Category Archives: Warrior Fieldcraft
Indigenous Alberta youth reconnect with nature and culture at Ghost River Rediscovery camp
Ghost River Rediscovery camp west of Calgary teaches survival skills and Aboriginal traditions to kids and teens. (Courtesy of Ghost River Rediscovery)
City kids sleep in teepees and learn Aboriginal traditions from Blackfoot, Cree and Metis elders
By Danielle Nerman, CBC News, July 27, 2016
The Ghost River Rediscovery camp west of Calgary can only be reached by gravel road and a river crossing.
While the journey through the wooded forest of the Stoney Nation is not super strenuous, it can be daunting for campers who have never lived off the grid.
“A lot of these kids are pretty city-based. So we’ve got kids who have never camped before, never built shelter, don’t know how build fire,” said Kristie Schneider, the camp’s director of operations. Read the rest of this entry
A starving wolf stalked a woman and her dog for 12 hours. Then along came a bear.
Joanne Barnaby, left, is reunited with Tammy Caudron after 18 hours in the Canadian bush.
, 2016
Joanne Barnaby was deep in the deadfall, smeared in mosquitoes and blood, dehydrated and near exhaustion, when she heard the call of a mama bear searching for its cub.
Barnaby couldn’t believe her luck.
Twelve hours earlier, she had been picking mushrooms in the remote Canadian wilderness when she had heard a growl behind her. She turned around and saw Joey, her faithful mutt, locked in a snarling standoff with a skinny black wolf. Read the rest of this entry
The Tourniquet
Boston Firefighter James Plourde carries an injured woman away from the scene after a bombing near the finish line of the Boston Marathon in April 2013. The woman has an improvised tourniquet on her left leg just below the knee.
By Warrior Publications, June 2, 2016
“Tourniquet: A device, typically a tightly encircling bandage, used to check bleeding by temporarily stopping the flow of blood through a large artery in a limb… French : tourner, to turn (from Old French).”
The Free Dictionary
A tourniquet is a binding that is applied to an injured limb to stop arterial blood flow resulting from a severe injury (characterized by bright red spurting blood). Although it has been used on battlefields since at least the times of the Roman Empire, after World Wars 1 and 2 the tourniquet became a questionable, even dangerous technique that was to be used only as a last resort, if at all. Despite the apparent absence of any medical studies, the tourniquet was said to cause such severe nerve damage that it often resulted in amputations.
Warning: there are some graphic images in the following article. Read the rest of this entry
UVic prof creates new digital guide to plants, animals on B.C.’s wild coast
Black bears in Central Coast forest.
by Gemma Karstens-Smith, Vancouver Sun, April 24, 2016
VICTORIA — An innovative app created by a University of Victoria professor is giving people around the world the ability to experience the vast, diverse beauty of British Columbia’s coast.
Ecologist Brian Starzomski and his team have catalogued more than 700 species in the Great Bear Rainforest and logged them in a new digital field guide called “Central Coast Biodiversity.” Read the rest of this entry
‘Magical ingredient’: Hunters learn to tan hides using animal brains in Winnipeg
Carl Froese prepares to show people at the brain tanning course how to skin a hide. (CBC)
Manitoba Buckskin owner passes on traditional First Nations hide tanning knowledge through workshop
By Bryce Hoye, CBC News, April 2, 2016
The smartest way to produce unique and durable traditional leather products is to treat the hide with smoke and animal brains, a Winnipeg hide-tanning expert says.
“We’re basically tanning hides the way they were done thousands of years ago using the same methods and same natural materials,” said Carl Froese, owner of Manitoba Buckskin. Read the rest of this entry
Fish skin clothing and gear
Marlene Nielsen (Yup’ik) with her newest fish skin parka. Photo: Marlene Nielsen, Facebook.
Recently Marlene Nielsen (Yup’ik) posted a photograph to Facebook showing her latest creation, a fish skin parka. I had heard of salmon skin being used for moccasins but had never really heard or seen much more about this. After contacting Marlene about reposting her photos, I did a bit of research and there’s actually quite a history of fish skin clothing and gear ranging from the northern Canada to Asia. In the process I also found the following article that gives more information about the historical uses and methods of producing fish skin textiles. Read the rest of this entry
Nunavut hunter falls through ice, makes pants out of a fox to stay warm
Jimmy Iqaluq built this igloo on a small island near Sanikiluaq to stay warm after his snowmobile fell through ice and his pants became soaked. (submitted by Jack Iqaluq)
Well-known carver Jimmy Iqaluq found safe Sunday near Sanikiluaq
CBC News, Feb 24, 2016
A crafty hunter from Sanikiluaq, Nunavut, made emergency pants out of a fox after he fell through ice over the weekend.
Well-known carver Jimmy Iqaluq, who is in his 70s, was hunting alone for polar bears on the southern part of the Belcher Islands Saturday when his snowmobile went through the ice. Read the rest of this entry
Reviving Wet Weather Gear
Photo by Penkdix Palme.
by Warrior Publications, Oct 27, 2015
Living on the Northwest Coast, rain and wet weather are a constant concern. Over time, even the best waterproof jackets and pants can begin to “wet out,” meaning that the durable water repellant (DWR) treatment put on in the factory begins to wear down. Instead of water beading on the surface of the garment, it instead becomes saturated and water begins to leak through. Even expensive rain gear with Goretex can wet out over time. Read the rest of this entry
Study on B.C. First Nations stone tools debunks theory about their origin
Mount Garibaldi with Howe Sound in the distance. (Kyle Pearce / Flickr)
Researchers find glacier brought mountain to man
Sweetgrass as Mosquito Repellent: Research Catches Up to Native Knowledge
Braided Sweetgrass, an important traditional medicine for plains Indigenous peoples.
by Indian Country Today, Aug 19, 2015
Using sweetgrass to keep the mosquitos away is nothing new to Native Americans. The fragrant, sacred plant also plays an important part in Native ceremonies and is often used in sweat lodges. According to Native Naturals, who sell sweetgrass oil, and make products out of sweetgrass, it is also often burned after sage to purify and encourage positive vibrations or spirits to enter.
“[Sweetgrass] gives off a sweet aroma that repels mosquitoes,” Charles Cantrell, Ph.D., said in a press release regarding researchers findings. Read the rest of this entry
