Trackers NW Blog

The Village Word

10th

March

When we coined the term Nature of the Village, we believed we were being clever and original. Now we see many others in outdoor education using the term "village." It must be parallel evolution, as we're all applying it in a wonderfully similar way. While the word "community" has been bandied about and overused as a promise for collaboration that may one day exist, we see village refer to a celebration of what is actually present. Its being defined as what you are stuck with; the gorgeous, complex and evolving reality of our family ties. While any term can eventually become co-opted, for now "village" represents an up and coming conversation of honesty in social collaboration and community.

It has something to do with the new tools of transparency and the blurring lines between social justice and real livelihood. When we say livelihood, we don't just mean making money. We address the food we pick from the garden, the wild we craft and the trade we ply. Its only with the village that these direct connections can be taken seriously. Its only with the village that they can be accomplished on a sustainable scale. The apple harvest is too big for one gatherer, the buffalo yields too much meat for one hunter and children are infinitely more challenging to raise without an auntie or uncle, without a grandma or grandpa. For now the word village faces the reality of our lives. Who are the those people we really share support with and how we are actually accomplishing it? It does not refer to a model or Shangri-La of consensus. It does not refer to an educational system or organization. It refers to the beautiful yet messy genius of what people do when they come together to care for one another. Its holds space for the individual to recognize their own gift and understand how they can truly contribute. Mostly, it means the family and land we are stuck with, both by blood and by friends and everything we must do to tend to the resiliency of these vital bonds.

A village adventure May 30-June 5 or September 6-12, 2009 During these weeks families, educators, community members and individuals come together and recreate a living, breathing village for one week. There is a Nature of the Village for every season. At Lost Valley's Summer Village we will live and work on an actual permaculture farm, experiencing and helping redefine this longstanding and growing ecovillage. The In the Fall Village is a daily celebration of harvest: wild crafting, food preservation, sausage making, bow making, pie, wine pressing, tracking the local wildlife, theater, art, kids playing wild and free, music, maybe a barn raising, a hoe down and whatever you bring that you are passionate about contributing. The Fall Village will take place at our new 400 acre cabin site in Sandy, Oregon. Because it is runs by open space social technology, this program is participant created in a way that seems magical. A synthesis of genius comes together organically, shaping a very high and functional level of work, play and care for the week. You have to experience it to believe it.

Truly giving back, TrackersNW has made the Nature of the Village very cost effective for the individual and added a significant discount for additional partners and children. We are confident you will learn more this week than you would in many other didactic skills programs, while feeling reenergized and respected in your intelligence.

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