Teaching Choral Concepts

Review

     Primitive Outdoor Skills is a handbook of survival skills for people who want to live a little closer to nature--people who, if only for brief intervals, feel inclined to leave civilization behind and experience a simpler, less-pressured life style. These skills are both practical and fun--they represent a relaxing hobby as well as a potentially life-saving knowledge for wilderness or disaster survival.

       The book is a unique manual of outdoor skills written by an impressive group of nationally acclaimed expert instructors. Now, partially due to the teaching and sharing efforts of the authors whose articles are included in this book, primitive skills have become a recognized, respected part of most outdoor educational training programs throughout the United States and Europe. The information offered in this book will interest the student who wants to broaden his or her horizons to include primitive skills, the instructor who is looking for unique, time-tested methods to share with his students, and the hunter or fisherman who wants to increase his enjoyment of the outdoors through expanded knowledge.

       This book comprises a broad selection of field-tested skills, presented in easy-to-follow instructions that will help both the novice and the expert outdoorsman master the techniques.  In addition to the philosophy of the self-sufficient life style, a diverse range of subjects are presented. You can learn the technique of primitive arrow manufacturing, cooking in an underground pit, or hot draft bed construction. You can learn how to survive in winter conditions, weave bulrush baskets and tan fur, or learn the techniques of building a bulrush boat, baking in a clay oven, and crafting with stone tools. These are just a few of the skills you can instruct yourself in. As you read, you will learn to appreciate the goals of the authors-that of preserving the craftsmanship of aboriginal skills, and restoring primeval nature as a basic source of happiness and serenity.

       Primitive Outdoor Skills is a second volume of requested articles from "Woodsmoke Journal," a magazine written by outdoor educational experts for enthusiasts of the aboriginal life style.  The first volume, titled The Best of Woodsmoke, has enjoyed widespread readership in the United States and Europe, and has reinforced the popularity of primitive skills, both as a hobby and as a viable method of survival education.

       The idea for the original Woodsmoke Journal was conceived in 1975 by Richard Jamison and Larry Dean Olsen, author of the best-selling book Outdoor Survival Skills, during a desert survival expedition. The Journal grew from that time to include followers in all of the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, South America, and several countries in Europe. In 1984, the last issue of Woodsmoke Journal was published, but the demand for authoritative information remained, prompting this volume, which is compiled from previously published issues of the Journal, as well as several new, unpublished articles.

       Richard Jamison, an expert survivalist and leader in the field of outdoor education, was the publisher and editor of Woodsmoke Journal. He carefully insured that the Journal's contributors had many years of experience teaching, developing, and testing the skills and techniques they have shared. Richard has compiled this collection of articles because he believes that the aboriginal life style is an essential counterbalance to the high-pressure, socially complicated life of today. He finds the mastering of primitive skills an effective, satisfying means of more fully enjoying and preparing for the challenges of life. The basis of his primitive philosophy is perhaps best explained in a statement by Robert Marshall, a noted explorer and outdoorsman: "In the wilderness one finds adventure, aesthetic experience, space, a sense of freedom, and an opportunity for what is basic in life."

Table of Contents

1. The Primitive Life Style, 9
     Part I, 9
     Part II, 10

2. Easy-to-Make Stone Tools, 11
     Oldowan Bashee Technology, 13
     Bi-polar Percussion, 14
     DiscoidaI Knives, 16

3. Swamp Craft, 19
     Materials, 20
     Bulrush Gathering Technique, 25
     Proper Care, 27

4. A Trapper's Viewpoint, 29
     ControI AnimaI Population, 31

5. Ancient Steam Pit Cooking, 33
     How to Build Yours, 35
     Other Preparations, 37

6. The Arrow, 39
     Length and Shaft, 41
     Fletching, 45
     Making the Foreshaft, 50

7. The Survival Of Purpose, 52
     Level 1, 52
     LeveI 2, 53
     LeveI 3, 53
     Level 4, 54
     Level of Independence, 55

8. Sagebrush: The Ancient Survival Kit, 56
     Preparing Sage Bark Fiber, 58
     Sage Bark Clothing and Footgear, 59
     Cordage Material, 61
     Prolific Shelter Material, 62
     Folk Tales of the Northern Paiutes, 64
     Coyote and Wolf, 64
     The Great Basin Dweller, 64
     Fire-Making Materials and Techniques, 66

9. A Plea to Those Who Would Be Self-Sufficient, 69
     A Mature Outlook, 70
     An Honorable Experience, 70

10. Bulrush Weaving, 72
     Materials, 74
     Technique, 75

11. Lost, 80
     Procedure To Follow When Lost, 80
     Signals, 81
     What To Do At Night, 81

12. Snow Caves-The Easy Way, 84
     Winter Campsite, 86
     Forming A Bench, 88
     Fire Not Necessary, 91

13. Rings of Stone, 92

14. The Sweat Lodge, 93
     Intense Heat, 94
     Lodge Types Vary, 96
     Nez Perce Sweat Lodge, 96
     Constructing a Sweat Lodge, 97
     Procedures and Suggestions, 102
     A Cleansing Process, 103
     Keep Mind and Motives Pure, 104

15. Bounty of the Wildwood, 105

16. The Horno: An Outdoor Oven, 107
     To Begin the Horno, 108 .
     Forming the Chimney, 108
     Drying Process, 108
     Golden Brown Bread, 110

17. The Digging Stick . . . and Other Related Things, 112
     Other Related Things, 114
     Other Spring Look-Alikes, 118

18. 101 Uses of the Snake Bag, 119

19. Field Care Is Important, 121
     Meat Storage, 122
     Proper Care, 123
     Skinning the Animal, 125
     After the Animal Is Skinned, 127

20. Primitive Comfort: The Hot Draft Bed, 129
     Warm Rest Is Important, 130
     Select the Right Spot, 131
     Chimney and Fire, 133
     MaintainingYour Fire, 134
     A Word of Warning, 136

Index, 139

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