 | | | | | | | |||||||||||||
 | |||||||||||||||||||
 | |||||||||||||||||||
 | |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
 | ||||||
| | | ||||
| ||||||
Wilderness Drum > Wilderness Organizations > Primitive Skills | ||||||
— Alan Gussow National Organizations
ISPT is a worldwide organization for the purpose of connecting all kinds of trackers. Connection means a newsletter, a Web site, a directory and any other way of communicating ISPT members can think up as the organization grows. The benefits of connecting will be to share knowledge and interest in tracking and to further the use of tracking for deadly serious things like law enforcement and Search and Rescue to animal tracking for both serious trackers and those who are just interested. The Web site is envisioned as a main ingredient for those online and the newsletter as a way of connecting the rest of the ISPT members.
The goal of the NTA is to promote sound conservation, legislation and administrative procedures; save and defend from waste the natural resources of the United States; promote sound environmental education programs; and promote a continued annual fur harvest using the best tools presently available for that purpose. As Scott Hartman, former president of the NTA and its current Director of National and International Affairs, has said: "For North America's more than one-half million trappers, the purpose of trapping varies – from assisting wildlife biologists in furbearer studies, to population and disease control, protection against soil erosion, and for food, clothing, and income. And yet, thanks to good management practices, furbearers are more numerous in North America today than 100 years ago. The public needs to know that there is no trapping of endangered species and that we continue to research and encourage the use of the most effective and humane trapping techniques. Trapping has been an integral part of our American Heritage, and we intend to see that it continues to contribute to abundant wildlife and sound management programs.” The NTA publishes American Trapper magazine. Local Organizations Great Lakes Primitives Great Lakes Primitives is an organization based in Michigan that has a focus on various primitive technologies, including stone tools, plant skills, basketry, hide tanning, atlatls, bows, throwing sticks, pottery, fire making, woods craft, and primitive navigation. The Great Lakes Primitive organization issues a quarterly newsletter and hosts two major events each year. Mid-Atlantic Primitive Skills Group Since 1997, MAPS has been devoted to helping its members become more proficient at the entire range of primitive skills and living in harmony with the Earth. The only prerequisite for membership is a love and respect for the Earth and a desire to learn the skills of living with the Earth in a harmonious and sustainable manner. “Simply put,” they say, “we believe that the best and deepest way to connect with Nature is to learn to live with the Earth in the same intimate way that indigenous peoples all over the world have done for eons.” MAPS meets every few months at its primitive camp in the foothills of the Catoctin Mountains in Maryland, to learn and share ancient skills such as tracking, awareness, edible plant identification and harvesting, bow making and shooting, hide tanning, cordage making, flint knapping, fire making, basket making, pottery, primitive shelter construction, and other earth skills. The group maintains an online store where they sell items they have made. The Michigan Atlatl Association The Michigan Atlatl Association (MAA) was formed to educate the public about the atlatl. The members gather several times a year to share knowledge of the atlatl and to hold informal competitions. The MAA also produces a newsletter, The Cast, which features an events calendar, information about competition results, hunting trips, and members' experiences with making and using atlatls. The Michigan Atlatl Association has no officers or directors. It is a member-driven nonprofit organization that charges no dues. The Michigan Flintknappers The Michigan Flintknappers are a group dedicated to the study and sharing of information about flintknapping history and replication. They have three formally scheduled meetings in the spring, summer, and fall. Other events are scheduled throughout the year as opportunities become available. Tp\\People within the grouphere also get together for informal knap-ins throughout the year. The group also publishes a twice-yearly newsletter which includes flintknapping-related news, technical hints, interviews, and schedules for events. TAG Primitive Skills Group TAG PSG is a regional – Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Southwestern North Carolina and Western South Carolina – group dedicated to practicing survival skills, including shelter, water, fire, food; animal tracking skills; and nature awareness skills for harmonious living immersed in nature. Their philosophy teaches sincere respect for the earth and all living things. This group, they say, is for lovers of nature who want to learn more. What is an atlatl? What is an atlatl? Although the most commonly used name in North America for this spear-throwing device is derived from the Aztec language, the atlatl was in Tracker groups
| ||||||
      
| ||||||
There is a great deal of talk these days about saving the environment. We must, for the environment sustains our bodies. But as humans we also require support for our spirits, and this is what certain kinds of places provide. The catalyst that converts any physical location – any environment if you will – into a place, is the process of experiencing deeply. A place is a piece of the whole environment that has been claimed by feelings. Viewed simply as a life-support system, the earth is an environment. Viewed as a resource that sustains our humanity, the earth is a collection of places. We never speak, for example, of an environment we have known; it is always places we have known – and recall. We are homesick for places, we are reminded of places, it is the sounds and smells and sights of places which haunt us and against which we often measure our present.
use many thousands of years before the Aztecs came into being. It was apparently first invented in Europe, where the oldest archaeological evidence suggests an age in excess of 19,000 years. From there the spear thrower, either through diffusion or independent invention, found its way to the farthest reaches of the world. In some areas, such as Australia, Mexico, the Arctic, and portions of Asia, its use has continued until the present day; however, the bow and arrow eventually replaced it in most locations hundreds or even thousands of years ago. If you are interested in the atlatl, Bob Perkins has an 
There is a large and shifting population of groups which, like the TAG Primitive Skills Group above, are based on the teachings of 