Nasewaupee: Tribe

     "A tribe is the people you feel compelled to share the last of your food with."This is the definition author and journalist Sebastian Junger gives when getting at the heart of what it means to be part of a tribe. How many people out there would you truly do this for? Or better yet, how many people that you know would give the last of their food to you? Survival scenario aside how many of us have have people we know we can count on when disaster strikes or heck even when a mild inconvenience strikes? If the car dies, or you need someone to watch the dogs for the weekend, or you tore your ACL and need help doing daily tasks... who can you call upon? Who is your tribe? Some of us have family members, or childhood friends, or college buddies, or close co-workers or some form of tight knit community that is intact and nearby that would come to our aide but for many people, including myself; we find ourselves often alone.
       Through this lens most of my adult life could be summed up as my search for that community, for that sense of belonging, for that tribe. I look back to the numerous groups I've tried to be a part of over these past few years - sports teams, community groups, religious groups, humanist groups, political organizations, service groups, hell even the Army via ROTC - all of it was done hoping that I might feel like I was a part of something or that perhaps I would stumble upon a cause, a purpose, a home, that would quell the restlessness in my soul. I tried doing what everyone else did but everywhere I went I felt out of place; I didn't share the same passions, the same goals, the same norms and values, dare I say the same culture - In desperation, I was trying to be something I wasn't, like attempting to force a puzzle piece into a place that it could not fit. I went to extreme lengths to try and belong, to find that deep meaningful connection and that community but all those efforts left me feeling even more isolated. The main issue was that I was looking for more than just a hobby to pass the time, or some club that met one hour a week, or to meet new acquaintances to make small talk with - I was sincerely looking to be a part of something bigger than myself, I was looking for something that is rare in modern society, I was looking for a real tribe; A group of people unified by their topography, their culture, their values, and their spirituality - that worked, played, and intentionally lived alongside each other - that struggled or thrived as one - that shared a connection so deep that they would share the last of their food with one another. 
      We are extremely privileged in modern society - from a survival perspective we have almost nothing to worry about. We don't have to grow or kill our own food and we will never starve or ever be hungry for that matter. We have reliable shelter that keeps us comfortable from the elements no matter where we live or what the conditions are outside. We have no real predators or enemies that we need to defend ourselves from. Even if we have a serious illness, a lifelong condition, or disability there are doctors and medical facilities nearby that can treat us and the most debilitating and destructive diseases among us have all but been eliminated through immunizations and vaccines. Every year there are more scientific discoveries and technological advances that make our existence that much easier and convenient. Indeed the landscape of modern society has become so secure and controlled that one merely needs to put in their time at work, in order to pay for these things, and their survival to old age is all but guaranteed - we have almost no physical hardship to endure if we so choose. Truly we hardly even have to interact with anyone or even leave our own homes to survive. The level of physical comfort that even the poorest in our society experience would be unimaginable a thousand years ago and the wealthiest people literally live the way gods were imagined to have. But this lifestyle runs counter to the way humans have existed for tens of thousands of years before us and it has its costs, starting with its toll on the global ecosystem and working its way down to its toll on the human psyche. Have we lost something through this predictable and secure lifestyle, something that technology cannot replace?
When the New World was being colonized by Europeans, the leaders witnessed a perplexing phenomenon. Colonists were dropping their possessions, leaving their homes, even their families in order to join native tribes. Even those individuals who had been kidnapped as adults by tribes and were later liberated would choose to remain with their captors as a part of the tribe rather than return to their families in civilization. The harsh, "savage," and unpredictable lifestyle of the tribe was chosen time and again over the amenities of modern European society. There are hundreds of documented cases such as this, of Europeans voluntarily joining natives, emulating them, marrying them, being adopted by them, and even fighting alongside them, with the character of the French courer des bois or fur trader being the classic example. Meanwhile there is not a single historical case of a native voluntarily joining European society, in fact nearly every case of abduction was met with individuals attempting to break away and rejoin their tribes. This is the popular story that has been brought to us in films such as Dances with Wolves, Dune, The Last Samurai, and Avatar where an individual is adopted by their enemy, realizes how misdirected their culture has become, and voluntarily changes sides in order to fight for what they see as just and right -and it is founded in historical fact, and dare I say human truth - that when presented this opportunity nearly all of us would do the same.

So what is so appealing about this tribal lifestyle that individuals would risk their lives for it and forsake everything they owned and knew in the process. Well for starters hunter gatherer tribes, generally speaking, were classless, egalitarian, autonomous societies in which equal rights were bestowed upon each individual; something we still have not achieved today. They were societies that allowed for relaxed clothing, relaxed religion, and sexual freedom and the majority of their days were spent at leisure with work lasting only a few hours a week. These are all gross generalizations but one universal truth among all of these tribes across the globe is that one would have almost never been alone in this environment. Everything was done as a community for the common good and the survival of the tribe - from gathering food, to raising kids, to fighting alongside one another - and thus this bred an extreme loyalty to the group. Those who did not live out the values and thus threatened the tribe were swiftly punished by being shunned or banished. In this way greed, corruption, betrayal, and murder were unknown. The cost was the unpredictability of survival - threats of starvation, disease, the elements, predators, inter tribal conflict (just to name a few).

