Earth Skills Programs and Adult Trainings

For a complete brochure and application in PDF format, please click here to download: 

2007 Earth Skills Programs & Trainings

Earth Skills Correspondence Course

More Information about our Earth Skills Semesters:

We teach students the framework needed to master wilderness and mentoring skills in an empowering and authentic community. This happens through focused study, community living and close contact with nature. It is here students can experience healing and learning from the earth and the circle of mentors and friends.

How is this accomplished?
The training works by keeping student groups small, usually 12 people maximum, and working side by side with experienced instructors for an extended length of time. The curriculum consists of survival and awareness skills, tracking, field expeditions, arts and crafts, community studies, mentoring and teaching skills, as well as personal growth and renewal. The courses consist of a Winter Intensive, (3 weeks) held in January, a Earth Mentoring Skills Intensive,(1 week) held in mid-March, Spring Semester, (8 weeks) held March through May, and a Fall Semester, (8 weeks) held September through November.  Our Summer Graduate Program (5 weeks) is held in July and August.

In developing our current model of earth skill training, we have chosen the one or two month time frame as our standard semester. This gives adequate time to get to know the students, begin the mentoring relationship, and have time to pass on the skills in a non-intensive style and pace. Students learn new skills, practice, and begin to integrate these experiences into their lives, while having time to document the work, and reflect on what has been learned. Allowing more time for the steady growth of the student yields an understanding and model that helps to recreate the same process with his or her own future students.

Core Curriculum Descriptions
The Following is a list of courses or events that comprise the core of every program at Hawk Circle.   They each vary with the seasons and provide a container that brings our programs together.

The Four Elements of Survival
Primitive shelter building, water purification and collection methods, matchless fire making, and gathering food (animal or plant), are the four essential elements of survival. Because it is necessary for a wilderness survival instructor to have a strong base of knowledge in these areas, we teach them in every semester. We also include tree studies as part of our core curriculum because its importance is vital for all of these skills. In every course, different aspects of these elements are taught due to seasonal changes and the fact that the depth of each element is so great that only pieces can be focused on at a time. For more information about specific class details, see the appropriate semester.

Cultural Arts and Crafts
The making of baskets, pottery, advanced stone tools, snow goggles, bows, arrows, medicine bags and pouches, beaded necklaces, feathers or moccasins all fall under this program heading, for they are truly not just a fast survival skill but actual and practical arts in and of themselves.  It is difficult to separate the practice of these arts without touching, in a special way, the very culture from which they came.   Our goal in these projects is to provide a deep understanding of the different philosophies and outlook that making these crafts can impart to us even as we live and work in a modern world.

Community Living
This element of our program most closely duplicates the skills and understanding of how native people lived together in close contact in the wilderness. It demonstrates the vital need for communication, personal responsibility, group awareness and much more. It is also the source of tremendous closeness and joy that comes from doing things together like sharing a meal or doing chores. Spontaneous music, games and cooking sessions are all part of becoming fully alive in how we relate to each other in community. Service work is shared one morning a week and covers skills of tool use and safety. The various projects will benefit everyone at Hawk Circle. Weekly house meetings allow everyone to check in as far as needs and concerns, and helps to demonstrate good forms of communication.

Community Nights
These nights are a time to celebrate with the whole Hawk Circle community. Community Nights have different themes depending on seasonal celebrations or the group's interests. Be prepared for games, music, slide shows, stories, poetry, fun, and culinary delights.

Application for Enrollment