WINTER COUNT
This premier event focuses on primitive technology. The Winter Count gathering has a varitety of workshops that will be familiar and will also introduce you to many new and different formats, skills and personalities. Experienced instructors, with diverse primitive skills, will teach you how to brain tan deer hide, create pottery, learn fire-by-friction methods, ply cordage and many other utilitarian skills.
Date: February 12 - 18, 2012
Fee: Early registration - $275 (prior to February 1), Late registration - $350
Location: Maricopa, Arizona
For info & registration: Contact Backtracks for information at http://www.backtracks.net/ContactBacktracks.asp or access http://www.backtracks.net/Registration.html for registration.
OHLONE VILLAGE SITE
Learn about Ohlone culture as we tour a diorama of village life at the Visitor Center. Walk to a 2,200-year-old Ohlone village site in the park, see replicated structures and examine reproductions of artifacts. Along the trail, we’ll identify plants that provided food, medicine and tools for the first people of the San Francisco Bay Area.
Date: March 4, 2012
Time: 10:00 am -12:00 pm & 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Naturalist: Dino Labiste
Fee: No fee for the program (only $5.00 parking fee/vehicle)
Location: Coyote Hills Regional Park, 8000 Patterson Ranch Road, Fremont, CA 94555
Meet at the front entrance of the Coyote Hills Visitor Center at 10:00 am or 1:30 pm.
No registration, drop-in, for information call (510) 544-3220.
ATLATL: STONE AGE DART THROWER
Join us for a day of Stone Age activity. The atlatl, with it’s stone-tipped dart, pre-dated the bow and arrow. Dart throwers were utilized by hunter/gatherer societies. Watch a flintknapping demonstration and try your skill at hitting a target with an atlatl.
Date: March 11, 2012
Time: 10:00 am - 12:00 pm & 1:30 am - 3:30 pm
Instructor: Dino Labiste
Min/max Age: 9-yrs-old / Adult, Parent participation required
Fee: No fee for the program (only $5.00 parking fee/vehicle)
Location: Coyote Hills Regional Park, 8000 Patterson Ranch Road,
Fremont, CA 94555
Meet at the Dairy Glen campsite (8 minutes walk towards the bay from the Old Quarry parking lot).
Registration Required: Call 1-888-327-2757, option 2, 3
Contact Naturalist Dino Labiste for information: (510) 544-3215
SKILLS OF THE PAST: FIRE MAKING
Ever wondered how fire was created before matches or a lighter? Unravel the secrets of fire-by-friction, fire-by-percussion and fire-by-compression. Discover the techniques to produce a glowing ember as we practice our fire making skills through hands-on activities and demonstrations.
Date: March 18, 2012
Time: 9:30 pm - 12:30 pm
Instructor: Dino Labiste
Min/max Age: 16-yrs-old / Adult, Parent participation required
Fee: No fee for the program (only $5.00 parking fee/vehicle)
Location: Coyote Hills Regional Park, 8000 Patterson Ranch Road,
Fremont, CA 94555
Meet at the front entrance of the Visitor Center.
Registration Required: Call 1-888-327-2757, option 2, 3
Contact Naturalist Dino Labiste for information: (510) 544-3215
SKILLS OF THE PAST: CORDAGE MAKING
The ability to twist, twine or braid fibers into cordage allowed indigenous cultures to tie their world together. Learn the various techniques of gathering, preparation, extracting and plying of plant materials to create cordage. Practice the efficient method of leg rolling dogbane fibers.
Date: March 18, 2012
Time: 2:00 am - 4:30 pm
Instructor: Dino Labiste
Min/max Age: 9-yrs-old / Adult, Parent participation required
Fee: No fee for the program (only $5.00 parking fee/vehicle)
Location: Coyote Hills Regional Park, 8000 Patterson Ranch Road,
Fremont, CA 94555
Meet at the front entrance of the Visitor Center.
Registration Required: Call 1-888-327-2757, option 2, 3
Contact Naturalist Dino Labiste for information: (510) 544-3215
EDIBLE AND USEFUL PLANTS HIKE
The Ohlone Peoples and European settlers gathered wild plants for food, medicine and tools. Identify edible plants on a sprintime hike. Gather Miner’s lettuce for a tasty salad, process Manzanita cider, munch on acorn cookies, snack on dried Huckleberries and sample other savory wild foods.
Date: March 25, 2012
Time: 9:00 am - 1:00 pm
Instructor: Dino Labiste
Fee: No fee for the program (only $5.00 parking fee/vehicle)
Min/max Age: 12-yrs-old / Adult, Parent participation required
Location: Garin/Dry Creek Pioneer Regional Park, 1320 Garin Avenue, Hayward, CA 94544
Meet at the Garin Barn Visitor Center (red barn).
Registration Required: Call 1-888-327-2757, option 2, 3
Contact Naturalist Dino Labiste for information: (510) 544-3215
SKILLS OF THE PAST: FLINTKNAPPING
Discover the skill of turning a pre-cut volcanic rock into a Stone Age arrowhead. Learn and practice the Paleolithic technique of pressure flaking and lithic reduction. Fee includes your own obsidian slabs, copper pressure flaker, stone abrader, leather pad and flintknapping information.
