June 3rd and 4th, 2022

The schedule is being added to right up until the very day of the Gathering so please check back to see what interesting new workshops have been added.

Friday

6pm Campers may register and set up camp.

Saturday

9:00am Registration begins

9:30am Opening Circle

10:00am to Noon First Workshop Block

Introduction to Forest Bathing

Forest bathing, or shinrin yoku, has become quite popular and is well integrated into Japanese healthcare to help improve mental and physical wellbeing. Time in nature has been shown repeatedly to lower blood pressure, reduce stress, improve immune response, and much more. This course will introduce a series of nature connection and meditative exercises that you can take home with you and practice while spending time in nature. We’ll focus on awareness and nature connection exercises, breath work, and some basic movements and postural exercises. All ages and fitness levels are welcome.

Erik Assadourian is a sustainability researcher, writer, and educator. For 17 years, Erik served as senior fellow and researcher with the Worldwatch Institute. There he directed two editions of Vital Signs, and five editions of State of the World, including the 2017 edition (EarthEd: Rethinking Education on a Changing Planet); the 2013 edition (Is Sustainability Still Possible?); and the 2010 edition (Transforming Cultures: From Consumerism to Sustainability). He also designed Catan: Oil Springs, an eco-educational scenario for the popular board game The Settlers of Catan. Recognizing that a sustainable future requires transformative cultural change, Erik founded a new eco-philosophy and community of practice in 2019 called the Gaian Way (gaianway.org). He leads a monthly forest bathing class in Middletown, Connecticut as a way to help participants reconnect with their bodies, breath, and nature.

Nålbinding: Weaving Like It’s 6500 BC.

Nålbinding is an ancient fiber art that predates knitting, one so durable that the oldest known fragments of it are dated over 8,000 years old. While we can’t guarantee that all your nålbinding will last quite that long, we can teach you this ancient form of pre-knitting that can be applied to make bags, hats, blankets, shoes, sweaters and just about anything else you can think of. In this class, we will teach the Oslo stitch, a quick, versatile and durable stitch that can be used for anything you feel like making. Unlike knitting, nålbinding doesn’t unravel when cut or left partially finished, and it’s frankly both useful and just fun.
Maximum Participants: 6 per session. Age: 12+
Please sign up for a session at main tent.

Scott M. Baker was trained since birth (or slightly after) at Two Coyotes (and other places), Scott now enjoys such things as: Nature! Fire! Plants! Parkour! Being Awesome! Writing in third person! Mentoring people! And, most importantly, helping folks BE AWESOME!

Grant Norton was raised by humans in their natural habitat of Tellus, Orion Arm, Milky Way. At the age of 16, they learned nålbinding at Roots Rendezvous. Since then, they have trained at this ancient fiber art and its many applications to bring it to you today.

Woodland Puppetry: Toddlers, Autism and Adapting Nature Games

Learn the basic skills of puppetry to create a more inclusive nature experience. We will put hand Puppet skills to practice while being introduced to how to apply the techniques to rod puppetry as well. We will discuss the science behind how the effective use of the art form can help to help to level the playing field for a spectrum of learners, especially the youngest among us.

If would like to bring your own woodland puppet to the group, that is great. The instructor will also bring a variety of options to borrow for the session.

Adelka Polak is a professional puppeteer and Teaching Artist bringing experience from the stage, forest schools as well as both public and private schools. She has worked as a puppeteer and theatre artist since 2002. In 2013 she formed her own company, Sova Dance & Puppet Theater, located here in CT and has served tens of thousands of students here often teaching them how to make their very first puppet. During the shut down she started working in nature schools year round offering a smaller group experience. She has taught Professional Development with the Jim Henson Foundation to teach the art of puppetry to Therapists, Counselors, Teachers and Teaching Artists who work in special education, including children living with autism and medically diverse classrooms. She has worked regularly in special education classrooms for the past two years to apply her skills more directly as well. www.SovaTheater.com

Cooking and eating wild edible plants

The world around us is full of delicious wild things we can eat. Maybe you have even started nibbling a bit by adding dandelions to your salads. In this class we will up our wild plant gourmet cooking by learning how to prepare delicious dishes that are primarily sourced from nature. In this class we will be focusing mostly on preparing and cooking wild foods so if you want to learn how to ID the plants, be sure to go on the wild plant walk. Some of the dishes will contain meat or animal fats while others will be vegan or vegetarian.

