Tracking is the ancient craft of storytelling and mythmaking. It is a practical eloquence that intensively maps our place. Throughout the seasons, across the land, the story is relived and retold around the fire and with the wanderings of the hunter/gatherer in their quest for the four elements that ensure the survival of the tribe: shelter, water, fire, and food.

Restoring the bond between people and the natural world is essential to fostering our sense of place. Our urban and contemporary cultural mythology disconnects us from our ability to see and experience our relationship to the Earth as home. The Portland Mentors Roundtable fosters a council of discussion, one that returns us to those roots of awareness and learning tested and refined through thousands of years of human survival. 

By developing the philosophy and practice of storymapping, storytelling and urban tracking, this council provides teachers, artists and scholars with the opportunity to shape their community by becoming weavers of Portland’s emerging culture of sustainability.

Our stories bond us as a community while connecting us to our land and home. Our mythology makes us accountable to the lessons of the past and the needs of future generations. 

LEARNING STRATEGIES

The core practices and pedagogies this workshop will follow to actualize our goals include: 

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  routine solo nature observation of a core area

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  field mapping to deepen and expand layers of ecological understanding of core observation area

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  application of earth based skill sets: tracking and habitat assessment, ancient technology, and bird language

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  sensory skills and practices that expand awareness of human and earth bodies and systems of reciprocation and symbioses—animal movement forms and refining the use of our senses

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  communication of experiential practice and wisdom through story-craft,  storymapping and mythmaking

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  application of earth based skill sets: tracking, earth-mapping and place name

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  discussion into the life history of the region’s flora, fauna, geology and natural cycles

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  deconstruction of indigenous cultural values and practices in comparison with those of industrial societies

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  creation of a vibrant learning community of practice

For more information contact:

Tony Deis