Author Topic: Tipi Living. Life around the hearth...UPDATE - falling of the snows.  (Read 14229 times)

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Offline Wylden Freeborne

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Well, here we are into the winter! Our family has lived on the ground through a cycle of one full season of the changing of the leaves and many changes have taken hold of us as well. I have found that I am quite attached to my bow saw, taking her on walks with me daily through the hills in search of dead standing oak, ash, madrone, the low-lying manzanita and the occasional ponderosa or fur. I could use a chainsaw, but I believe I will leave that to the wheelie bow shooters, and stick to my hands and feet! Thinking of the word 'power' a lot lately, and how misused it really is in civilized life. We used to pay our bill to the "power company" to have heat, much as most of the world now does being that over half the world's population is now urbanized. I would much prefer to call these institutions as they are, the DIS-empower company! There is nothing short of human when I walk out, up to two miles each day, find the right tree that lived for 100 years, giving acorns and shelter, that has since stopped growing and is seasoned to perfection for our hearth, take the bow saw and with much reverence, bring the tree to the ground, stoop to lift her over my shoulder and carry back to our tipi! Instead of the passivity of flipping a dial to stay warmed from a hole in the wall, on the outside of my body, I am warming myself internally, building up enough heat to steam from my back in the snow covered woods in just prepping this daily ritual. I then use the bow saw to make rounds of the tree, again creating more warmth and take my trusty hand axe to split the wood for my family to have light on the dark winter nights, warmth and food! Now that is power! The power that moves through me, not to be harnessed and dominated, or held over any being, the way a cop or a boss or landlord may wield "power". No, this is everlasting, all flowing power.

We have many neighbors crossing our footpaths each day as well. Turkey by the gaggle, deer, coyote, cat, bear, hawk and bald eagle all run through our village. At night, when my family settles into our bedrolls, we are lulled to sleep by the coyote lull-a-bye, yipping in chorus with the hoot owls above our heads. There is a strong flowing stream just downhill from us, that we cannot use for drinking as the cattle that have infiltrated this land for some time use it as a toilet, but it is clean enough to slip into for a cooling dip during the moon cycle sweat lodges we hold each new and full moon. The sound of the water moving is also ever present, shushing out the flow of the mechanical highway that can be heard though we are 11 miles from it's intrusion. Living through the fall rains, on the ground, brought me to some understanding of our ability to be human as well. We navigate the mudded slopes and step carefully over the rocks in the stream, learning balance. Our children have been gathering wood and water, and even doing their own dishes (sometimes), not bad for 7 and 8! They too are really coming alive out here.

I see them crouched over mossy oak bottoms, watching the ice melt slowly in the sun, waiting for the sphagnum to re-open in the sun. They are participating in a timeless engagement of learning by living. There are days that I do not see them from morning until evening as well, when they flop into the lodge, red cheeked and wet gloved, ready for a cup of hot tea and steaming bowl of dinner, fresh from the hearth. They are learning to course the river rocks as well, or not (splash!). I have told them for years that dry is alive in the winter woods, but it takes really feeling the stinging cold on your wet toes to know why. Now they do! They are all the better for it.

Staying dry is a challenge, when you live in the elements, and I am learning that dry is somewhat relative. We have learned to avoid the drips and push them down the poles of the tipi in heavy rains, building makeshift ozans from rain coats to hang over our beds, suspended from the poles all around us. It works! We sleep soundly and awake to dry blankets and pillows. There is something almost sad about being too dry out here, after some time, but you won't hear me complaining about it.

Our tipi is a 19 foot lodge, giving enough space for a family of four to spread our legs, stretching ourselves away from the fire, head to the hearth, as well as having a library, a tree stump table, wood cutting area and a size-able kitchen, all abutting the canvas cover and the poles around us. We have not made a liner as of yet, which blocks a bit of the draft, but are managing just fine so far. You really learn what a luxury is and what essential is when you get down to it.