Compare this setup for example to the strict societal confines of 17th Century Puritan society and its no wonder why people would have fled to join these tribes despite the lack of material comfort and security. Here we are in 2017 and I know that if there were actual tribes to still run away to the same phenomenon of defectors would repeat itself again. The privileges of technology and modern convenience can only take us so far in comparison to the emptiness so many people feel in our society. We can live like gods and yet when it comes to societal practices I still see a fractured class structure that has us utterly divided by race, sex, age, religion, and any other category that can be imagined, I see intentional irreversible damage being done to our planet (and we can plead ignorance no longer), I see spiritual homelessness among all people, I see the abuse of justice as the greatest criminals of our society walk free and are financially rewarded for their crimes (corrupt government officials/politicians being paid off by companies for political favors, CEO's taking bonuses for themselves in the midst of bankruptcy, companies exploiting the environment and their workers for financial gain), I see isolation and sadness (ever increasing rates of PTSD, depression, and suicide especially in our young people), I see men and women working 3 jobs 50 hours a week while their children are raised by strangers - This is the pinnacle of civilization? In terms of affluence, of material wealth, of technological innovation we've never been richer, there's been no time in history where people have lived so comfortable a life, and we're still climbing. But in terms of a functioning cohesive society and it's values we are poor indeed. We have lost the way...

We have been misled; our values misplaced. Happiness lies not in beauty, money, possessions, or status but rather in living in authenticity, having a deep purpose, and feeling a sense of belonging. Our culture has us working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don’t need. Spending our days working away from our friends and our families so that we can fill up an empty house with pointless possessions or add another zero to a bank account. Take a look at our celebrities and those most praised and celebrated in our society and how do they most often end up - divorced, drug addicted, depressed, and dead - why do we aspire to this when we know what the endless pursuit of wealth and power will lead to. One cannot truly measure happiness but one can measure mental illness and rates of trauma- and this, unsurprisingly, shares a direct correlation with affluence and urbanization. We're richer than we've ever been before and we are also more depressed (1 in 10 Americans are on anti-depressants) and we're killing ourselves at record rates (25/100,000). PTSD has also been steadily increasing (3.5% among the general population) and is at a record high in our troops at 20% (despite the fact that combat engagements have drastically fallen each successive year since the Vietnam years). So we are in need of cultural healing indeed. All of this on top of the effect our lifestyle has had on the natural world, and this only adds to the weight of the crisis at hand. But there are no tribes to run away to and there are too many people on this earth for us to return to the hunter gatherer lifestyle. What we can do is first recognize the shortcomings of this culture while acknowledging the benefits of the tribal societies that sustainably existed for tens of thousands of years before us. We can shift our values accordingly - reject consumerism, give up our wealth, our comfort, our stresses, our shackles -that we might trust and depend upon our fellow man once again, that we might be sovereign, that we might raise our own children, that we might have a relationship with the land, that we might do more than merely exist, that we might live, that we might thrive, that we might be happy, that we might be human once more.

Nostalgia for what once was, idealism for what could be, cynicism for what is - I am guilty of all three but I assure you I am rooted in the real world and I have hope because what I have failed to mention thus far is that I have experienced the existence of the tribe in my own life and I bet you have too.
         I've caught glimpses of this tribal feeling in a multitude of settings. From small town living on the west coast, to a summer camp in northern Wisconsin, to a cross country bike trip, to a cross country canoe program, to excursions in the wilderness (both personal and professional), to service trips abroad - some of these tribes were found in urban environments, others in remote locations - some tribes included a mere three people while others had over one hundred - some included complete strangers while others included members of my family - some lasted for months while others lasted for little more than a week - some I was paid to be a part of while others I sacrificed finances to join. What they all had in common though was delivering that sense of fulfillment and purpose, that sense of belonging, of being a real member of a community, of feeling truly happy and authentic- where my thoughts, words, and actions all aligned in my existence. These were environments where we depended upon one another every day, where we could literally not operate or function without each member - these were groups that existed largely apart from society, where we established our own norms and values - our own culture - and the stresses of modern existence simply ceased to exist because we were no longer a part of it. Where it didn't matter whether we we were cold or hungry or really whether we had anything at all because we had each other. We were never alone, we lived, played, laughed, cried, suffered, and thrived as one - for better or for worse we were a tribe. But as I mentioned before all these tribes, and all these feelings were temporary - ephemeral - eventually our mission would be completed, our destination reached, our season ended and we would all quietly leave and rejoin society once again. (The following is a video I made two years ago describing the places I felt a sense of home at - it still applies today).       

