Wild Elixirs of the Native Americans!
This is Wild Food expert Arthur Haines showing us his method of making the indigenous North American wild hickory nut mylk elixir!
I really love the devices he uses to process the foods he Wild Crafts.
Many are hand made and quite intentional in their design and function.
The Mortor and Pestle Arthur is using here is incredibly functional, and makes most kitchen Mortors look somewhat silly by comparison. This is the size that I think is most functional for actual use in any traditional setting. Years ago while traveling in South East Asia I noticed Mortors made from stone that were nearly this exact size, and they were used daily in the households of people there.
The ones that we keep in our kitchens today are usually just decorative, or at best are for small novelty jobs. Wild crafting medicinal herbs and wild foods on any significant scale means obtaining or creating some innovative tools for processing your produce!
One thing you can sense as Arthur talks is his deep grasp of the nutritional components of the wild foods he discusses. There is a vast difference between understanding the basic survival foods needed to stay alive while stranded in the woods, and fully understanding how the local indigenous peoples thrived on the foods of their eco-ranges for countless generations.
This awareness makes all “diets” look like unsustainable fads. If you remove the neurotic nutritionism disorders that are plaguing humanity, there would really only be two significant diets to choose from… Agrarian (domestic foods) or Gatherer/Hunter (wild foods). Or of course some composite of the two.
“Modern” man is almost, with little exception, exclusively Agrarian today. Unlike Agrarians of the past, he seems to be weakening and poisoning his food supply with a near total irreverence.
Today the world wide commercial mono-crop farming practices all around us are raising varieties of weak-gened domesticated food hybrids in conditions so toxic as to make them very unattractive as food options. These are most often processed into nutrient deficient edible caloric non-foods. This of course continues to weaken us just as it does our offspring and ultimately our species genetics.
Well grown Local Food is beginning to gain a foothold, though in much of the world it has become increasingly more interesting to find food from local organic growers. Real, well grown local heirloom food appears scarce here in society at this time in history.
And yet Wild Food remains as nutritious, as tonic, and as much a delicacy as ever!
Wild Foods offer a powerful source of nutrition that is not only free, but actually benefits the ecosystem while strengthening your awareness of your relationship to it. These foods are invariably more nutritious and therapeutic than their domesticated relatives. Bringing them back into our lives in any amount is one of the best investments we can make in our longevity, in our strength, in our Vibrancy and Vitality.
When we use local Wild Foods we re receiving the medicines and macro-nutrient (fat, carbohydrate, protein) profiles and ratios that are particular to that species in our own climate. Each meal is representative of the conditions of that place and to eat it places us in the interconnected web of life-forms of that ecosystem.
It is a critical time for us to remember that we are biotic too, and we are a part of a Living Organism Earth, not separate from it….
Foraging Wild Food teaches us this in a way that is experiential and far more life enhancing than merely learning about it intellectually.
It is why I share videos like these.
Thanks for making some time to read this.
Gratitude!
~Daniel
Ernesto
wow! he’s amazing! I’m sure it was a blessing for you Daniel to have the opportunity to learn from him as for him as well. And having such a cool network of friends that have the same interest as you, vice versa, is even a bigger blessing =) Peace bro!
Jan 19, 2010 @ 8:04 pm
Mike Lund
Total inspiration. I could listen to you guys talk all day… I feel deep truths when hearing in detail about our relationship with the Mother Earth. Wild food… I’m making my way. Looking forward to your events in Los Angeles Daniel.. Sounds amazing!!
Jan 20, 2010 @ 12:48 am
Lauren Michelle Kinsey
“Wild Foods offer a powerful source of nutrition that is not only free, but actually benefits the ecosystem while strengthening your awareness of your relationship to it.”
I totally agree that wild foods are more nutritious than hybrid foods. And I totally agree that harvesting wild foods helps us become more aware of our relationship to the natural world. But I don’t understand how harvesting wild food can “benefit the ecosystem”.
I’ve been hearing so much about wild herbs that have become so popular they are endangered. And I’ve heard that going off the trails in wild places is damaging.