Justin Pegnataro is dedicated to helping people live vibrant healthy lives filled with connection and purpose. Justin is an ecotherapist, nature mentor and writer. Over the course of his career, Justin directed Two Coyotes Wilderness School and has mentored hundreds of adults and teens in discovering who they are, claiming their personal power and in finding a deep sense of belonging within their own communities and the more-than-human world. Justinwildheart.com

Wilderness Parkour

Parkour is the art of moving through a space as quickly and efficiently as possible. Techniques and concepts from the system such as vaults, strides, flow and others are particularly useful for navigating wild spaces, be it running full tilt though dense rocky forest or finding a path down a difficult slope without slipping. We’ll take inspiration from animals on how to navigate tricky areas, such as the arch of a deer’s leap on uneven ground or the the bound of a squirrel over a fallen tree. Tune in to the wilderness around us and our bodies within it as we move through the woods.

I recommend bringing shoes you can move in and a water bottle.

Gavin Duhamel has been training parkour for 7 years and been in the woods for longer than he’s had all his teeth. Over this time he’s participated in parkour competitions (and even won one of them), climbed mountains in New Hampshire, and done several potentially silly things to figure out which ones are bad ideas and which ones make the magic happen. He works at Two Coyotes helping children of all ages learn wilderness skills and, if he’s done his job right, how to walk through the world with their eyes and mind open.

1:00 to 3:00 Second Workshop Block

Primitive Soap Making

In this workshop we will make soap with a method humans have been using for 5000+ years. We will produce soap using only water, wood ash, salt and plant or animal fat. This is a hands on workshop involving fire and hot and caustic liquids. Children are welcome if accompanied by an adult. Show original message

Justin Avery a Suburban homesteader in Simsbury, CT. Father of 4 and husband to one woman, many plants, one duck, ten chickens, too many house sparrows, four bunnies and one cottontail rabbit. I spend my free time gardening, foraging, blacksmithing and fishing. I also love reading comics books, seeing live music, playing music, eating hot peppers and skateboarding.

Kids Nature Games!

Fun games for kids (under 7 should be accompanied by and adult). One or more of our favorite games such as Run Rabbit Run!, Bear Salmon Mosquito, and/or Fire in the Forest will be facilitated in the nearby lawn area. Each game has a little lesson about the Natural world hidden in it.

Gabby Dobos, is life long participant in Nature skills gatherings, and leader of our kids games for the last 6 years. She is a singer, performer and gentle soul.

Walking with the Standing People

This outdoor walk will explore the local area to locate wild plants and discuss various aspects of these beings that pertain to food and medicine. Identification, nutritional information, and medicinal actions will be highlighted, along with eco- conscientious methods of interacting with the plants that we gather. Historical use, lore, and names will be included where appropriate.

With Arthur Haines: author of A New Path and Ancestral Plants, has been teaching in the field of human health and human ecology for over 20 years. As a research botanist for the New England Wildflower Society, he recently completed a comprehensive flora of the New England region entitled Flora Novae Anglicae and has authored over twenty publications in peer-reviewed journals and books, including naming species of plants new to science. He runs the Delta Institute of Natural History and his popular classes focus primarily on foraging, herbal medicine, and ancestral lifeways. His foraging books and series of YouTube videos has inspired thousands of people interested in wild edible and medicinal plants. Arthur currently resides at Wilder Waters Community in Maine..

Learn to make a woven sling from Jute

Those that have never woven will learn a simple 3 strand braided sling for throwing rocks. Those more advanced will work on a 4 strand “Rockman style” sling. Learn the skill of weaving and throwing with the ancient tool that outranged the long bow and helped thousands of ancient cultures defend and feed themselves.

Glenn Paskiewicz has been making slings for over two decades. He runs his own sling shop and website, Hilltop Hurler hilltophurle.com, and in the last 3 years, has sold over 1000 slings to happy customers. Glenn’s favorite parts of slinging are creating, designing, and recreating historical slings of different eras and locations

3:00 to 5:00 Third Workshop Block

An Introduction to Bowdrill: a method of fire by friction

Ever wonder how to start a fire by rubbing two sticks together? This workshop will teach one technique called bow drill. Bow drill sets and tinder will be provided for participants to learn the technique and practice creating a coal and lighting a tinder bundle on fire.

