Wild Lore Folk School starts up in South Minneapolis

Founders hope to build traditional skills such as soap making, weaving, tanning and more

By TESHA M. CHRISTENSEN

A group of South Minneapolis residents interested in traditional skills have started the Wild Lore Folk School, a collectively operated non-profit.

Photo right: Learn how to make an earth pizza oven during a class on Oct. 3 and 4. The cost is $50 and is being taught by Darek Maxwell. (Photo submitted)

One of the founders, Alicia Hoven, pointed out that in our modern industrial society people spend less and less time making things.

“We buy all the things we need, and they were made in factories on the other side of the world,” Hoven remarked.

She hopes that Wild Lore can help shift that perspective by giving people the tools and skills to see things differently, and maybe even adopt a different set of values about the world.

Photo left: Alicia Hoven hopes that Wild Lore can help shift people’s perspective from buying things to making their own by giving people the tools and skills they need. (Photo submitted)

“Even though we live in the city, we are still a part of the earth. I believe that as humans, we need to redevelop our connection to the rest of the world,” said Hoven. “Things like growing and harvesting food in sustainable ways, making items for daily use that are not coming from industrial production, and simply gaining knowledge about our local flora and fauna, are all a part of that shift.”

Wild Lore has been offering a class or two each month on a variety of topics. In September, it was on how to bind books and how to canoe.

The group’s first big event was held at the Longfellow Recreation Center, and several of the organizers and teachers live in the Longfellow neighborhood.

Craft fair planned Sept. 26

A festival of traditional crafts, skills, and arts is planned for Sat., Sept. 26 at the Corcoran Recreation Center, 3334 20th Ave. S. The craft fair, classes and presentations will be from 1-4pm. Crafts will be available for purchase, and there will be opportunities to learn about the skills involved in making them. There will be short classes, and demonstrations throughout the afternoon. A benefit square dance will follow the craft fair from 5:30-8:30pm. The events are free, but the group requests a $5-$10 donation.

Photo left: (photo submitted)

The festival has pulled together a basket weaver, soap maker, spinner, bowyer, tanner and more. Participants will learn how to brew a cousin of Kombucha called Jun, which is made with green tea and raw honey, and asked questions about wilderness first aid.

These are the sorts of traditional skills Wild Lore aims to build through democratic education and resource sharing in an urban community.

“We want to be learning these skills and talking about these ideas without traveling many hours by car,” said Hoven. “We want to place that learning here in Minneapolis where we live and not remove it from our day-to-day lives.”

Classes, events, and gatherings

On Oct. 3 and 4, Wild Lore will host an Earth (Pizza) Oven Class from 10am to 6pm. During this workshop participants will get a hands-on experience building an earth (cob and clay) oven. The workshop will allow participants to experience each stage of the building process, and cover oven design and dynamics. Each participant will gain the knowledge and experience to complete their own oven project confidently. The class is being taught by Derek Maxwell, and the fee is $50.

Wild Lore also hopes to host regular craft nights where people can just get together without a structured class environment.

“Gatherings of that sort are important to us because part of what we envision is building more community and dialogue about traditional skills and healthy relationships with the natural world,” explained Hoven.

Organizers want to do more than teach classes and share skills. They want to do it in the context of their underlying values.

“We’re less interested in showing someone how to make a birch bark napkin holder from a kit and sending them on their way,” said Hoven.

They dream of finding a space that can serve as a classroom, resource center, and gathering space. They’d love to have a reference library, tools to borrow, materials to trade, spur-of-the-moment skill shares, week-long “field trip” classes to the woods, and more.

Idea born during spring harvest

The idea for the Wild Lore Folk School was planted last spring, shortly after some the collaborators spent a month and a half in the woods living in wall tents to harvest maple syrup. They then headed up to Duluth for the smelt run.

“I think that the momentum of those harvests and that community of people helped get Wild Lore going,” noted Hoven.

Photo right: Attendees learn to make Black Ash Baskets during Wild Lore’s first class in South Minneapolis earlier this year. (Photo submitted)

They started meeting in the middle of April and spent a lot of time just talking about big ideas, values, and dreams of what this could be. At some point, they decided to create the folk school. The first class was Black Ash Basketry in June taught by Zac Fittipaldi.

Fittipaldi has been working on wilderness skills since 2003 when he killed his first deer and figured out how to turn the skin to leather. He has traveled the country learning, practicing, and passing on skills including basket weaving, hide tanning and leather craft, wild food gathering, and ax craft, and teaches at many gatherings and schools. Fittipaldi completed a basketry apprenticeship at the Ancient Arts Center of Coast Range, Ore.

Hoven grew up in a rural area in the woods and has always had a connection to the wilderness and the natural world.

In the past five or so years, she has started being more and more intentional about learning traditional and wild crafting skills. She has been involved in some other small collective projects, enjoying the collaborative process and creating something new together.

“I really value sharing knowledge and creating accessible learning and teaching spaces,” said Hoven. “I am excited to help create a space when I can learn and hone some great skills.”

For more, browse www.wildlore.org, email info@wildlore.org or leave a message at 612-lotus18.