Date: April 7, 2012
Time: 10:00 am - 3:00 pm
Instructor: Dino Labiste
Fee: $25.00 ($29.00 for non-residents of Contra Costa and Alameda counties) + $5.00 parking fee/vehicle
Location: Coyote Hills Regional Park, 8000 Patterson Ranch Road,
Fremont, CA 94555
Meet at the front entrance of the Visitor Center.
Registration Required: Call 1-888-327-2757, option 2, 3
Contact Naturalist Dino Labiste for information: (510) 544-3215
MAKING PREHISTORIC SHELL BEADS
Utilize past technology to break, drill and grind shell pieces by hand to create shell beads. Learn about stone tools and prehistoric techniques. Shell beads provided archaeologists with knowledge of trade and exchange networks, the distribution of wealth and status in central California Native societies.
Date: April 28, 2012
Time: 9:30 am - 12:00 pm
Instructor: Dino Labiste
Fee: No fee for the program (only $5.00 parking fee/vehicle)
Min/max Age: 12-yrs-old / Adult, Parent participation required
Location: Coyote Hills Regional Park, 8000 Patterson Ranch Road,
Fremont, CA 94555
Meet at the front entrance of the Visitor Center.
Registration Required: Call 1-888-327-2757, option 2, 3
Contact Naturalist Dino Labiste for information: (510) 544-3215
SHELL PENDANT & SEED BEAD NECKLACES
Shells and seeds were made into indigenous necklaces for adornment. Create pine nut beads and make an abalone shell pendant. Use a pump drill to produce the pendant hole. Watch a demonstration on making dogbane cordage. Using past technology, we'll make a very unique necklace.
Date: April 28, 2012
Time: 1:00m - 4:00 pm
Instructor: Dino Labiste
Fee: $12.00 ($14.00 for non-residents of Contra Costa and Alameda counties) + $5.00 parking fee/vehicle
Min/max Age: 12-yrs-old / Adult, Parent participation required
Location: Coyote Hills Regional Park, 8000 Patterson Ranch Road,
Fremont, CA 94555
Meet at the front entrance of the Visitor Center.
Registration Required: Call 1-888-327-2757, option 2, 3
Contact Naturalist Dino Labiste for information: (510) 544-3215
3rd ANNUAL NORTHERN CALIFORNIA BUCKEYE GATHERING
Ancestral Arts & Primitive Living Skills
The gathering is an educational event that will consist of teachers hosting classes ongoing for five days, on a variety of topics including: hand-drill fire making, plant fiber cordage, stone tools, buckskin, basket weaving, nature awareness, pottery, local flora and fauna identification, food preparation (acorns!), primitive weapons including bows and arrows, fiber arts, herbalism, shelter building, and storytelling. We are excited to have local Native American involvement in both the planning process and the event itself. We will encourage a family-oriented, all-ages event and will emphasize skills and materials indigenous to California, while welcoming students and instructors from all over the map. There will be activities interspersed throughout the week such as a marketplace, panel discussion, and dance night. We will provide breakfast and dinner. Participant camping will consist of cars, tents, tipis, and trailers.
Date: April 29 – May 5, 2011
Location: Held at Ya-Ka-Ama, a non-profit of confederated Tribal land. Ya-Ka-Ama is located at 7465 Steve Olson Lane, Forestville, CA.
Fee: Access the Register webpage for fee information.
Contact califorigin@gmail.com or visit http://buckeyegathering.net/joomla/ for more information.
BERRY PICKING BASKET
Create a berry picking basket from a marsh plant called Tule. Discover the unique characteristics of Tule and learn how this versatile material is also utilized for constructing boats, thatching houses and making mats. Tule cordage will be made for the basket's carrying loop.
Date: June 24, 2012
Time: 10:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Instructor: Dino Labiste
Fee: $15.00 ($17.00 for non-residents of Contra Costa and Alameda counties) + $5.00 parking fee/vehicle
Location: Coyote Hills Regional Park, 8000 Patterson Ranch Road,
Fremont, CA 94555
Meet at the front entrance of the Visitor Center.
Registration Required: Call 1-888-327-2757, option 2, 3
Contact Naturalist Dino Labiste for information: (510) 544-3215
RABBITSTICK RENDEZVOUS
The Rabbitstick Rendezvous is a totally unique learning experience of various primitive technology and wilderness skills. This premier event focuses on hands-on classes that will introduce you to many new and varied formats, skills and personalities. Rabbitstick will provide you with an unparalleled chance to learn from both journeyman and master teachers. This gathering of experienced instructors and eager participants is made available to you from Backtracks. The Rabbitstick Rendezvous is one of the largest and oldest of the comtemporary primitive skills gatherings.
Date: September 9 - 15, 2012
Fee: Early registration - $275 (prior to September 1), Late registration - $350
Location: Rexburg, Idaho
For info & registration: Contact Backtracks for information at http://www.backtracks.net/ContactBacktracks.asp or access http://www.backtracks.net/Registration.html for registration.
