Celebrating our 15th Anniversary. Register Now for Summer & Fall. Click on our calendar for a full schedule.

Wolf Camp and the Wolf College

Wolf Camp

Wolf Journey

Wolf College

HOME • CALENDAR

PHONE or EMAIL US

CONFIDENTIALITY:
Wolf Camp does not share
its database — period.


• Wolf College SITE MAP

• Wolf Camp SITE MAP

• Wolf Journey SITE MAP

August 12-17 (2012)

Artwork by Wolf Journey alumna Joanna Colbert.

The Earth Skills Artisan:
Traditional Technologies

Course located at Dash Point State Park with trips to the Wolf Campus.

Project Choices: Bows & Arrows, Flintknapping Arrowheads, Natural Knives & Adzes, Live Traps & Fish Spears, Rabbitsticks and At-Latls, Parfletching & Tanning Hides, Flute & Drum Making, Soapstone & Wood Carving, Rock Painting, Cedar Cloth-Baskets-Boxes, Birch Bark Basketry, Building Willow Wig-Wams & Thatching Grass Lodges.

This is a celebratory week of making the most artistic and useful tools necessary for traditional living. Make obsidian flaked arrowheads by flintknapping, the world's oldest exotic craft, and make a bow from all natural materials. It's a real trick to get proficient at these two crafts, since tillering and knapping allow for no mistakes. Fortunately, you can try over and over. You will also have the choice of harvesting a small tree to make a fish spear, select shrubs to make an arrow, and gather feathers to fletch a dart for your at-latl, which was the world's most widely-spread technological invention for efficient hunting, allowing for humans to thrive over six continents. You may also be able to test our skills of primitive fishing, including handfishing, basket weiring, or hook and line. Other choices for the week include making aerodynamic rabbit sticks and practicing accuracy in your throw, making a quiver for carrying tools, crafting parlech, turning raw hide into tanned leather, and making no-kill practice traps. Plus, we'll practice the at-latl which was paramount for all of our ancestors.

Participant learning to chop wood.

Artwork by Wolf Journey alumna Joanna Colbert.


Thatched hut we built in 2005.

Course Goals & Skills Covered:

The goal of this session is to help you make the items you will need during a stone age living situation, and this course is a good way to see how to take it from the "emergency survival" level you can experience in the Wilderness Survival Training to the "traditional outdoor living" and eventual "stone age living" levels. Skills covered during this camp session may include, but are not limited to the following list, and are somewhat dependent on instructor preference and camper readiness:

• Use of Survival Knives, training in skills and safety for everyone.
• Natural selection forestry, using Hatchets & Axes for chopping and wood splitting, for those who demonstrate the most ability and consistent awareness of hazards.
• Wild Edible Foraging & Preparation.
• Fire Strategies & Safety
• Natural Water Purification (seeps, filters, and locating natural springs)
• Wilderness Camping, and Swimming in Natural Waters, depending on camper desire and swim testing.
• Hunting & Fishing, depending on group readiness and area laws.
• Ability to make flint and steel fire.
• Make good burn-bowls and get proficient at rock boiling.
• We'll cook in open fires and earthen pits, using rocks and clay like the ancients before us.
• Make rope from nettles, cedar bark, and various roots.
• Make a medicine pouch.
• Carve soapstone and wood with proper tools.
• Drum Making.
• Painting With Rocks We Process.
• Working with Rawhide.
• Cedar bark and willow basketry
• Flute Making.
• Cordage & Cloth Making from wool and bark.
• Keep in Shape with Daily Workouts.

Earth Skills Artisans prepares participants for sacred hunts in the future, since those who choose to hunt carry with them a great sense of honoring all life: that it is sacred, from the mightiest stag to smallest mouse. Of course hunting can only be done legally, and few animals are in-season during the summer. Yet when it happens, you must honor any animal you harvest by utilizing all of its body, learning to skin, gut, butcher, and tan hides. Honoring the whole animal is exactly what this camp is all about.

Jason with completed burn bowl.

Course Itinerary:

See below for Sunday, August 12, 2012 arrival times and Friday-Saturday departure options. Our schedule during the week includes morning wake-up, stretches, washing, and breakfast vary slightly depending on previous evening activities, but if all was quiet by 10:00 p.m. we would awake at 7:00, do warm-ups from 7:30-8:00, and have breakfast from 8:00-9:00 ... 9:00-12:00 is the morning session. 12:00-1:00 is lunch, and 1:00-2:00 is usually swimming or other recreational time. 2:00-5:00 is the afternoon session. 5:00-6:00 is dinner, and 6:00-7:00 is usually personal time. Evening sessions begin at 7:00, and bedtime varies according to the activity and the time of sunset.

