Finland 2009: Rewilding as practice
On May 23rd, I’m presenting at the “Seminar on primitivism, anarchism, and anthropology,” at the University of Tampere in Tampere, Finland. The conference is subtitled “John Zerzan and the postmodern world.” I’m creating a presentation that’s tentatively titled “Rewilding as practice,” and I hope it comes out more on the “activisty” side of the spectrum rather than academic side.
I gotta admit I have some trepidation about my ability to say something meaningful at this conference. I’ve had some issues coming up in regards to the concept of “rewilding” for going on more than a year now. My perspectives and feelings about “wildness” or “wilderness” are in the process of some pretty big transitions as well. For instance, an article I completed rather hastily earlier in the year has been weighing on my mind, but I’ve also been reading I’ve been doing from the books Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature (edited by William Cronon) and The Idea of Wilderness by Max Oelschlaeger. As the result of these readings, I think I’m going to talk about rewilding as practice not only in terms of skills, but in also as a way of practicing/embodying a specific idea of wildness. Regardless of these philosophical digressions, I remain pretty committed to the skill-based practices. In fact, I’m craving to get back to a more earth-based existence in the coming months.
Above is a map of my planned itinerary. I’ll only be in Tampere and Helsinki for a few days. The bulk of my time will be spent on a farm in North Karelia, and ultimately in the Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park. Given that I’ll only be in the country for roughly two and a half weeks total, I admit this itinerary is somewhat ambitious. Part of the relatively short stay is due to financial reasons; I’ve been hemorrhaging my funds (or actively borrowing them) here in New York City, and I’ll continue to do so until I (hopefully) get back to my paying job at Farmer and the Cook. Finland is a pretty expensive place to be.
I dig the new look, although it’s still confined to the wordpress design!
Just wing it bro, improvisation is underrated.
PLAN TO BE SPONTANEOUS
cricket,
i wish i could hear your ‘rewilding’ talk in Tampere. do you know if it will be recorded or transcribed?
as i was hiking yesterday with my mom and sister, my sister said, ‘it sure is nice having our own wilderness guide with us.’ we were only five minutes into our hike, and i had already stopped them three or four times to point out certain plants and their medicinal/edible uses. i shortly thereafter realized that most of what i had been informing them, i have learned from you, cricket. i came across a single brodea in a field of grasses, and instantly was taken back to the canyon, where you harvested a brodea root for me to eat. so, thank you. thank you for being who you are, and for sharing such wonderful knowledge, and such beautiful experiences with me.
for me, the few primitive skills i know go hand-in-hand with the embodiment of an ‘idea’ of wilderness, and my place in it. i feel i belong in this ’self-willed land,’ especially when communing with wild plants and animals, learning from them, and making responsible use of what they offer. i do not see the re-learning of primitive skills as a hobby…a handful of neat tricks to impress family members on our annual holiday hikes. this ‘rewilding’ is an empowering expression of an intention of moving my life in a direction towards a deep and meaningful connection with the world around me.
it also feels like a big middle finger to the bic lighter and gas range, robitussin and nytol.
love you friend
j