We do live in a community of folk here, all in tipis, and having that common unity really levels the field of neighboring. We seem to work together well, holding talking circles frequently in what is called the big lodge. The big lodge is a 27 foot lodge that is the center of the community. It is an always open space for folk to come and visit, and for new arrivals to settle into while they prepare their own tipi. Our family shared this space with the whole community of 15 people for a while during the move from our summer spot to the winter spot. It was snug, but worked out well. The big lodge is our gathering place as well, for birthdays, celebrations, potlucks, arguments, what have you. It really is inspiring to see work. I would encourage any of you that would like to come and stay with us for a bit. There is a fully functioning sewing shop in the village, under a bedouin style tent, using foot powered treddle machines to make tipis and what ever else you can sew. You can purchase a tipi from Rogue Dwellings or come and learn to make your own!

Currently we are in search of new land, with a river and plenty of woods, away from cities, for our next spot. If you know of or have land in Oregon that you would like to offer for use to a fully functioning nomadic tipi village, let me know! Be Well and Shoot Straight!

Wylden
"The end of the human race will be that it will eventually die of civilization." Emerson

Offline Scowler

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Re: Tipi Living. Life around the hearth...UPDATE - falling of the snows.
« Reply #1 on: January 02, 2013, 08:16:04 pm »
Thanks for the update.  The way my life is going I might just take up tipi living myself.  Stay safe and enjoy the freedom...

Offline Lemos

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Re: Tipi Living. Life around the hearth...UPDATE - falling of the snows.
« Reply #2 on: January 04, 2013, 12:09:15 am »
I like seeing your pics and updates,thank you. I'm going to live vicariously through them.

Offline crooketarrow

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Re: Tipi Living. Life around the hearth...UPDATE - falling of the snows.
« Reply #3 on: January 04, 2013, 09:29:40 am »
  YOUR A BETTER MAN THAN ME.
 I lived just like that for (spring to early fall)  a while in my younger years as well as exstended survile trips up to a month or so all over and in other counrys.
  My hats off to you and your family. It's not easy none.
                                      GOOD LUCK
DEAD IS DEAD NO MATTER HOW FAST YOUR ARROW GETS THERE
20 YEARS OF DOING 20 YEARS OF LEARNING 20 YEARS OF TEACHING

Offline Parnell

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Re: Tipi Living. Life around the hearth...UPDATE - falling of the snows.
« Reply #4 on: January 04, 2013, 02:18:36 pm »
Thanks for the post.  Stay well.
1’—>1’

Offline Gila_Mike

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Re: Tipi Living. Life around the hearth...UPDATE - falling of the snows.
« Reply #5 on: January 11, 2013, 10:31:38 am »
. . . The sound of the water moving is also ever present, shushing out the flow of the mechanical highway that can be heard though we are 11 miles from it's intrusion . . . 
Wylden


The absence of (artificial) sounds and the absence of (artificial) light are among the best parts of backcountry camping. I treasure every moment spent hiking and camping in the wilderness areas of North America. After a couple of weeks in the woods, it is always difficult to return to "civilization" and its "conveniences".

I really enjoy reading your posts, Wylden. Thank you for sharing them with us. Stay well.

Mike
« Last Edit: January 11, 2013, 11:02:49 pm by Gila_Mike »
"New Things Are No Good!"
.....(Steve McQueen in The Hunter)

Offline Steamfab

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Re: Tipi Living. Life around the hearth...UPDATE - falling of the snows.
« Reply #6 on: January 11, 2013, 12:32:23 pm »
I always dream of living a kind of life like that. Close to nature, simple things but happy and contented life. Reading this makes me alive and want to go for the adventure. I admire and envy (in a good way) you and your family, living the life...Be safe.

Offline nathan elliot

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Re: Tipi Living. Life around the hearth...UPDATE - falling of the snows.
« Reply #7 on: February 13, 2013, 06:31:07 pm »
Awesome! The vast majority of humans who have walked this planet lived as you are now. It is the rest of us who are playing out this experiment called civilisation, and from a personal view point it ain't going too well. Keep the fire burning, we may all need its warmth soon.

