The Rewilding Podcast w/ Peter Michael Bauer

Rewilding is about seeking a reciprocal relationship to the environment and to one another. Material and cultural conditions kept humans in relative check with their ecologies for potentially millions of years, so what were they? If we are to understand this, we must hold up a lens and look at the diversity of hunter-gatherers (both past and present) to fully realize what their cultural and environmental limitations were–and are–today. Why did some abandon that way of life while others have fought to the death to defend it? What led humans to switch from one subsistence strategy to another, and what were the social and ecological effects of these changes? Is it possible to fully know? What do we know? To talk about these core rewilding questions with me, is Dr. Robert Kelly.Dr. Kelly first became involved in archaeology in 1973, as a high school student. He received his BA from Cornell University in anthropology in 1978, his MA from the University of New Mexico in 1980, and his doctorate from the University of Michigan in 1985. He has taught at various Colleges since 1986; from 1997 until retirement in 2023 he taught at the University of Wyoming. Dr. Kelly is the author of over 100 articles, books, and reviews, including The Lifeways of Hunter-Gatherers, The Fifth Beginning, and Archaeology, the most widely used college textbook in the field. He is a past president of the Society for American Archaeology, past editor of American Antiquity, North America’s primary archaeological journal, and past secretary of the Archaeology Division of the American Anthropological Association. He has been a distinguished lecturer at many universities around the country and the world, including Argentina, Germany, France, Finland, Norway, Japan, and China, and he has worked on archaeological projects in Nevada, California, New Mexico, Kentucky, Georgia, Maine, Chile and, for the past 25 years, Wyoming and Montana. He has received over two million dollars in funding, with multiple grants from the National Science Foundation. Since 1973, the archaeology, ethnology, and ethnography of foraging peoples has been at the center of his research.Notes:Robert Kelly, Professor Archaeology at University of WyomingThe Fifth BeginningThe Lifeways of Hunter-Gatherers: The Foraging Spectrum (Revised) CARTA: Violence in Human Evolution – Robert Kelly: Do Hunter-Gatherers Tell Us About Human Nature?ANTHRO, ART, (CLOVIS) and the APOCALYPSE: Live from the field with Dr. ROBERT KELLY | DIH Podcast #1Human Behavioral Ecology (Cambridge Studies in Biological and Evolutionary Anthropology, Series Number 92) 1st EditionSupport the show

City landscapes are perhaps the most decimated and human centric habitats in today’s world. These landscapes are in need of thoughtful rewilding. Cities are some of the most domesticated places, but also positioned in some of the most historically fertile places. Cities were built where they are, because these places had access to a diverse array of resources. Many think rewilding means running away to the wilderness–but that’s not the case. For one, this is not a practical reality for most people. Two, because of their prime location and social capital, cities are both ripe for, and in desperate need of, rewilding. Permaculture, with its inspiration and core principles deriving from more regenerative sedentary, delayed-return societies such as indigenous horticulture, can be an effective tool for the urban rewilder. Using permaculture for place-making, becoming a part of your place, is a great way to start this journey. To talk with me about this today is Mark Lakeman.Mark is the founder of the non-profit placemaking movement and organization known as The City Repair Project. He is also principal and design director of the community architecture and planning firm Communitecture. He is an urban place-maker and permaculture designer, community design facilitator, and an inspiring catalyst in his very active commitment to the emergence of sustainable cultural landscapes everywhere.  Every design project he is involved with furthers the development of a beneficial vision for human and ecological communities. Whether this involves urban design and placemaking, permaculture and ecological building, encourages community interaction, or assists those who typically do not have access to design services, Mark’s leadership has benefited communities across the North American continent.Notes:CommunitectureCity Repair ProjectMaya Forest Garden, by Anabel Ford  and Ronald NighA Pattern Language by Christopher AlexanderPhenologyPhoto by Greg RaismanSupport the show

The longer a culture exists in a place, the more stories they have of that place. These stories act a way for people to interact with the land where they live and also act as social filters for how to perceive the land as well. Stories also engage people with the landscape through their imagination and when linked to a physical activity can make the connection more embodied and enjoyable. Humans learn through play, and playing with stories can be a great way to reconnect ourselves with the landscape and its inhabitants. To talk with me about this on the podcast, is a returning guest, Jason Godesky. Jason Godesky is an independent tabletop roleplaying game designer and world builder. He and his wife Giulianna Lamanna are the creators of the Fifth World, an open source shared universe that imagines what the future that we in the rewilding community want could look like.Notes:The Fifth WorldThe Power of Myth by Joseph CampbellIf This Is Your Land, Where Are Your Stories? By J. Edward ChamberlinWisdom Sits in Places: Landscape and Language Among the Western Apache by Keith H. BassoSupport the show

