Hi, I’m Monica. I spent a chunk of 2011 in pretty deep despair about civilization and the state of the world, before I stumbled onto the Permaculture movement, and then the Primitive Skills community. Another somewhat bleak phase followed that while I immersed myself in too many Derrick Jensen books, but once I got more involved with the Rewild Portland folks, (and switched over to reading Martin Precthel and Charles Eisenstein instead), everything got WAY better. Hooray for Rewild Portland! BTW, I also make masks, and have been doing a lot of research into the roots of European mask and mummer traditions, which I plan to use as inspiration for some rewildy mask making projects.
Brian here, currently residing in the Texas hill country. Born in 1973, and have had a fascination with wildness ever since I can remember. I’ve been into wild plants since the year 2000, and have attended a handful of primitive skills schools. The last several years have been filled with heartbreak and anxiety, forcing me ever further down the spiritual path. Nature is one of my greatest teachers. I’m also a friction fire addict.
Hello! I am a 23 year old martial artist. It seems I have always been interested in ideas surrounding our natural diet, and how our food/environment affect us epigenetically. Also interested in how our modern technologies are bathing us in unnatural frequencies/light and ways to mitigate this problem;
Welcome everybody!
Hi,
My name is Dylan. I live in Bellows Falls VT, a small, former industrial town filled with drugs and hip coffee shops, in what was once and what someday again will be the Connecticut River valley. Formerly inhabited by the Abenaki Indians.
The river is currently dammed up to provide electricity to Trans Canada, the shitheads behind the Keystone pipeline.
Lots of nice rusted old trains and abandoned warehouses to play in!
I, like some of you I’m sure, don’t know the first damn thing about living like an indigenous person. I did make a rocket stove and a hand-crank washer out of recycled goods, and I helped my friend make a bow, but it wouldn’t do much to a deer other than piss it off. I went fishing once and managed little besides getting the line stuck in the tree a few times.
So for the last year that I’ve been into rewilding, it’s been mostly mental. Philosophical. Dare I say… academi. But I’ve always been a thinker, a reader, a writter, a philosophizer…a bullshitter. I’m not even self sufficient by civilization standards. I’m an unemployed, spoiled college student. So how’d I get into rewilding?
It all started when I read The Vegetarian Myth by Lierra Keith (the new Ishmael?) Before that I had been a left-libertarian anarchist. Anti-heirarchy, but still pro-agriculture, pro-technology, pro-“progress.” I had been a fan of diet and fitness guru Mark Sisson for a wile, so I understood the effects of civilization on our mental and physical health, but didn’t go much further than that. Essentially, the book destroyed me for a wile. Everything I had taken for granted came crashing down around me an I started to unravel. I also broke up with my long time girlfriend at the same time. And I had to go back to college.
I got through the semester alright, but that summer I was working a 40 hour a week job, trying to get my relationship going again and constantly trapped in my own mind obsessing over civilization and its effect on everything around me. Trying to rationalize my lack of action for the planet, being angry at myself and the people around me for being so civilized.
I discovered Permaculture and Rewilding that summer, which gave me a lot of hope, but I just couldn’t shake my feelings of guilt and inadequacy. Every rewilding thing I tried I would get discouraged and give up on so easily. I felt so hopeless at every attempt. And than I’d get mad for being so impatient and on and on. Meanwhile I’ve gotta work and do my class work and I have friends and girlfreind and family to be there for…
I needed a change. I finally got rid of my guilt, took my nose out of my books and left behind that voice in my head that kept telling me I wasn’t good enough. I realized I was trying to enforce my will on myself and on the world based on beleifs and ideas I had read elswhere that made me feel scared and guilty. What could be more agricultural? More Christian? I decided i needed to listen to my own feelings and intuitions. Feel the flow of things and catch the waves of rewilding. My life is not so serious. It’s not so do or die whether i learn this or that.
So I’m going into my third year of college and I’m going to embrace and enjoy the experience to its fullest. I’m not going to obsess and keep lists and listen to the paternalistic guilt inducing voice in my mind. I’m still planning on rewilding in ways, but I’ll do it on my own terms. I’d love to get involved with constructing round houses and establishing forest gardens after I graduate. I’d love to learn and share primitive skills. But there’s no hurry. What i learn I learn.
I’m finally begining to be happy and proud of who I am and it feels good. I’ve got a long way to go, but I’m glad I learned so much in this year!
I’m a long reader of this forum and I’m excited to get involved!
-Dylan
Welcome all! Thanks for the great introductions!
Welcome, Dylan. I just relocated to New England, so I’ll be interested in reading your posts :).
I am Raimondo, 23yrs old, from italy and currently living in Berlin but soon moving to Canada (at least 6 months 
), i am a vegan (freegan in certain situations) and very into anarcho primitivism.
Welcome!
Hail and well met all!
