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Koviashuvik Winter Newsletter/  2020 Class Offerings

“…. after we stay [at Koviashuvik] I come home with renewed grounding, clarity, calm and vision, reminded of how it can feel to feed my spirit with the friendship, nature and work that it craves. You give us all so much peace and love to bring back into our lives and to those around us."
 
~Alyssa C., homeschooling mother and multi-time participant in the Simple Life Immersion.


 
Paddlemakers from Gap Year at Glenbrook: headed on to the Moose River!

The Fall in an Acorn Shell:

St Joseph’s College comes to Koviashuvik!  A small group of students came out for a shortened version of our new program for colleges, the Bioregional Immersion.  In addition to an engaging list of practical skills (such as basket weaving, spoon carving, cooking with local foods, and caretaking the forest) we had ample time for nature observation, discussion and reflection.  The group had a special visit from Grandfather Ray Reitze who brought his innate ability to open minds and hearts to a new way of perceiving the earth, her gifts, and our place among them.  Thank you, as always, Grandfather. 

Gap Year at Glenbrook Makes Paddles:
We were excited to welcome 12 gap-year students for a paddle making workshop en route to a canoe trip on the Moose River.  They brought enthusiasm for the paddle project and for the lifestyle.  Gap year students are often searching outside the prescribed path and it was a pleasure to share skills and philosophies that contradict our current trajectory.  We look forward to more collaboration with Gap Year at Glenbrook 

Three Day Immersion for Schools:
In October we were joined by a 4th grade class and it’s committed teacher Erica Tayor, from the Seacoast Waldorf School.  The class had unbounded energy which we were able to unleash on splitting firewood, building shelter, carving spears, and taking long walks in the hills and along the steams of Koviashuvik.  A favorite activity was roasting apples (or anything else) over the fire when we were out exploring.

Apprenticeships:  "...I realize now that there are a lot more “people” out there- not just humans, plants and animals included. It's not just me, there’s a new sense of community…”  2019 apprentice speaking in an interview to the value of his experience.

After a great spring and summer with our full apprentice crew, Caleb G. continued to stay on.  This fall, Caleb directed his endless love for learning towards the deer people.  He followed, stalked and observed.  He never took a shot but he learned a lot.   We have so enjoyed living with and learning from Caleb.  He is a gentleman woodsman who, more than anything, cares about work well done, kindness to those he meets, and helping his friends and neighbors.  The world needs more people like Caleb, quiet leaders who show the way through the integrity of their deeds.  Caleb will be taking off for his home state at the end of January, to reconnect with family.  Applications for the 2020 apprentice season are now being accepted.

School Visits:  “How, in this modern time, can we come to see the earth as a gift again?” ~ Robin Wall Kimmerer.  From gathering beechnuts and sewing birch-bark bracelets under an old Grandmother Beech at Waynflete School in Portland, to weaving brown ash potholders and making shelters at Georgetown Central School in Georgetown, to shelling dry beans and pounding acorns at Mallett School in Farmington, we continue sharing experiences that attempt to answer the question posed by Kimmerer. 
 
"Our woodworking projects remain a source of pride and have helped us appreciate the satisfaction of creating something useful.... My bark basket sits on the counter and is used to keep tomatoes or eggs. One of the spreaders is perfect for digging deep into the peanut butter jar. The girls were so pleased to be able to shoot their own bows--something I always dreamed of as a child, so it was a real treat to see them learn how to craft one, straight from a sapling."
                                                                                         -Family Stay Mother
Fall-time garlic planting with family, and tomato harvest with a Family Stay participant.
2020 Schedule of Classes and Events

Wild Edibles: Spring Foraging and Cooking

(see description and photos)
Date and Time: Saturday May 9th, 9:30 am- 2:00PM
Cost: $35, kids come for half-price (lunch included)



Bioregionalism, Resilience and Active Hope, an Antioch University New England Field Study Trip
Dates: May 17-22  (Registration through AUNE)

Koviashuvik Simple Life Apprenticeship
(see description and photos)
Dates: 5 weeks, May 4- June 5
Cost: $1000


Koviashuvik Summer Apprenticeship
June- August: (Prerequisite-Simple Life Apprenticeship)

Koviashuvik Open Homestead!
Dates TBD

Camp Koviashuvik: a 7-day overnight camp
(see description and photos)
Ages: 10 - 13
Cost : $550 dollars per camper
Dates: (overnight program)
Sunday July 12th, 1:30 pm through Saturday July 18th, 11:30am


Family Sustainability Stay:  A Custom-fit, Three or Five Day Educational Vacation for All Ages
(see description and photos)
Dates (choose one): Please note, most of these dates have the option of expanding into a five-day program if that better suites your family.
July 8-10 open
July 27-29 open
Aug. 2-4 open
Aug. 11-13 open
And 4-season dates are available! (Inquire for fall-through-spring possibilities.)

Small Family Shared-Expereince Family Sustainability Stay: For families with 3 or less members attending, who are excited to participate with other small families.
(see description and photos)

Dates: Aug 7-9

Common Ground Fair:
Koviashuvik will be presenting acorn processing,
spatula carving classes, and an
interactive children's table!

(see MOFGA website)
Dates: September 25-27


Processing Acorns Into Flour
(see description, photos, and an acorn nutritional analysis!)
Date: Saturday, Oct. 10th, 10:00am-noon
Cost: FREE

Please note the location of this class will be in the town of Farmington, at the gazebo park!