I think that it is better for our ecosystem if people are well nourished and feel connected to nature, because then we’ll make better choices that sustain our ecosystems. So that is an argument for wild food being eco-supportive.
And if we’re eating wild then were shipping less food from other places….
Is there more…
Thanks Daniel!
In Joy and Gratitude,
Lauren
Jan 20, 2010 @ 9:44 am
Juli V
F.Y.I. the video(s) have his last name spelled incorrectly.
http://www.arthurhaines.com is his website.
Excellent info!
Aloha!
Jan 20, 2010 @ 12:07 pm
Daniel
See you there Mike!
Jan 20, 2010 @ 2:05 pm
Daniel
Lauren!
Excellent Quest-I-on…
Was wondering if someone would ask.
Yes, many people have done damage to ecosystems… no doubt.
It is my feeling however, that when we harvest for our own needs, we by necessity become good shepherds of the lands. We must, lest our supply run out! We (though slowly) learn the life-cycle of the species we work with, and how to better assist them in their continued success.
There is a sentiment today that has become popular…. That we are somehow separate from the ecosystem. That we are inherently damaging to it. I feel that this is unfair, that it is when we are raised to think this way that we become destructive to it.
We, like all other species are part of the environment, and we have a role. The more we learn to walk through the wilds with integrity, the healthier and happier the ecosystems become.
We spread and redistribute seed, we turn soils, and make way for new emerging species. We are a part. Though many have forgotten.
Bless!
~D
Jan 20, 2010 @ 2:13 pm
Crystal Dawn
searching for wild foods barefoot is the best!!!
Jan 20, 2010 @ 7:26 pm
Arthur Haines
Lauren,
It does at first seem like an odd statement that collecting wild plants can actually benefit the ecosystem. But Daniel’s statement is factual. It may be hard to perceive because we simply don’t interact with wild plants as traditional cultures did, which means we lack the knowledge base to understand our role in the ecology of these organisms. Further, we have been taught to “take only pictures, leave only footprints.” This well-intentioned phrase has created a populace that no longer uses and cherishes wild species. Consequently, many do not understand their true value.
There are so many examples of beneficial human interaction it is hard to know where to begin. Consider species such as evening-primrose, a colonizer of open, disturbed places that has an edible taproot. When we gather this root, we kill the plant. However, we also till the ground when we excavate the roots, disturbing the soil and maintaining an open area–which is absolutely necessary for this species. Without repeated disturbance, the area will eventually grow in with taller plants that will shade out the evening-primrose, leading to a loss of that species at that site. When we gather edible seeds and seed-like fruits, we unintentionally scatter or drop some of them, helping the plant to disperse further than it would have otherwise. Native American practices have been shown to increase the abundance of certain species even though lethal collection was being performed. They utilized many traditional practices to ensure plants were not eradicated. Simply gathering bulbs after the seeds had formed would allow the plant to germinate in freshly tilled earth.
We really do need a shift away from the current paradigm of a hands-off approach to nature. This “look but don’t touch” attitude toward nature has been applied too extensively, and many mistakenly believe that all wild beings are better off without any human interaction. However, there exist many examples showing that conscientious use of plants by people is beneficial for those species. Further, experientially learning the uses of wild plants teaches people to value those species while also helping them to become more self-sufficient.
The simultaneous use and conservation of nature requires far more knowledge and skill than simply leaving nature alone. What might appear on the surface to be a wanton act of collection actually represents a gathering system that includes numerous safeguards to protect plants from overharvest. Abstract learning about nature (i.e., learning that doesn’t involve interaction and use) doesn’t accurately portray the value of different species. Without this knowledge, the need to preserve species can’t be fully appreciated.
Best wishes,
Arthur Haines
Jan 22, 2010 @ 8:47 am
Doraw
WOW DANIEL,
You make me want to pick up and move to Augusta! Eh?
Jan 22, 2010 @ 11:38 am
Daniel
Nahhhhh, you cant get there from heah.
~D
Jan 22, 2010 @ 2:55 pm