How are we to live in this place? How are we to belong to this place?

Human beings are moving back toward belonging.  All our ancestors once walked the road of belonging, experiencing and living within shared stories of kinship.  All of us live to one degree or another in the rip-tide between stories of separation and dominion and the inner wisdom that tells us of another way.  Most of us live among the fragments of cultural and ancestral knowledge.  Perhaps you, like us, are dreaming of piecing these fragments back together into a life that holds water, local water.  These new vessels will not exactly replicate those of the past, but if we honor each fragment for its unique gifts, and listen with full heart to the places where we now live, call them home, plan to stay, then the vessels we create will hold joy and purpose. 

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The Kinship Immersion explores a patchwork of skills and knowledge that celebrate the creative genius of our ancestors as well as the possibilities of today.  We will delve into real skills that allow us to sustain life:  tool sharpening, wild gathering, thermophilic composting of human waste, small scale forestry, root-cellaring, carving, fermenting, goat husbandry, basket weaving.  Each participant will carve and hang a handle on an axe then sharpen it into a vibrant tool.  We will also listen to elder Ray Reitze who reminds us to "learn to set down the tool," be it axe or computer, to give time to stillness, observation, silence and the understanding of our role in a natural community.  Reitze, whose boyhood was marked as an apprentice to a Mi'kmaq elder, will guide inquiry into interspecies communication, silence, and listening.  We will live from the abundance of gifts that this young homestead has to offer: acorn flour from the woods, cornmeal from the gardens, apples snug in the root cellar.  We will also focus on culture building: how do we want to interact, how can we make space to be ourselves and share our gifts, what kind of community do we want to create?

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Are you are seeking an experience of digging into place, reskilling, reinhabiting, restoring?  Are you intrigued with eroding colonialist and capitalist worldviews through daily actions that engender a world view of gratitude, reciprocity, and kinship?  If so, this is a program for you. 

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