Noel’s love of nature began as a child playing with friends in the woods of Connecticut and camping with family. Her interest expanded from play to include primitive skills and nature awareness when she met Scott Eldridge, founding director of Two Coyotes, in a Wilderness First Responder class in 1999 while pursuing a certificate in Adventure Education. She then traveled to various workshops and primitive skill gatherings over the years, and now works for both Two Coyotes in Killingworth, CT and Everyone Outside in Portland, CT

Friction Fire Mayhem

Demos, hands on time, and coaching for several friction fire techniques including bow drill, hand drill, fire saw and more. Informed and practiced instructors will move throughout offering guidance and showing off their own skill with this timeless method of making fire.

Cordage Class

Hi Everyone! Come learn about cordage, a technique of twisting fibers into cords and eventually rope! We will be learning about how to gather/make/create with the fibers of many different plant materials.

Tom Varga and Tatiana Rivera are mentors at Two Coyotes Wilderness School. They enjoy being outdoors and growing awareness for what’s happening around them. Tom and Tatiana strive to encourage others to grow their awareness and connection to nature.

Blindfold Games

Come play blindfold games and practice exploring the world with all of your senses! Open to all ages.

Jia-Lin (aka Loki) has been gently steeped in the world of nature connection since childhood, and has a deep love for the wilderness and for adventure. She is excited to share some of her favorite games and experiences with other folks who also like fun, challenge, and the outdoors! She is also a mentor at Two Coyotes Wilderness School, WFR certified, and possesses a bachelors of science in nursing, so you can trust her with your children and let them come play too!

Intro to Drumming

Teaching basic drum patterns, for example; single stroke roll, double stroke roll, triplets, basic calypso rhythms and other drum circle related patterns. Teaching Basic in using percussion in drum circle and music in general, for example; two basic clave patterns. 20 or so drums provided.

Percussionist William Ruiz is widely known for performing Hand pan, logdrums, tongue drums,hand drumming and percussion. He is a multi instrumental drummer and percussionist. He facilitates drum group/circle events, performs solo, collaborates with dancers and musicians in various world music improvisation performances as well as yoga retreats and healing ceremonies. William Ruiz is an award recipient of Music and Peace Ambassador in International Music, an award recipient of Percussionist Arts Achievement with the United Nations Commutech Group as well as an award recipient of Musician of the Year with Taino Indigenous community. William is also a Drum and Percussion Teaching artist. He teaches live, zoom classes and workshops. He currently teaches in the New York City school system and in the surrounding tri state area. He performed in Egypt, Indonesia, the Caribbean and the USA. His credit includes appearances on CNN International for performances at the United Nations Indigenous peoples forum inside the UN, live on WBAI radio for a drumming program and Hot 97 radio station with DJ sway.

5:00 to 6:30pm Dinner Break

7:00 to 8:00 Special Evening Block

Presentation on The Benefits of Wild Plants In The Human Diet.

Details to follow.

7:30 to 10:00pm Campfire, Stories and Music

Sunday

7:00am to 9:00 Special Earlybird Morning Block

Instinctive Birding ~ Dawn Bird Sit

Did you know that a particular call of a bird can tell you if a deer is sneaking away from you or that a cougar is nearby or that another person is approaching you on the trail, giving you advance notice and the time you’d need to respond? In addition to identifying when a predator is moving through the landscape, understanding the language of the birds will also help us learn how to quiet our minds, blend in to the world around us and attune to our senses, allowing us to become sensitive to our effect on the natural world and those around us.

Bring a chair or blanket to sit on, your favorite morning beverage, binoculars if you chose and the willingness to try something new.