There are few opportunities for people living in modern contexts to experience what life would be like living in a band of hunter-gatherers. While there are still several cultures in the world living this way, most are protected from outsiders through organizations like Survival International. While rewilding isn’t a synonym for primitive living, or a total return to hunting and gathering societies, we can learn a lot about how to live in a regenerative way through contemporary hunter-gatherer societies, as well as experiences that can replicate aspects of those societies. Boulder Outdoor Survival School (BOSS) in Utah is one such place to get a taste of the immediate-return hunting and gathering experience. I recently attended their Hunter-Gatherer course, and here to talk about it with me is one of the core instructors for that program, Randy Champagne.Originally from Michigan, Randy found his way to the deserts of Utah after taking a survival course that sparked his love for the wild. He has been at the Boulder Outdoor Survival School since 2008 where he’s been teaching and practicing ancestral and modern survival skills. His passion is in traditional hunting and gathering techniques. He was a participant on the television show ALONE, testing his skills solo on Seasons 2 and 5 on Vancouver island and in Mongolia.NOTES:Randy Champagne InstagramBOSS Hunter-Gatherer CourseSupport the show

Fascist ideology has been on the rise, with a calculated effort on the part of fascists, to infiltrate environmental movements. Rewilding has seen its fair share of this over the years. As a return to our egalitarian roots, rewilding is the political opposite of fascism. And yet, there are foot holds of sort, within the ideology and world view that fascists can exploit for their own gain. To protect ourselves from this fascist creep, we need to be aware of it and also aware of the problematic aspects of where our own ideologies can be misconstrued to lead us astray. In this episode I’m chatting with Cara Delia Schwab.Cara is an anthropologist with a masters degree from the University of Heidelberg. Her thesis was on racism and resistance through media and art in the US. She went back to school to get a B.A. in social work and has been working in that field since 2015 (with immigrants and refugees mostly). She is a “wilderness” instructor in training with Wildnisschule Odenwald. Her plan for the future is to teach foraging classes through her business www.wildnisliebe.de. She has an allotment garden, where she grows her own food. Her ideal life would be writing and spending the rest of the day outside somewhere weaving baskets and working with her hands.NotesCara Delia Schwabwww.wildnisliebe.deCara’s InstagramWildnisschule Odenwald—The Rise of EcofascismHierarchy in the ForestMothers and OthersThe Lies That BindNo Politics But Class PoliticsSupport the show

In this episode I’m talking shop with my friend and colleague Sharon Kallis. Sharon facilitates a community organization similar to Rewild Portland in Vancouver BC called Earthand Gleaners Society. She is an award winning artist who focuses on fiber arts through a locavore lens, by growing, foraging, and gleaning raw materials and processing them into fiber and weaving them into finished products. She is known for her community art installations wherein she connects people to their place through creative collective works of art, often with garden waste, invasive species, or other locally available materials. Her book, Common Threads: weaving community through collaborative eco-art, was published by New Society Publishers in 2014 and is used in many post secondary programs as a model for creative engagement in shared green spaces. I met Sharon through our shared passion for using invasive species for arts projects. As fellow community organizers within an urban rewilding context, Sharon and I often converse to share ideas, commiserate over similar challenges that we face, and celebrate our successes. In the following conversation you’ll get a bit of all three of those as we discuss the ins and outs, and triumphs and failures, of running community rewilding organizations in the city. Notes: Sharon Kallis Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sharonkallis/ Earthand Gleaners Society https://earthand.com/ Common Threads https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer https://bookshop.org/a/24844/97815713...Support the show

On this episode I am once again chatting with my friend and colleague Woniya Thibeault. This episode contains spoilers for the television series ALONE, of which Woniya has been a contestant on twice. If you haven’t watched season 6 or Alone Frozen, I recommend doing so before listening. Woniya came in second place on ALONE season 6, and more recently won half a million dollars when she came in first place on Alone Frozen. Both times she brought a rewilding, relational perspective to her experience and to the public. However, when creating a show there is always a lot that ends up being edited out. To increase awareness for her journey and to teach the public more lessons that didn’t make it onto the show, Woniya wrote a book titled “Never Alone” about her experience on Season 6 of the show. Woniya has always been someone who has inspired me through her dedication and passion for living in a way that is more connected to our ecologies. In this conversation we talk about her new book, her experiences, survival challenges, and more. Notes:Never Alone by Woniya ThibeaultWoniya’s PatreonBuckskin RevolutionYouTubeInstagramALONE: FrozenSupport the show

