Kamana naturalist training programme

   Those of you who have taken my bushcraft courses might remember my discussion on nature awareness and animal tracking. We mentioned how important it is to enhance your personal awareness and interact with Nature on a more profound level.
   How do you do this exactly? Is there a light switch somewhere inside you that once activated opens up powers of awareness and understanding that was just waiting to emerge?

Winter Solstice

The end of the year is fast approaching. The weather has turned an intense cold and I can see 20cm icicles hanging from our cabin roof.
I find the winter cold refreshing. The sun has been out for over a week now. It is the longest stretch of sunlight we have had since June. At least the midges aren't biting in December.

Solstice is always a special time in the O'Kelly household. It marks the end of the short days and the beginning of the long march back for Father Sun. As each day passes we get just a few more seconds of sunlight coming down on the land.

Selecting a Bushcraft Knife

   There are many edged options available. Some are expensive (Bear Grylls £400) some are cheap (£10 Frost knife). In today's economic climate I would highly suggest staying on the lower end of that scale.

   Here are the fundamental characteristics that you need in a knife:
   1. Full Tang
   2. Non serrated edge
   3. Single edged
   4. Drop point
   5. No longer than your pinky to outstretched thumb
   6. Carbon vs. Stainless steel

Now let's address each of these issues in detail.

Why Learn Tracking?

   There are many advantages to learning the art of tracking. The most basic reason to study tracking is the enjoyment of seeing what comes around your local area. Through tracking, you can learn a lot about wildlife. You can see who is around, what they are eating, the routes that they travel and the time they come by.

Community Oriented Medicine

   Last week we talked about how modern medicine is coming to an abrupt end. We showed how medicine is completely dependent on fossil fuels and unlimited energy sources in order to maintain the current levels of care. This week we are going to talk about how to design a New Medical Model for providing sustainable healthcare in the coming change.

The Coming Collapse of Modern Medicine

   Modern medicine cannot continue to operate with the current standards in which it is operating. There are three major reasons for this: First, medicine is extremely energy dependent. What happens when cheap energy is no longer available? Second, basing medicine exclusively on scientific research provides a large margin of error, plus the ethics of who is funding the research. And finally, petroleum based plastics are used for a large portion of medical care. What happens when petroleum based plastics are no longer available?

What is a Ranger Scout?

ranger |ˈreɪn(d)ʒə|

noun

1 a keeper of a park, forest, or area of countryside.

2 a member of a body of armed men, in particular

• a mounted soldier.

• a commando or highly trained infantryman.

3 a person or thing that wanders or ranges over a particular area or domain : rangers of the mountains.

   This is a question that gets asked quite a lot. There are many characterizations of Rangers in history and the media. Here in Ireland there is confusion with the Irish Army Rangers.

   Coming from North America, I see another use of the name Ranger. The U.S. Army Rangers are another elite fighting force of infantrymen. When I went to the Ranger School in the US, I got to see first hand what the Ranger was all about. There is definitely a time and a place to have a Ranger Battalion sweeping in from the sky to seize an airfield or port.

   But these are not what I have in mind when I teach the Ranger Scout classes.

   In literature there are references to Rangers in the world of Dungeons and Dragons, Lord of the Rings, and other fantasy novels. Yes, I do believe that there is a lot to learn about Rangering from this source.

End of the Teaching Season

It is with great relief that we end the season of bushcraft and wilderness medicine courses. For the next couple of months, Anna and I will be recuperating and enjoying some quiet down time.

Autumn Arrives

The slowing down of the summer courses brings a welcome calm to the IPNA land. It has been a hectic summer with the Residential students as well as the other courses. Anna and myself have had little time to work on the land and get to the long list of chores to do before winter sets in.

We are still waiting for the summer weather. The past two months have shown record rainfall. The land is soaked like a sponge. The pig area was widened to allow them more room to wallow without causing huge mud pits.

Residential Programme Update

     The residential students have finished their first month of the three month programme. During this first month, they have been working on their hickory bows, finished their primitive living structures, making herbal medicines, and fleshing their sheep skins.

     I originally thought that three days a week would be difficult to fill with skills and learning. As it turns out, all three students are swamps with too many tasks and skills to finish. I may need to back off a little bit for this next four week period before the Ranger Scout programme starts. If they think that they are way behind now, they will be completely swamped once that programme commences.

