Learn the survival skills that people of the land all over the world have practiced for thousands of years. This course is for educators, extreme beginners, outdoor experts or anyone interested in expanding their knowledge of ecology.
Long Long ago and even today native people all over the world lived in harmony with the earth. The landscape was their supermarket and the natural world around them was their intimate friend. This class’s purpose is to have students for the first time learn and practice the survival hard and soft skills that people of the land, worldwide have practiced for thousands of years so that their people might live. This course is designed to educate educators, extreme beginners or outdoor experts in the wilderness skills that are almost nonexistent in our more established education systems of today.
Way of the Wilderness is sponsored by Pearlstone and is designed for educators, parents, naturalists and anyone interested in significantly expanding their knowledge of ecology, naturalist skills, survival and mentoring skills. This is a fantastic introduction into the basic principles of our hands-on nature-based educational approach model.
This class is designed as a series with a certificate at the end, but you can show up to individual workshops too. Particiapnts can expxect to learn:
Edible and medicinal plants
Awareness exercises
Cordage making
Indigenous ecology and mentoring techniques
Tending the wild /caretaking
How to survive in the wilderness with nothing
Animal behavior, and much more.
Those who complete the requirements to earn a certificate will have a much better understanding of ecology, mentoring, and if lost in the woods should be able to survive most of the year.
NOTE: We acknowledge native and other mentors who helped cultivate the knowledge for this class and understand the word wilderness is a bad description of landscapes co-created by indigenous peoples whose eco-systems were much more abundant with life and biodiversity, then is currently happening today.
Dates and Pricing:
Classes on Sundays from 10:30 am – 3:00 pm
March 23: Basic Survival / Shelter / Water / Fire / Food / Why Nature Connection is so Important
April 6: Spring Wild Edible, Medicinal and Useful Plants Class
May 4: Awareness / Bird Language: Wide Angled Vision / Fox Walking –
June 22: Advanced Survival: Bow Drill Fire and Cordage
July 20: Summer Wild Edible, Medicinal and Useful Plants
July 27: Tending the Wild, Caretaking the Land, Rewilding
September 14: Fall Wild Edible, Medicinal and Useful Plants
October 26: Bamboo Crafts and Grass Mats
November 16: Winter edible, medicinal and useful plants
January 11, 2026: Trapping and a little Tracking
$50 per person per class Classes free for all Pearlstone employees. Discounted to Associated Employees
Please bring to class: A snack, large water bottle, a notebook and pencil and pen and a knife such as this one.
Joe Murray has been mentoring nature connection since 1997 and has made it his life’s work to learn from the indigenous peoples of the earth and share their wisdom with as many people as possible. During that time, he has mentored thousands of kids and helped design the curriculum for several wilderness schools and is a founding member of the nonprofit Ancestral Knowledge.
Class Descriptions
Basic Survival / Shelter / Water / Fire / Food / Why Nature Connection is so important
Did you know the average person with no survival training in the United States has a high chance of dying if lost for one night alone in the woods at 52 degrees or below. Learn and make a survival shelter, gather water and make a fire. Come learn the basics of survival and have lots of fun while learning to keep you and your family safe. This class is one of the most important classes in this series and it is a lot of fun and will change your perception of the forest forever.
Spring Wild Edible, Medicinal and Useful Plants
Spring is a great time to eat wild edibles. Learn about many of our early spring plant relatives. Be prepared to sample and eat many new foods and have a great time. This is part one of our edible plant series. Since the classes are only four and a half hours, we don’t repeat many plants in our Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter plant classes. I recommend taking these classes as a block. Guest Instructor Renata Lynn adds a new dimension to the plants going deeper into their herbal uses.
Awareness / Bird Language: Wide Angled Vision / Fox Walking
Start learning the language of the birds. Learn how to move as one with the landscape and to find the wildlife before it finds you. This is the class where you learn to significantly expand your awareness.
Advanced Survival: Bow Drill Fire and Cordage
Make your own bow drill fire kit and hopefully make a fire with it. (This is making fire by rubbing two sticks together.) See other types of fire by friction. Learn to make cordage (two ply rope) out of natural materials. This is a fun crafting and hang out class while learning two important skills.
Summer Wild Edible, Medicinal and Useful Plants
This is the season of the berries. Learn much more about our plant relatives. Be prepared to sample and eat many new foods and have a great time. This is part two of our edible plant series. Since the classes are only four and a half hours, we don’t repeat many plants in our Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter plant classes. I recommend taking these classes as a block and it doesn’t matter in what order you do them. Guest Instructor Renata Lynn adds a new dimension to the plants going deeper into their herbal uses.
Tending the Wild / Caretaking
In this class you will start to learn why eco-systems collapse when indigenous peoples are removed from their land and how native people gathered from the land in such a way that animals, food and biodiversity were greatly increased in their ecosystems. Class will include some caretaking the land projects. This class is my personal favorite, and this knowledge is much needed in the world today.
Fall Wild Edible, Medicinal, and Useful Plants
Learn about the fall edible and medicinal plants. This is the season of nuts. Learn the basics of many nut preparations including acorn bread, Hickory tea and many other roasted nuts. This is part three of our edible plant series. Since the classes are only four and a half hours, we don’t repeat many plants in our Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter plant classes. I recommend taking these classes as a block and it doesn’t matter in what order you do them. Guest Instructor Renata Lynn adds a new dimension to the plants going deeper into their herbal uses.
Bamboo Crafts, Navigation and Grass Mats
This class is all about crafts, mainly using grass. Make mats, clothing, Digeri doo’s, water bottles, spoons, rice cookers etc. This is a fun crafting hang out class learning some pretty interesting skills.
Winter Wild Edible, Medicinal, and Useful Plants
This class focuses heavily on dead twig id gathering and cooking roots and inner bark as food. This is part four of our edible plant series. Since the classes are only four and a half hours, we don’t repeat many plants in our Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter plant classes. I recommend taking these classes as a block and it doesn’t matter in what order you do them. Guest Instructor Renata Lynn adds a new dimension to the plants going deeper into their herbal uses.
Trapping and a little Tracking
Join us for a mostly inside class where we will make and carve Figure 4 and Piute deadfall traps which you will take home. We will also make a couple snares outside. Most of this class is inside or in a warm greenhouse.