Kristi Dranginis is the founder of Bird Mentor, a resource for live and online courses helping people worldwide build confidence learning about birds and the natural world. Through her courses, students are immersed in the principles of instinctive birding, deep nature connection, bird language, and her innovative model for advanced bird identification. In addition to her 8-month long masters course, Advanced Skills for Beginning Birders, and her bird song identification course, Learning Bird Song, featured in the Audubon Magazine, Kristi is the author of the book, Identify Any Bird Anywhere, offering an innovative new approach to learning about birds in just 8 easy lessons. Kristi also teaches birding at traditional skills events like Rabbit Stick, Winter Count, Saskatoon Circle, Buckeye, Sharpening Stone and for amazing organizations like the Boulder Outdoor Survival School, The Women’s Wilderness Institute, Crow Canyon Archeological Center, The Vermont Wilderness School, Flanders Nature Center, Eight Shields Institute and The Powerhouse Science Center. In addition to geeking out about birds, Kristi is also a Naturalist, Herbalist, Photographer and has contributed to the new Peterson’s Field Guide to Bird Nests and ABA’s Birder’s Guide.

9:35am Opening Circle

10:00am to 12:00 First Workshop Block

Twined Basketry

Twined basketry is an ancient technique that is used all over the world. The earliest evidence was found in a cave from circa 7000 BCE. In this workshop you will learn the twined basketry technique to make a small basket so you have time to learn all he stages from start to finish within the workshop time. We will use some materials pre-harvested locally from the land if available or sisal twine.

Karianna has always loved baskets and weaving. Twining baskets has become a passion, blending her love for the art and beauty found in nature, while creating useful artistic vessels.

Over the years she has enjoyed exploring a variety of other techniques such as coil, plaiting, egg, and bark basketry. She enjoys sharing basketry with children, teens and adults, as a way to foster a deeper connection with our creativity and with the plant beings who’s materials we use.

Karianna is a deep nature connection mentor at Two Coyotes Wilderness School which she helped restart in 2008. She also does a lot behind the scenes at the school including:

Co-creating / co-facilitating a nature based teen girls Rites of Passage, relationship building, liberation, and equity work, and Mentor In Training (MIT) and Staff training.

Through her business Earth Song Transformations, Karianna is also offering her own in-person programs for adults. Her programs guide participants to connect more deeply with themselves, each other, Mother Nature, and their spirituality. This Fall she will offer her course “Woven Roots of Wisdom: Embodying the Elements of Nature.” This course is a journey of deep connection with nature, nourishing greater vitality, joy and inner peace in our daily lives. Please contact her at earthsongtransformations@gmail.com if you are interested. Website coming soon: earthsongtransformations.com

Blacksmithing Demonstration

Jerrod will be doing beginner-level demonstrations, showing how to forge metal hooks and fire pokers.

Bear Iron Forge is a veteran-owned nonprofit, and affiliate forge of Black Horse Forge. Bear Iron’s mission is to provide veterans, active duty servicemen, and first responders a place to learn something creative and therapeutic, while also allowing them to have an outlet to help cope with PTSD and TBIs. Bear Iron Forge offers classes and workshops on Knifesmithing, toolmaking, and more creative applications of the blacksmithing trade. Classes are offered to all not just servicemen and first responders.

Jerrod, the forge’s founder, has been practicing blacksmithing and bladesmithing for over 5 years. Along with being a mechanical engineer, and a Veteran of the US Navy, he is a member of the Artists-Blacksmith Association of North America, CT Blacksmiths Guild, and the New England Blacksmiths. He works daily to pass the craft to not only his children but other members of his community. He crafts with the purpose of keeping parts of history alive. Today Jerrod will be doing beginner-level demonstrations, showing how to forge metal hooks and fire pokers. If you or someone you know may be interested in signing up for a class please call 8603872914 or email us at Bearironforge1@gmail.com Follow us on Facebook and Instagram @bearironforge

Knot Your Average Class: A Fun Intro to Knots and Lashings

Recommended for ages 10+(Knots can be hard!)

In this class, we will go over some basic knots– like the clove hitch and square knot, as well as some of their variations– leading to the basics of lashing. We will begin by making a simple and useful tripod, and then work our way up the ladder, literally, by learning to lash our own ladder from basic materials!

