Ancestral Skills
​Class Series
Join us for The Ancestral Skills Class Series this spring and summer! Delve into heart nourishing world of earth skills from fire making, to storytelling to foraging!

THE HEARTH  FULL
Fire Building & Cooking 
March 19, 2022
​Humans and fire have had a magnificent and interwoven relationship for years upon years. Fire is the reason our bodies look and function the way they do today. 

Walk in the footsteps of your ancestors, join us for a weekend around the hearth where we will learn to build fires in the woods, and cook a resplendent and nourishing meal together over the flames of our fire. 

THE CRAFT  FULL
Knife Skills 
April 2, 2022
Stone, bone, wood, and metal, the knife is one of humans' oldest tool companions. Today, most of us still interact with knives on a daily basis in various forms, but without the depth of use our ancestors had. Come deepen your knowledge of this versatile tool and learn some of the ways in which working with knives can reconnect us with earth and ancestral skills. 

We will begin with some basics of knife use and the mechanics of carving, and from there we will dive into spoon carving, hook making, tree I.D., fiber arts, fire skills, medicinal teas, and camp building. 

THE SPIRIT 
Wild Play 
May 1, 2022
What does Otter know? How to slip, slide, flip, glide, play! Ever wish you weren't too old to go play outside? Come join us for a day of games, imagination, exploration and connection. We will play the nuttiest games we know, make improbable things, try to catch frogs, walk on logs, and laugh together. 

THE SOUL
Story and the Earth 
May 15, 2022
Humans are storytelling creatures. Through stories we weave ourselves into an understanding of self, place, land, time, ancestry, and earth. There is old wisdom that says earth speaks to humans through story.

We will explore ways of listening to and working with story together and on our own. We will talk about finding ancestral stories and stories of place; delve into tools for telling stories; and play with traditions of telling stories to place. 

THE BODY 
Wild First Aid & Wild Foods
May 28, 2022
As plants are emerging and flowers are blooming we will set out on a wild food and medicine journey where we will learn to id, harvest, cook, prepare and honor the bounty under our feet! Only recently has our relationship to wild food and medicine been snuffed out creating a devastating loss of connection between land and human. Reclaim the birth right that is yours, your biological need to be connected to the earth. 

THE JOURNEY FULL
Willow Pack Baskets
June 18, 2022
During this weekend we will weave together all the learning we have done over the past months. We will circle round as a group, sharing stories of our time together while we bend and weave rawhide willow pack baskets. We will then learn one of the most important lessons, what to leave behind and what to take with us. Leave with a basket full of knowledge! 

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Location:Meeting a different locations throughout western MA. Locations will be emailed upon registration

Timing: 10-3

Cost for entire series: $230-$350 sliding scale. By check: Make it out to Leapfrog Programs, memo line: Ancestral Skills Series, mail to 470 Bug Hill Rd., Ashfield MA, 01330. By PayPal: send payment to [email protected], Please send it "friends and family" so we are not charged a fee. 

Cost for one class: $45-65

Ages: 15 and up

After paying staff and program costs all tuition money directly funds public access fruit tree planting in western MA!

​Instructors: Jacquelynn Ward & Maggie Ranen