Offline PrimitiveTim

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Re: Tipi Living. Life around the hearth...UPDATE - falling of the snows.
« Reply #8 on: February 13, 2013, 11:24:49 pm »
As if I didn't want to drop out of college already, now I really do! lol.  Not only is this a very interesting subject I love the way you told about it and described a few interesting bit so well. 
Florida to Kwajalein to Turkey and back in Florida again.  Good to be home but man was that an adventure!

Offline Wylden Freeborne

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Re: Tipi Living. Life around the hearth...UPDATE - falling of the snows.
« Reply #9 on: October 08, 2013, 02:27:44 pm »
Here is a video of the kids in the village performing a play they put together. This whole set and costumes were made in the wilderness where we live!

http://player.vimeo.com/video/62467783
"The end of the human race will be that it will eventually die of civilization." Emerson

Offline huntertrapper

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Re: Tipi Living. Life around the hearth...UPDATE - falling of the snows.
« Reply #10 on: March 18, 2014, 09:11:33 pm »
pretty neat.  been thinking of spending my measley dollars on a nylon tipi and stove and living in it nomadicly. What the update on this?
Modern Day Tramp

Offline Wiley

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Re: Tipi Living. Life around the hearth...UPDATE - falling of the snows.
« Reply #11 on: March 20, 2014, 12:56:44 am »
Pretty wonderful. Part of me questions my attachment to society and all of the baggage that comes with it, and tells me to wander into the wilderness. The other part of me questions whether I would ever come back from such an adventure.

My path will probably end up being something a little less primitive but far from civilization as we know it today. Build a little house out of natural materials somewhere quiet, maybe out of logs or cob. Stuff that once i'm gone will eventually return to the earth it came from. Practice sustainable organic, no till agriculture that will increase the quality of the soil every year. Plant a food forest of every perennial edible plant that will take root in that location. Maybe have some rabbits and chickens, for their meat, eggs and fertilizer. A few hundred years after i'm gone there will be little trace I was there except for a grove of fruit trees, shrubs, vines, mushrooms, and bushes producing food within a forest that the native animals will enjoy as much as I did. A well built cob house would survive for many centuries, maybe many generations of bear will call it home for the winter after I am gone until the roof caves in and the rains turns its walls of clay, straw and sand, back into soil.

I wish to live lightly upon the earth, in as close to a harmony with nature as I know how to do. Maybe not completely in the hunter/gather/nomadic sense of lightly, but probably something more in tune with how they lived after basic agriculture was devised by humanity. If the only sign of my existence in a place hundreds or thousands of years after i'm gone is the survival of food producing plants, I could be ok with that.

Offline huntertrapper

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Re: Tipi Living. Life around the hearth...UPDATE - falling of the snows.
« Reply #12 on: March 20, 2014, 10:18:54 pm »
hey I hope it works wiley.  try the road first thats a good test for your ability to take solitude. just walk around. But i am with ya. I'd like to go back in for awhile with a few goats or mule and my dog and wander the wilderness but come out once and awhile and sell crafts or walking sticks to resupply a bit and buy some whiskey.
Modern Day Tramp

Offline Wylden Freeborne

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Re: Tipi Living. Life around the hearth...UPDATE - falling of the snows.
« Reply #13 on: March 21, 2014, 12:27:36 am »
Hunter, I would suggest canvas in lieu of nylon, and gor for 15 ft. Best size and material for central fire, in my experience. We are in our tipi at Ojam in Oklahoma this week, having a blast! I have never been around so many primitive bowyers. Can't wait to regale my northwest friends with. Tales of hundreds of asage staves everywhere the eye can see! The tipi is nestled cozily in the cedars just a few feet from the pond and the frogs are barking us to sleep!
"The end of the human race will be that it will eventually die of civilization." Emerson