Packbasket Weaving Weekend
(see description and photos)
Date and Time: 9:30am Saturday, November 14th through mid-afternoon Sunday, November 15th 
Cost: $325*, all meals and snacks provided, all organic and mostly homegrown


 

 
 
 
A LOOK AHEAD!

The Bioregional Immersion comes to life!  In May of 2020, a 6-day version of the program Chris has been creating in graduate school will run for the first time.  We are so excited to be bringing this physical experience of living well in place to the table of higher education.   

Course Content:  Using the working homestead of Koviashuvik as an outdoor classroom, student’s dig into the theory and practice of transforming natural resources into daily necessities. By so doing, they embark on a learning adventure that encompasses modern resiliency skills, traditional craft, homesteading arts, Indigenous skills, nature awareness, and the cultivation of ecological and social relationships. Through daily regenerative acts like thinning a forest to provide fuel, or composting human waste to build soil fertility, students experience being a constructive force in the ecosystem while meeting their needs. From these daily constructive actions spring self-efficacy and hope, powerful and grounding antidotes to the oftentimes overwhelming challenges that face learners who are engaged in—and passionate about—environmental studies and ecological protection. Students leave this program with a new sense of what is possible, and ability to enact positive change in one’s situation and surroundings.
 
I know of no restorative of heart, body, or soul more effective against hopelessness than the restoration of the earth”   --Bary Lopez
 

Participants will: carve a bowl; identify, harvest and feast upon wild and domestic local foods; cook on fire; chop wood; sharpen a knife; milk goats; sew a patch; plant seeds; complete nutrient cycles; and make their own rocket stove (a hyper-efficient wood-burning cooking stove). Daily routines include time for observation, subsistence-chores, stillness, and community building. Students will engage with regional experts who offer their skills and perspectives on craft, herbalism, and intuition. Assigned readings, group presentations, and associated discussions complement daily work and experience to provide a practical and intellectual platform from which to investigate this key question of our time:  how do we reenter into a healthy, mutually beneficial relationship with the biosphere?
A moment of reflection, and making snowshoes with a former apprentice.
Apprenticeships: We are currently accepting applications for APPRENTICESHIPS for the 2020 spring and summer!
The Koviashuvik Apprenticeship Program is an experiential immersion into the systems and philosophies of bioregional and place-based living. From splitting shingles, to spinning rope, to growing beans, to harvesting medicine, in daily life apprentices are involved in the art and practice of crafting a life from the world around them. Shelter, water, fire, food, fiber and medicine become doorways to connection, stillness, interdependence, kinship and gratitude.   
 
The Family Sustainability Stay Program expands to accommodate multiple families at a time, for longer periods of time!  In 2019 we ran our first week-long family stay experience with multiple families.   The social dynamic was enhanced, we were able to offer more activities, and the program was more affordable for everyone.  In 2020, you can register as single family, or get several families together!

Camp Koviashuvik:  "...though the path was steep and my legs felt like they where not going to survive, they did, and the view on the top, and seeing the coyote pup, was amazing. Beauty shows its self to the hard working people, or the people who go through something challenging."                                - Nora D., Camp Koviashuvik Participant 2019

Camp Koviashuvik, a week-long overnight camp for kids ages 10 – 13, will be in its 3rd season.  Come join the fun….
Build a home of sticks and leaves, kindle fire from friction, carve a bow and arrow from a sapling, bake bread from acorns, sleep on a mountain top and find the North Star. Welcome to Camp Koviashuvik, an overnight camp for "wild" kids who want to make friends with the earth and each other.
Special Thanks This Year................
  • Thanks to Nathan and Hanah in Keene who have been a home away from home for Chris while taking classes at Antioch.
  • Thanks to Heather Gazdik for her guidance in Heartfulness Meditation Practices.
  • Thanks to Caleb for all the work around the homestead.
  • Thanks to Libby McCann who has helped bring the Bioregional Immersion to the graduate program at Antioch University New England.
  • Thanks to Ashirah for working "off the farm" and on, to keep things moving forward.
  • Thanks to all our friends, family and students who have contributed in the last year in more ways than can be named!
  • Thanks to our earth mother who gives us life and a place to sleep every night....
Knapp Family News:
Winter is here and both Owen and Bonnie Bee are Nordic ski racing with the Farmington Area Ski Team.  As parents we are enjoying the kids’ rapidly developing intellects and the depth of our evening conversations about a wide range of topics, among them Star Trek The Next Generation’s ongoing question of what it means to be human! Bonnie Bee continues to disappear into her room and later come down with the most incredible works of art. Owen has taken to DandD, creating worlds, characters, histories and lots of foam “ruins” painted to look like collapsed walls and buildings. Chris is persistently struggling to become a better fiddler and gives thanks to all who have been playing tunes with him!  He is a year-and-a-half through his graduate program at Antioch New England, which has been a hugely rewarding experience thus far. Ashirah is running much of the front office of Livermore Falls Addiction Medicine, where both her detail-orientation and her people-care skills are put to good use. We have three doe goats due to kid this spring, and a new batch of Muscovy ducks we are excited to set free on our pond. In these winter months we are grateful for incredible food from last summer’s wild and domestic harvests, friendships, and the chance to make a small difference in the world.
 
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