I am a 38 year old happily married and proud Heathen father of 8[number 9 is due any day and will be born here]. Grew up living in a rural area spending most of my time in the woods. Went to USMC out of HS, then to college then to the work force. Leaving the woods for a long time, I always felt that hole missing inside me, but I filled it with foolishness and as a slave to the modern thought stayed away from the truth. Never leaving the wolf behind, but instead wearing the wool even tighter. Then one day I had a moment of clarity and knew it was time to return to the truth. My wife and I began changing our lifestyle, I returned to the hunt, to the river and the forest. This didn’t go over well in our ‘city’ house and then one day walking out of the woods with my bow in hand I saw the property was posted for tax sale. We waited and researched, then the day of the sale it was taken off the auction. We then wrote a letter to the owner and explained to her what our intentions were. About 45 days later we got a letter from her saying she wanted us to have the land and begin our dream. Did the paperwork and it was ours. First catch we found though was her son was still ‘living’ there at times. We offered to let him stay, told him our thoughts, and he didn’t want to be involved. We asked him to leave, offered him aid and best wishes. After a few months of posting, serving, and hiding he disappeared. We started cleaning up the place, moved our things in and prepared to make the move on that Monday. When my wife got there everything was burned to the ground. Fire police determined arson, he checked himself into the psych hospital. It was March and we decided there was nothing else to do but pitch a tent and start living - no utilities or plumbing. So we did - 2 adults, 7 kids and 30 chicks. By late October we had a shelter [there was an old 1967 trailer in the woods which we recycled using whatever reclaimed materials we could find]. Now we are preparing for our 4th winter here and getting closer and closer to living our dream. We have spent the last few years working with Nature to become more and more self sufficient and living closer to the land and working with instead of against it. I procure and process almost all our meat. We forage and grow almost all our vegetables/fruit. We are moving away from electricity and the modern. We home-schooled/now un-schooling our children. We believe in honoring the animals and letting nothing go to waste. I enjoy working with bone, hide and furs. I hunt, fish, and trap. And I think I have rambled on a bit…so any other questions just ask.
On a side note, I just happened upon Urban Scout’s blog yesterday and the concept or ‘rewilding’. Think it is something we have been doing without having heard the terminology.
Hey White Raven! That’s a very interesting story! Welcome to the forum. 
Hey, glad to found this goldmineforum with inspiration! Im 42 year, living in sweden in a 10 squaremeter smal cabin without water, toliet or electricity on my friends forrestground since halv a year. With me I have to of my children 10 and 5 years of age. Love the wild, fishing, gathering plants and striving living on the wilderness more and more. Im a stonecarver (Vikingage runestones), brasilian juijitsu, mecanic, firefighter. Soon to have a rifle for hunting wildboar, moose, deer etc. Rewilding, YES!
Hangtyr, welcome to the forum!
Hi
I’m 27 living in New Zealand. I’m a movnat and parkour instructor, and also run a small fitness business which uses those methods. Training through movnat in particular has drawn me to this concept of rewilding. It’ll be great to read around these forums and learn a lot
Hi Max! Welcome to the forum! Looking forward to hearing you share your thoughts on movement and rewilding!
Hi all. I have finally found somewhere where other people with this interest gather! I’m from Australia and some friends and I are starting a project in the Northern Territory, so I hope to get some input from this site. http://zone5project.blogspot.com.au/
Hi my name is Connor. I’m especially interested in tracking and primitive skills. I make a living as a biologist studying mountain lions in Wyoming. I occasionally update my blog naturalskills.wordpress.com where I post pictures of tracks and things from where I live. Love the rewilding philosophy and looking foward to connecting with folks!
Welcome yall!
Hello the Rewild folks… My name is Dude McLean , have been active in the primitive skills for well over 60 years. Iam 76 years old but way too immature to be this old. I was a record producer and music publisher for 45 years. My escape to keep sane was the wilderness. Ive done many solo trips from a week up to 93 days at a time… I live in a cabin in the high desert of California, not far from Joshua Tree. For 7 years I was a field editor and writer for the now defunct magazine “Wilderness Way” . I m one of three founders of Dirttime.com, a survival and self reliance forum .My partners are Alan Halcon who can get a coal in 2 seconds with a hand drill, timed. The internationally known Christopher Nyerges is the other partner , he has been teaching wild edible foods since 1974, and has written 11 books on simple living and foraging. We have at least one new article every week. I have written a series of articles called the “Feral Woodsman” about 17 articles so far, we have drawn a lot of folks to these articles, seems it is very popular . On our website , you will have to work backwards if you are interested.
We hold an event once a year and bring in instructors from all over the U.S.A. , teaching things from primitive trapping and weapons to shelter and skinning, It changes up every year . bow and arrow making , atlatl , pottery, slingshots and spears, wild foods and how to prepare them, fire making and so on . No classes overlap so you can attend all of them . We cut the students at 150 so we can make sure everyone gets close attention. 3 meals a day are included.
I m here to learn more , as I feel we are perpetual students, no matter how long you have been doing anything. And I hope to be able to contribute in some small way.
I have been lurking here for several weeks and like a lot of what see. Some good folks with an honest outlook for their future. I also see some confusion but that is to be expected when searching for a new way to live.
Nice to be here…
Dude… I am the original Dude… 8)
Welcome Dude! I love Wilderness Way. Was really bummed when it stopped. Glad to have you here!