Lifeway    
    Gila Circle Way Project founder Andrew Dahl-bredine has spent much of the past few years immersed in study and practice of a new, old lifeway, based on the human foraging tradtion.  Throughout the vast majority of human history all over the globe, we have lived in small bands, intimately connected to the ecology of the particular area in which we have lived.  Much recent anthropological, sociological, and ecological research suggests that the evolutionary "history" we all learned growing up in this culture is actually quite misleading.  In place of the textbook idea that we all "evolved" from a bunch of grunting brutes who hadn't yet achieved our level of intelligence, there is much evidence supporting a view of the vast majority of "primitive" peoples as having extremely well-evolved lifeways providing healthy frameworks for fairly balanced and sustainable human coexistence both socially, emotionally, ontologically, spiritually, and physically.  In the face of an ailing planet dominated by a human race now widely afflicted with a never-ending list of problems ourselves, it's time to look for other alternatives to this worldwide culture commonly considered to be "inevitable progress." 
 
 In 2008-2009, Andrew lived with his mate Lexa and baby Grace along the Gila River near the town of Gila, New Mexico.  They have journeyed the past few years toward changes in lifestyle that more closely reflect the feelings in their hearts and the needs of the beings on this planet: a more place-based, community-oriented existence valuing intimate relationships and respect with the humans and non-humans around us.  Spending most of their lives outside, surrounded by a beautiful living world of wild plants and animals, and one of the last free-flowing rivers in the West, they enjoyed living without electricity using fire for heating, lighting, and often cooking.  They lived, and still live, in-between worlds, so to speak: navigating the challenges of staying connected to where they come from and to those they love, while taking on the task of creating a new culture. They contintue to study and deepen their knowledge and connection with the local plants and animals. They are always learning more about food preparation and preservation without refrigeration, electricity, etc.  They make baskets and bows and arrows, tan hides and work on buckskin clothes, moccasins, and the like.  They listen to stories of local elders and do their best to know and speak their truths, to improve their ability to communicate, to break crippling emotional and cultural patterns, to wake up to the awareness of their senses, and to honor all living beings, including oneself and one another (sometimes the hardest part!).

      In this past year, life has brought Andrew and family into the edge of Silver City, NM, where Andrew grew up, experimenting with ways to integrate what they       are learning with their larger community.  They are just beginning this project, and work toward having an Old Ways Naturalist and Healing Center based around simple living, connection with and awareness of the vast universe of wild nature, and a sharing of music and stories.  
(Recommended reading: 1. Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn. 2. Journey to the Ancestral Self, Tamarack Song. 3. Coming Home to the Pleistocene, Paul Shepard.  4. The Spell of the Sensuous, David Abram.   Resources: Organizations: www.teachingdrum.org, www.wildernessawareness.org 
 Primitive Skills Gatherings: www.backtracks.net )

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    The Gila wigwam/wickiup    
      This wigwam, or wickiup, is a domed structure Andrew built for his family to live in.  The design is one used by so many of the Old People, including Apaches, Paiutes, many Native Californians, and many other traditional peoples around the world.  Andrew and Lexa's daughter Grace was born in it, and they lived in it seasonally.  The frame is made from saplings gifted by the Willlow People.  The walls and roof are thatched with Cattails and a tall grass known by some as Johnson Grass.  The lodge is bound together with Willow bark.  There is a fire pit inside, with an underground flu tunnel that helps it burn well.  Above the fire pit is a smoke hole that opens and closes.  What a joy it has been to live in this beautiful structure, given by the Plant People!
 

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