Activities covered during this camp session include, but are not limited to the following list, and are somewhat dependent on weather, instructor descretion, camper desire, and serendipity:

Sunday: Orientation, Agreements, Icebreakers, Cordage, Campfire.
Monday: Knife Safety, Spears, At-latls, Plant Harvesting, Campfire Music & Stories.
Tuesday: Spearing, At-latl Dart Fletching, Bow Intro, Hunting Games.
Wednesday: Bowmaking, Intro to Flintknapping, Intro to Hide Tanning, Hunting Games.
Thursday: Archery with Bows, Parfletching Hides, Fish Hook Making, Hunting Games.
Friday: Finish Projects, Fishing, Closing Circle and Presentations.

Registration Info

Nikki sporting her cedar bark clothing.

Course Instructors, History, Books, AV & Other Resurces:

Patrick Wiley will facilitate the adult artisans as you join Jason & Andrew according to your primary interests.• Pilot Year: 2001.
• Past Lead Instructors: Andrew, Jason, Huck.

Books, AV & Other Resources this week include various hand-outs that campers will take home, and if you would like to prepare in advance, please consider studying the following resources we will be referencing:

Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast (Lone Pine) or Plants of the British Columbia Interior (Lone Pine)
Botany in a Day: Tomas J. Elpel's Herbal Field Guide to Plant Families (HOPS Press)
People of Cascadia by Heidi Bohan
Medicinal Plants of the Pacific West by Michael Moore
Peterson’s Medicinal Plants and Edible Wild Plants (Huoughton Mifflin) for Western North America
(Peterson’s) Poisonous Plants, both published by Houghton Mifflin
Healing Wise by Susun S. Weed, and Primitive Cooking (Wood moke) video available through hollowtop.com
Billy Joe Tatum's Wild Foods Field Guide and Cookbook and The Eat-A-Bug Cookbook by David George Gordon
Pacific Seaweeds by Louis Druehl
Drawing from the Book of Nature (Rudolf Steiner College Press)
Art & Technique of Wilderness Medicine by Paul Nicolazzo
Waterlily (University of Nebraska Press) by Ella Cara Deloria.

Join us as we share these exciting, critical skills of the Naturalist, Tracker, Herbalist, Scout, Hunter, Artisan & Pioneer. We don’t rely on novice instructors to lead programs, because of course, the skills we teach require great experience. Now it's time to relearn these earth skills which almost went extinct in the past century, in order to apply their lessons to our modern society, helping the world live in balance. Testimonials from past participants will help you understand how we strive to nurture the growth and success of everyone, while providing the rarest of positive experiences. Register for as many weeks as you like this year!

Health, Safey & Food: Our highly seasoned, dynamic instructors place the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual health of our students as top priority. We have always maintained an intimate 6-1 or smaller camper-instructor ratio, and our food is purchased organic, cultivated in our gardens, or harvested in the wild, making for wonderful meals that we all prepare together! In addition, we make all necessary accommodation for vegans and vegetarians, pork-free religious traditions, and of course food allergies.

PICK-UP, DROP-OFF and AIRPORT/BUS/TRAIN TRANSPORTATION OPTIONS

Arrival Options on Sunday, August 12, 2012:

Complimentary Park Arrival Option: Meet us at Dash Point State Park located at 5700 SW Dash Point Road, Federal Way, WA 98023 on Sunday between 4:00-4:30 p.m. and after initial introductions, we'll have dinner together between 5:00-5:30 and then give an overview of the week between 5:30-6:00, including detailed information on our itinerary, after which any accompanying friends/family are free to go.
$50 SeaTac Arrival Option: Book your Airport/Bus/Train Arrival into Seattle-Tacoma on Sunday morning in time to meet our pick-up vehicle at 3:00 p.m., but be sure to call or email us with arrival times before confirming your plans. Pick-up at baggage claim unless unaccompanied minor, then at gate or unaccompanied minor waiting area.

Departure Options on Friday-Saturday:

Complimentary Friday Campus Departure Option: Family & Friends are invited to meet us at the Wolf Campus in Puyallup on Friday between 4:30-5:00 p.m. and we ask that everyone bring a pot-luck dish to share between 5:00-5:30 before enjoying presentations from 5:30-7:00. It is extremely helpful for local family members and friends to arrive at 5:00 and stay all the way until 7:00 in order for all those who participated to experience a healthy integration of these incredibly unique experiences back into their home lives.
$50 Saturday Puyallup Departure Option: Participants can stay overnight with us at the Wolf Campus in Puyallup, where the latest departure time is at 12:00 noon on Saturday. Please let us know at what time you plan to pick-up / depart on Saturday morning.
$75 Saturday SeaTac Departure Option: Participants can travel back to the Wolf Campus and stay overnight with us in Puyallup, and then get dropped off at the Airport/Bus/Train Station in Seattle-Tacoma on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. in time for afternoon flights. Drop-off at security unless unaccopanied minor, then at gate, but again, be sure to call or email us with flight times before confirming your plans.

