By Matt Thompson
The people on this trip were: Nick Alatzas, Annie Kohman, Rachel Larson, Trish Lauman, Jeff McGinn, Clare Meyer, Kristina Petron, Josh Shoberg, Matt Thompson, Heather Trowbridge, Christi Welch. Staff were: Doug Berg, Ben Schultenover, and Mini-School alumnus Josh Stinson. Our fearless leader was Mark Warren.
Day 1
Six a.m. was the meeting time at Perkins and remarkably, everyone was there on time except for Josh Stinson.
We drove for two hours and got to a really nice site on the St. Croix. Doug and Mark had come up Sunday and set up the campsite- dug a latrine, set up tents, made a firepit. It was raining hard when we got there, {Annie Kohman- some weathergirl!} SO we donned raingear and followed Mark into the woods.
Mark showed us how the Native Americans made rope from the inner bark of the basswood tree. We then collected our own bark. We got pretty wet and muddy. We moved into the cabin to wait for the rain to let up. While we were in there we made bracelets and necklaces from the bark. Mark also demonstrated how to make fire without matches using a bow, drill, fireboard, and basswood bark for tinder.
When we went back outside Mark broke us into fire-making groups. Each had to collect and make its own fire-making materials, then make fire. Only one group was able to do so, but all the groups came close.
Later Mark taught us a game called Zoogle stick. We all stood in a circle and played catch with the stick, if a person missed it they were penalized by losing an arm or a leg, and eventually eliminated. No one could beat Mark.
Doug made tacos for dinner. Excellent! After dinner we had down time for the rest of the evening. It was nice to explore the property on which we were staying.
Day 2
We woke up to Doug’s famous French toast. We were all so hungry we could have eaten hundreds of pieces.
Once breakfast was done Mark taught the group how to stalk animals. To do this we had to learn to be silent and move very quietly. We later played a game called night watchman which used the stalking skills. Some of the group didn’t want to play. You could tell Mark was disappointed.
Doug fixed us lunch- peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, carrots, crackers, cheese, chips, apples, raisins, and Kool-Aid. Then he had to go leave to drive home so he could bring up group two in the morning. After that he would drive group 1 home, then come back up- lots of driving.
After lunch Mark taught us how to play a game called Gling. The game is like Hacky-sack except it is played with a milk carton and there are a lot of funny penalties. Mark then taught us about spirit names and explained the naming ceremony we would have that evening. If you wanted to receive a name you had to write answers to three questions: 1 {optional} name an animal you feel close to, 2 what are you known for, 3 what is the quality that is unique to you.
Dinner was next and our cook, Doug, was gone so Ben was the main man. He made beef stew with mashed potatoes. It was very good. After dinner we had the naming ceremony around the campfire, and learned each other’s names. We then learned some sign language which we would use for the sweat lodge the next day.
Day 3
We got up around 7:00, had an oatmeal breakfast, and collected rocks to heat up for the sweat lodge. We got our stuff packed up so group 2 could move into the camp and tents.
We paddled canoes over to the island in the river for the sweat lodge. On the island people could only speak in Native American sign language, so it was quiet for 2 hours. The sweat lodge was great. The best part was jumping in the river afterwards.
Mark Warren is a very wise person and good teacher. If you ever have a chance to go on this trip, definitely do it.