HUNTER-GATHERER APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM
This apprenticeship program is for those people excited to pursue a rewilding lifestyle and those who are interested in possibly living at Wilder Waters Community one day.
You will learn practical skills of a hunter-gatherer life-way, including but not limited to: botany, foraging, bowhunting, fishing, hide-tanning, friction fire, stone tool manufacture, bow-making, trapping, primitive cooking, bark containers, animal processing, herbal medicine, natural history, fiber arts, tracking, and nature observation.
Botany will be a major focus for all apprentices because it is a foundational skill for many other skills; you must be able to identify plants to craft a bow-drill, to forage food or medicine, to create cordage, etc.
We will also be learning and discussing the social skills of communal living, awareness, village-mindedness, and ancestral child-rearing, among many others.
SEASONALITY
Your specialized program will be tailored to the time of year and the community seasonal activities.
This is the ultimate place-based instruction so you will be learning and doing what is important for each season of the year. This requires flexibility, determination, an open mind, and a lot of philosophical discussion over our shared meals. Please see below for the schedule of moons and their corresponding activities (just suggestions of a few skills that are a focus during that time, though exact dates and biological seasons vary). You, as the student, have some flexibility in what you learn, but we are still bound by our place and season as to what we can expect to accomplish.
Rites of Passage
To reclaim this vital aspect of human ceremony, the hunter-gatherer apprenticeships at Wilder Waters will now offer, for those who seek them, rites of passage as an alternative focus during the moon-long stay. While my focus as a mentor will be males and use a sacred hunt (among other tasks) as the doorway into manhood, there are opportunities for females (led by women) to also experience a rite of passage. If you already hunt and believe this experience wouldn’t offer you anything, please think again. What most have learned about hunting from this relatively superficial civilization falls far short of a hallowed experience. Further, while the activity may occur in a wild area, there is still a pronounced degree of separation from nature that is manifested during the modern hunt. For the rites of passage conducted here, there will be the three stages of ceremony—separation, liminality, and incorporation—which will be witnessed by people who understand the value of these rituals and can support the initiate during their time in trial. These experiences will be tailored to the individuals and provide an appropriate amount of challenge and risk. If this is a missing piece of your life, consider allowing us to craft a rite of passage for you. For more information about the need for rites of passage, visit this blog post.
The 2025 Schedule follows.
Whirling Wind Moon
(22 December-29 January)
Ice-fishing, winter evergreen foraging, sewing hides, tracking, chaga harvesting
When the Spruce Tips Fall Moon (30 January-27 February)
Ice-fishing, winter evergreen foraging, sewing hides, tracking, chaga harvesting
Spring Moon (28 February-29 March)
Ice-fishing, winter evergreen foraging, sewing hides, tracking, chaga hunting
Egg Laying Moon
(30 March-27 April)
Maple sap harvesting and processing
Alewife Moon
(28 April-26 May)
Spring greens foraging, hide-tanning, dip-netting smelts and alewives, turkey hunting
Summer Moon (27 May-25 June)
coastal harvesting, processing hides, bark basketry, foraging, primitive technologies, lake and stream fishing, turkey hunting
Ripening Moon (26 June-24 July)
cattail harvest, digging clams, coastal fishing, harvesting berries
Feather Shedding Moon (25 July-23 August)
Wilder Waters Gathering, stone-tool manufacture, primitive pottery, berry season, medicine gathering and crafting, primitive technologies
Autumn Moon (24 August-21 September)
Bear hunting,berry harvesting, scouting for deer hunting season, wild rice harvest and processing
Harvest Moon
(22 September-21 October)
Wild-rice harvesting and processing, berry harvesting, fishing, bear hunting, deer archery hunting
Freezing Moon (22 October-20 November)
Harvesting acorns, deer hunting, squirrel hunting, grouse and moose hunting, harvesting walnuts
Frost Fish Moon (21 November-21 December)
Processing hides, squirrel hunting, grouse hunting, deer hunting
Moons are reserved on a first come-first serve basis through placing a 1/4 non-refundable deposit to hold the space.
YOUR INSTRUCTOR
ARTHUR HAINES
Registered Maine Hunting, Fishing, & Recreation Guide.
M.S. Botany & Plant Pathology. B.S. in Wildlife Management.
Author of plant taxonomy, foraging, and rewilding books.
Skills include: foraging, bow-making, fiber arts, friction fire, hide-tanning, stone-tool manufacture, fishing, hunting, primitive cooking, herbal medicine, tracking.
COST
MINI-SEMESTER (28 DAYS OR ONE MOON)
$2,300—includes instruction, camp site, compost toilet outhouse, shower, kitchen & laundry access.
SEMESTER (84 DAYS OR THREE MOONS)
$6,300—includes instruction, camp site, compost toilet outhouse, shower, kitchen & laundry access.
Optional add-ons:
$400/moon—bedroom rental in communal house
$300/moon—cabin rental
$1,100/moon—for each additional adult family member
Children are encouraged to join and are free of cost!
Although we will all be foraging, hunting, and fishing frequently and sharing in the harvest of such activities, which will supplement your diet (more or less depending on the time of year), you will be expected to provide your own food during the program.
CONTACT TO SET UP YOUR PROGRAM.