TUITION & REGISTRATION

Training camps in 2012 is $680 if you register by June 5 , and $695 thereafter. Cumulative discounts of $20 are given per additional family member, and $20 cumulative discounts for additional camp weeks, and $20 off for referring any new friend/family who completes registration. $175 per week per participant deposit is required to hold your spot, and participants may apply for as many weeks as they like. Additional Fees: The only additional expenses you may incur for this course beyond tuition and transportation are that you may need specific gear, although we have plenty of extra just in case, as well as health insurance (check with us for recommendations on inexpensive temporary insurance if necessary) and you may and wish to contribute to our scholarship fund for camp t-shirts, books and other recommended items. There is also the option of staying overnight with us on Friday and/ or Saturday after the end of the week, and if you can't meet us at the designated camp rendezvous point, please see above for alternate pickup/dropoff times. Please call us with questions. Credit: Most of our students do not wish to attain credit for their participation, but if you would like to apply for credit through an accreditaded college, we will facilitate that at no extra charge, although the college you choose will charge a fee per credit. We are also going through a multi-year accreditation process ourselves and hope to offer credit directly in the future.

SPACE IS AVAILABLE for the week of AUGUST 12-17, 2012. REGISTRATION OPTIONS INCLUDE:
Either: 1) Download & Send Our Registration Form via email or usps.
Or: 2) Call Us and we'll take your application over the phone.
Or: 3) Email Us with your address and we'll send you an application form with directions.
Or: 4) Use the PayPal link below to make a deposit and we'll get you all set up!

Name(s) & Age(s) of Participant(s) Enrolling:

Phone Number(s) and Rendezvous Point(s):

See our Merit Scholarships, Financial Aid & Giving page to learn how to get financial aid if needed. Our refund policy is written just above where you sign your registration form. It reads that if we cannot accept your registration due to closed enrollment or other reason during the application process, you will receive a full refund on deposits. Otherwise, deposits are not refundable. If you need to cancel after making further payment, you may receive a credit for a future program, minus a 25% administration fee of your total payments, in case of emergency. Of course, you will receive a full refund if the program you sign up for is canceled and not rescheduled at a time you can attend. Participants may be asked to leave at any time for inappropriate behavior or unresolvable match to camp, and no refund (nor credit necessarily) will be given for the portion of the program which is missed.

PACKING & PREPARING

After registering, we will send you a detailed program description, with directions on how to prepare. For week-long camps, we will also send a questionnaire for new participants to complete. It will include health history questions and other information that are designed to ensure that the program for which you apply is the best choice for you.

Click Here to go to our Essay on How to Pack for Overnight Programs

Lost & Found Policy: If you leave it at camp, it will be picked up by charity unless you pick it up within one month. We do not send forgotten items home except in case of absolute emergency need. Again, to help avoid loosing things, please put your name on every item you bring, bring only what you need, and leave all electronic devices and other distractions at home.

AGREEMENTS FOR PARTICIPATION

Agree to honor the experience as a safe haven for every person – physically and emotionally. This means encouraging others to rise to the challenge in every group activity, watching out for the physical and emotional safety of every person, and respecting the personal boundaries of others in camp, including bodies, belongings, and behavior that others may or may not witness.

If unclear or uncomfortable about sleeping, dressing, and bathroom situations after your initial camp orientation, be sure to discuss it with a lead instructor. Also, make sure a responsible party always knows where you are going, especially if you walk into the woods, go down to the water, or leave Wolf Camp property.

Ghost stories, jokes, or comments which are derogatory toward others or toward sacred themes such as bodily function, are discouraged since we have a diversity of participants with varied sensitivities. Also, all participants agree to discuss only age-appropriate themes and behaviors around younger campers without adult supervision. Asking permission is always the best policy.

Drugs, including alcohol, are not allowed at Wolf Camp - not even in private vehicles, and tobacco may only be used in areas that are out of smell of others. In addition, please don’t consume or improperly handle any plant that you don't know 100% that it won't cause illness or poisoning. Further, due to the mixed ages and genders at camp, all participants should refrain from any kind of sexual activity anywhere on the property in case of accidental (visual or audial) exposure to others, and simply to keep the focus where it is meant to be while here at camp: on the subjects that we teach.

Pets must be kept on leash or in your vehicle at all times due to the abundance of wild and domestic animals here. Children must remain within the designated boundaries and under the direct supervision of a permitted parent or instructor. They can only enter water under strict supervision of their own parent or an instructor 21 years of age or older with lifeguard training.

Please note that you may be asked to sign an additional liabilty release form with all the rules of the Wolf Camp or other property being utilized during camp. Finally, please take all garbage home with you to recycle, and in fact, please pick up any litter you see, and separate it into garbage or recycling or compost.

Come Meet Us

Click for a link to the Academic Year Class Series for your next opportunity to experience our welcoming educational style.

To register, print out an application, call us or email with questions, and we'll send you all the details.

Employment: We only need instructors with experience running camps and teaching in the field of Earth Skills Education, including skills of the Naturalist, Tracker, Herbalist, Survival Scout, Primitive Artisan and Sustainable Pioneer. Apply to become an instructor through our Earth Skills Teaching Apprenticeship.

email or call us • wolfcamp.com / wolfcollege.com / wolfjourney.com • mailing address and driving directions
All rights reserved, with content, graphics and photographs ©1997-2012 by Wolf Camp and the Wolf College and used only with permission.