, it was necessary to always conserve energy within us individually and as a group through things like finding cooler shaded microclimates whenever possible, having two people go to the river for water instead of all going, and taking our time on tougher terrain. Further, we had to take advantage of the resources like food and water when we came across them, because it was unknown when we would be right next to the river again or come by a certain plant again.
5. Units of measurement - Without watches, we judged how much daylight was left with our hands like this and thought of tasks we needed to complete more by the calories or physical energy they would take, as light and energy are what we were relying on.
6. Sense of history - Often through out the course Cody would say something like, this is the same river along which people traveled hundreds of years ago or this is how they would create a strong rope for many purposes. In this way, I felt a true sense of history that can't be accomplished through reading a text book.
7. Lack of hunger & abundance of energy - During the debrief, one of the common themes was that none of us were really very hungry or very tired throughout the trip. This was often attributed to the lack of over stimulation or multitasking we often experience and the necessity to accept this sense of slowing down.
8. Favorite place - At one point, some of us climbed up a steep wall of the canyon to go into ancient ruins way up in a cave. The sense of design history along with the beautiful view was amazing (pictures to come soon)!
9. Connection to design everywhere - In every task, we were constantly challenged to think about how things were "designed" through how the factors like the direction of the sun and the flow of drainages played into where we chose to set up camp, to the shape of the fire pit.
Well, that was more than a few...
But while going on a backpacking trip doesn't necessarily come to mind as the first thing on a sustainable design curriculum, it was an amazing way to jump into the real meaning of "sustainability" from someone who understands it by living it.
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