Rewilding looks different in places all around the world, but also shares many similarities: from settler-colonialism to mainstream co-option. In this episode we’ll be looking at Rewilding in Eastern Australia. My guest is Eva Angophora.Founder of Wild Beings, barefoot wanderer Eva has spent the most part of the last 5 years living outside in various wild locations, learning and practicing living skills such as friction fire, natural tanning, leatherwork, animal processing/using the whole animal, weaving, natural rope making, wild foods foraging and bird identification. Passionate about sharing a more connected wholesome culture and providing spaces where people can connect with the Old Ways and incorporate more of these skills and practices into their lifestyle choices that lead to connection & a more empowered way of self sufficiency. Eva is a Bushcraft educator working in schools and facilitator of Ancestral Skill Sharing Gatherings, rewilding  workshops, wilderness immersions and women's rewilding gatherings through Wild Beings, co-facilitating alongside Wildcraft Australia for their seasonal family village camps.NotesEva’s InstagramWild Beings WebsiteWild Beings Instagram---Rewilding 101What is the difference between mob, clan, tribe, language group?Fish Leather: tanning and sewing with traditional methodsALONE AustraliaAI will increase inequality and raise tough questions about humanity, economists warnThe Collapse of Complex Societies by Joseph TainterSupport the show

Subsistence–the way we acquire our food–is a central aspect of rewilding. To talk with me both about the anthropology of subsistence but also the challenges and practicality of it is James V. Morgan. James is a former professional anthropologist who has spent nearly two decades studying and working with indigenous hunter-gatherers on three continents. He has spent years trying to understand the relationship between anarchist theory and action and indigenous politics and lifeways. He is currently working on three different books surrounding these topics titled, "Human Rewilding in the 21st Century: Why Anthropologists Fail" and “Anarchy After Graeber” with the third book yet to be titled. His previous writings have appeared in Hunter-Gatherer Research, Human Ecology, Oak Journal, Black and Green Review, Wild Resistance, and Alaska Fish and Wildlife News. More than only pursuing research and writing, Jaime is also an active subsistence hunter and forager, extensively involved in the material arts of rewilding and bushcraft, mostly off-grid in the far north.NOTES:Anarcho-Primitivism/Primal AnarchyGreen Anarchy MagazineOak JournalBlack and Green Review/Wild ResistanceUltrasocial: The Evolution of Human Nature and the Quest for a Sustainable Future by John GowdyPhoto by Elly Furlong on UnsplashSupport the show

Permaculture is a design science for creating regenerative landscapes. In rewilding, we often perceive it as a kind of technology based on ancient hunter-gatherer-horticultural subsistence strategies from around the world. While there are many valuable criticisms about permaculture (just as there are about rewilding), it is still one of the most effective tools for creating alternative subsistence strategies to the extractive ones that dominate our world today. To understand how far we’ve come, we need to listen to the elders of the movement and hear all they have endured and accomplished to get us where we are today. Hazel Varrde is one such elder for me, and the rewilding community.Hazel began gardening around age five. They earned degrees in Forestry and Systematic Botany from Syracuse University and SUNY College of Forestry in 1969. Hazel taught Wild Edible Plants and Woods-lore at Laney College in Oakland CA in the early 70’s and helped Bill Mollison teach the first Permaculture Design Course at Evergreen State College in 1982. Hazel has taught various Permaculture courses ever since, becoming a notorious teacher and proponent of social forestry. I first met Hazel in 2009 during my Permaculture Design Certificate course with Toby Hemenway. Hazel was the only guest teacher in the class who seemed to share my vision of a rewilded future, and I knew that I needed to go and learn from them directly. I took their Social Forestry class in 2015, and then came back as a guest teacher the following year. I’ve since continued to practice various forms of social forestry, while sending many people their way. Land tending is an integral part of rewilding, and social forestry is an inspiring model for us to use. Hazel has finally finished their book on Social Forestry, and you can pre-order it now. I am happy to help get the word out.NotesSocial Forestry by Tomi Hazel VaardeSiskiyou PermacultureMentionsPlaying with Fire: Social Forestry with Hazel by Peter Michael BauerSupport the show