Tyler von Oy (Ironbear) grew up exploring the woods on his own in Newtown, CT. He has been working to help others explore and learn about the outdoors as a Camp Director, Site Manager, and Senior Lead Mentor at the Two Coyotes Wilderness School for the past 7+ years. In addition to being a consistent mentor through Two Coyotes, he has previously worked as a nature studies counselor, leading a multi-day overnight with teens on the Appalachian Trail through Camp Isola Bella, part of the American School for the Deaf, and is fluent in American Sign Language. Tyler is also involved in teens’ rites of passage programs through events such as Boys Sacred Fire Initiation. He has a love of teaching, especially knots and primitive survival skills. When he isn’t showing people how to make fires, he can be found putting them out as a volunteer with the Morris Fire Company, in the town he calls home with his wife and three dogs. Tyler is passionate about nature connection, and is available to hire as your own personal “Woodland Sidekick” for specialized trainings, one-off programs, or on an ongoing basis for individualized classes or even corporate team building in the outdoors.

Noon Lunch Break

1:00 to 2:00 Trade Blanket

2:00 to 4:00pm Final Workshop Block

Cattail Dolls

Cattail dolls sit on a thin line between “toy” and “art piece.” Traditionally made by the Ojibwe and other Native American tribes, they are both simple and stunning, and an eco-friendly option for childrens’ toys. Learn how to work with cattail leaves in a fun way, by making a little person!

Izzy “Moose” Betts has been making stuff out of plants and rocks for several decades, and teaching children those skills professionally for the last 6 years. He compulsively learns how to make new and different things constantly, and even more compulsively shares that knowledge with others.

Battlefield Acupuncture

In this class I will show the basics of performing first aid for painful traumatic injuries with a primitive form of ear acupuncture, presently known as auriculotherapy.

In the wilderness, anything can happen, so being prepared with first aid is essential. One aspect of triage that is often omitted in a primitive setting is pain relief, but that wasn’t always so. In ancient China, there was a form of triage called Battlefield Acupuncture, used to vastly reduce pain suffered from traumatic injury.

Using nothing more than a wooden match or facsimile thereof, it is possible to greatly mitigate the pain and discomfort from traumatic injury, reduce a fever, increase mobility, alleviate headaches of any type, lessen allergies, control nausea and even more.

This is a powerful tool for your skill set and in the 25 years I have been practicing Traditional Chinese Medicine with the aid of Auriculotherapy, I continue to be amazed by its efficacy. It will be my true pleasure to see this technique used more widely.

Lisl Meredith Huebner, Dipl. CH (NCCAOM), RH (AHG) “HerbaLisl” is a nationally board certified Chinese Herbalist and a nationally Registered Herbalist in private practice for over twenty years. Ms. Huebner specializes in treating patients who have been diagnosed with a variety of complex conditions such as Lyme disease, severe migraines, fibromyalgia, anxiety, sleep disorders, and chronic pain. Using the paradigm of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Lisl has helped hundreds of people achieve better results than what they were able to get from western medicine. Lisl also offers workshops in Herbal Medicine, Weed Walks and certification courses in Auriculotherapy and Medicinal Aromatherapy. In addition to health evaluations and personal consultations, Lisl offers phone and Skype sessions and welcomes your questions. www.HerbaLisl.com

Fiber Fest: A Weaving Extravaganza

In the steps of Cattail’s famous Friction Fire Frenzy, we bring you the certainly equal (if not eclipsing) energy of the Fiber Fest. Anyone and everyone skilled in a fiber art (except those who are not at Cattail… or said no) are joining us to pass on their skills.

Grant and Scott are still teaching Nålbinding (see Nålbinding: Weaving Like It’s 6500 BC. above). However, many more experts (and hobbyists) in weaving will be instructing all who attend.

Alycia Matchen will be offering Yarn Yearn Learn: an opportunity to learn more about any of crochet, knitting or finger knitting, whether it is learning something new or stepping up knowledge. Materials as well as ideas and patterns for simple projects will be provided

Maximum Nålbinding Students: 6
Maximum Fiber Art Students: Infinite
Nålbinding Student Age: 12+
Fiber Art Student Age: 8+
For Nålbinding: Please sign up for a session at main tent.
For Fiber Arts: Walk-in

When Alycia Matchen is not working with yarn, she is homeschooling her teen and pre-teen. She loves cooking with her husband and always learning something new. She has been a mentor at Two Coyotes Wilderness School for about eight years. She is a former paralegal and medic.

4:00 to 4:10 Closing Circle