Residential Programm Starts!!!!

     This week starts the first annual Residential Programme here at IPNA. We are happy to have three students come in for the summer. Two are from here in Ireland and one is coming in from Sweden.

    

     We are bringing in some guest instructors. Greg will be here for most of the programme. He has a BSc in Animal Tracking and has passion for the primitive skills. Kristy has a MPhil and will be teaching the philosophy of Nature.

Medical Anthropology

Formerly, when religion was strong and science weak, men mistook magic for medicine; now, when science is strong and religion weak,men mistake medicine for magic.-Thomas Szasz

            Medical anthropology is an emerging science bridging the concentrations of anthropology, wilderness medicine, and history. As a discipline of anthropology it connects the anthropological theory and methods with the study of health, illness and healing. It is a focus that first emerged in the mid nineteenth century and has rapidly grown to become one of the largest areas of research and practice within anthropology (Baer, 1997). Specialties can be found within the medical anthropology spectrum.

Sustainable Medicine 

   Imagine a world without oil. If that is too much of a stretch, imagine a world where oil is scarce and energy is too expensive for the average person(1). Imagine for profit healthcare management organizations struggling to keep business in the black amidst the spiraling energy costs.  

Ethnobotanical Applications for Wilderness Medicine

Ethnobotanical Applications for Wilderness Medicine

"Everything on the earth has a purpose, every disease an herb to cure it, and every person a mission. This is the Indian theory of existence.”Mourning Dove Salish, 1888-1936       

Modern Yamabushi: The search for the modern Jedi

As a warrior, you take responsibility for holding the balance

 between light and dark within you and, by extension,

 
the world around you, and ultimately

 when you go deep enough, the universe.

 -Barefoot Doctor

The myth of the spiritual warrior permeates our folklore, our legends, and the very fabric of our religious systems. From the dawn of antiquity, the role of the spiritual warrior has been an integral part of every population. Stories of wondering monks, blind but agile acupuncturists, mythical Greek warriors who were to have descended from the gods, or the Knights Templar all characterize the personification of the warrior-monk. 

The position that the warrior-monk achieved throughout history has produced many legends, novels, stories and films. These legends have become entertainment for some, a passion for learning for others, but for a small minority, these legends have become a driving factor for self-improvement. A small number of scholars of spiritual mythology have found within the legend of the warrior-monk something far more tangible than bedtime stories (Jung, & Kere, 1949).

Seaweed Collecting

   With the weather finally coming around after a rough and wet winter, Anna and I finally found a day to bike down to the local sandy cove. We found three types of seaweed that we enjoy, but it was the Kelp that was the main focus of my search.

Common Wilderness Diseases

Introduction to Wilderness Medicine

Wilderness medicine incorporates many different methods and practices of medicine. It borrows from emergency medicine, sports medicine, military medicine, and environmental medicine (Backer, 1995) It incorporates a unique spectrum of topics and special perspectives that facilitate it as a distinct field of study. Wilderness medicine can be seen as patient care in a remote environment. This means that anyone who is more than one hour from getting care from a hospital or ambulance crew is under the protocols of wilderness medicine. Wilderness activities such as hiking, back packing, rock-climbing, skiing, snowboarding, all forms of kayaking, and wilderness therapy are often held in places that facilitate the rules of wilderness medicine.

A New Medical Model

   There have been a few discussions on the web regarding the coming collapse of healthcare. More educated people than myself have weighed in with excellent points. Look here and here.

   Peak oil, a falling economy, or even a profound environmental catastrophe could bring about about a collapse of healthcare. It doesn't matter how far in the distance this event might be. It is imperative that we begin to set in motion the changes that will minimize the impact that it will have on the ability to care for the sick and injured.

   On a national level, the monies needed to continue to provide services are no longer within the countries' coffers. Without the ability to purchase petrol for the ambulance, medical supplies for the individual departments, or to pay for electricity to put all of this in motion, providing

   I wish to discuss this on a more local level. It is only a matter of time before each nation will not be able to afford to give medical care to the people. Once again, we will have to rely on our own community and family for medical care.