      Anyone who has traveled to a developing country or a third world country will almost always share the same universal principle that they have learned from their travels. Whether it be India, Sierra Leonne, Peru, or in my case the small towns and villages in the Dominican Republic that border Haiti one will find that although the people here have nowhere near the physical comfort or level of wealth that we have they are the most generous and sincerely happy people you have ever met in your life. Why is this always the case? Why are people that have so little, that have one set of clothes, that sometimes go hungry, that share a single room with their entire family, that have no electricity, no vehicles, no opportunity to attain wealth, no connection to the larger world so content? Well the truth is these people do have something; something that we desperately lack - a sense of community and place, where close knit friends and family are an integral part of every facet of daily life - where there are no strangers - where each individual is valued, where there is such a solidarity that you get the sense they would share the last of their food with any among them, even you. True, they don't have much but they have each other, which is more than most of us can say. Juxtaposed to the American lifestyle; more correctly my lifestyle, and you can see how the culture shock can take a toll on one's psyche - can force one to reexamine everything they have ever been told by society - everything they have ever been taught about success and happiness. I am living the American Dream - I have abundant wealth (compared to most people in the world hell even the States), I have a house, I have a car, I have a college education, I have my health, I can go anywhere and do anything I choose, I have ultimate freedom, but I have no community that needs me, no attachment to person or place, I have no tribe.

        This fall I felt more alone than I've felt in years. Lack of meaningful human contact will drive us insane, and casual small talk at the check out counter and at work just didn't do it, there were days even weeks where I did not have a real conversation with anyone. I felt misunderstood, I felt lost, I felt myself existing in a prolonged state of culture shock. I wanted to pick up and move again - as I've done in the past when these feelings of despair and isolation come over me. I just wanted to run; run to something that would promise me the opportunity to feel like I was part of a tribe once again. I considered internships on permaculture farms, adventure jobs in the wilds of Alaska or the Everglades of Florida, and even just getting in my car or on my bicycle and traveling across the country until I found something again... but when it came to what would best satiate the restlessness and alienation of my soul my thoughts returned to wilderness therapy and my experience in Utah two years ago. 

      Wilderness therapy is a a form of treatment in which individuals dealing with trauma and a range of emotional, developmental, and relational struggles receive traditional individual and group therapy sessions in the context of a ten week wilderness expedition. Why does wilderness therapy work? We remove individuals completely from modern society and isolate them in an unfamiliar environment; ie the desert, the mountains, the forest, where they do not have any distractions or access to the people or substances that caused them harm. These clients are placed in intentional groups ranging from four to eight individuals who will camp, hike, cook, laugh, cry, struggle, survive, and thrive together. As far as society is concerned we don't even really exist because there is no connection to the outside world - no news, no politics, no sports, heck we don't even acknowledge the date or time - out there we only have ourselves and our relationships with one another to focus on. We operate on our own terms with our own norms and values - our religion, our political views, our socio-economic status, our background - it doesn't really matter; we're just people in search of healing. On a daily basis we openly talk about our feelings, our struggles, our trauma. Add in therapy sessions with expert therapists and the immersion into beautiful wilderness settings and one can understand why this formula works - we become attuned to the natural environment, to each other, and most importantly to ourselves. 

         I spent six months working with one such wilderness therapy program in Utah and have now again begun working for another wilderness therapy program here in Wisconsin. As a staff I am not completely insulated from the outside world and I do not receive "therapy" but just existing in that communal structure and being immersed in that natural environment is therapeutic. I think it speaks to how we're wired and how we are supposed to exist as humans. Depression, mental illness, suicide - these are things that do not exist in hunter gatherer tribes - and these are the things that we are healing when we emulate a tribe in the context of wilderness therapy. The clients we see are victims of a modern society in which they are unable to find connection, unable to feel safe, unable to feel loved, unable to find worth, unable to heal. Unfortunately when it comes to the sickness in our society wilderness therapy merely addresses the "symptoms" and not the cause - for every individual we help to heal and return to society there are dozens more out there slowly falling into addiction, depression, or choosing to take their own lives. Modern society will continue to churn out wounded individuals which is "good" for therapeutic programs but not good for humanity. We need a permanent alternative to this culture; not just a temporary break from it.
        As far as my own story, I have found a tribe once again, for now. But I know that I need something outside of that context; a tribe without an end date. I need a group of people who share my beliefs and values in living intentionally, simply, and sustainably - individuals I'd be willing to share the last of my food with - those people are out there, I've encountered them across the country and even here in Northeast Wisconsin - some of them might be reading this right now - I've got the vision. I've got the land. I just need my people. I just need my Tribe.  

  For those who are shaking their heads and calling me radical or crazy, I hear you, believe me, but these thoughts have been stirring in my head for nearly a decade now and are culminating in this writing. I know I probably just need some more friends or something else to do with my time other than question the morality and future of this culture and/or the human species and the world but as I stated; happiness is being authentic to oneself, feeling purposeful, and feeling connected to others. This is my authentic self. These are the deepest beliefs that I hold at the core of my being - this culture is destructively toxic to the human spirit and every other species - this is my truth. This is my purpose - to take my place in reversing the adverse effects of modern society and create a new path towards healing, sustainability, and joy for all life on the planet. The people I feel most deeply connected to share my sentiment - my rejection of this society and its values- this shared rejection is my connection to others. I hope you'll join me. 

         My experiences have shown me that Eden is not a place but rather a state of being: of feeling authentic, of having a deep purpose and connection with those around you. A physical paradise without a community means nothing to me. Meanwhile suffering physically, being cold, homeless, or hungry in the company of those I love are some of the fondest memories I have...