Primal: Why We Long to Be Wild and Free

by Nate Summers, Jon Young

Overview

TV survival shows and survival schools are more popular than ever; Paleo diets are proving to be more than just a passing trend; and free-range parenting is gaining steady momentum. So in an age when living in a modern society often equates to comfort and ease, why is it that we are so interested in these primal aspects of being human when they are no longer really necessary? Why are we still so fascinated with making fire or stone tools in this social media-driven digital age? Why are we urging our children to run back out into the wild? The answer to all of these questions—to why we seek out the natural world—stares us in the mirror every day: We long to fulfill our natural destiny as upright-walking hunter-gatherer-nomads. It’s who we are. Primal explores the natural human desire—the primal desire—to fulfill our original design. From the telling of anecdotes and stories from author Nate Summer’s twenty years as a survival specialist to conversations with world-renown survival and human nature specialists to digging into the rewilding and free-range parenting trends, Nate explores how humans have—and continue to—pursue “survival” situations to fulfill their deep, soulful longings.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781493044634
Publisher:	Falcon Guides
Publication date:	09/19/2019
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	8.30(w) x 5.40(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Nate Summers, M.Ac., has been a survival skills instructor for over 20 years with a background in anthropology, Asian studies, and natural medicine. He taught and directed at the Wilderness Awareness School for over 15 years where he helped to start both the Anake Outdoor School and the Anake Leadership Program. Nate's passions include ethnobotany, natural mentoring, hunter-gatherer childhoods, natural movement, herbal medicine, internal martial arts, and leadership. He helped found the Vashon Wilderness Program and Outdoor Connections, and has served as a naturalist for King County Parks and Seattle Parks and Rec.  Nate holds a Master's degree from NIAOM (Northwest Institute of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine), and B.A.s in both anthropology and Asian studies from the University of Illinois. He has served as faculty for the Desert Institute of Healing Arts, the Asian Institute of Medical Studies, and as adjunct faculty for Prescott College. Nate likes to fish, practice internal martial arts, go on adventures with his family, and gather wild foods and medicine.

Table of Contents

Foreword vi

Introduction ix

Chapter 1 Sur-thrival: The Boom of Survival Skills in the 21st Century 1

Chapter 2 The New Stone Age 20

Chapter 3 Wild and Primal: Thriving Through Natural Movement 41

Chapter 4 The Paleo Revolution: Making Our Food and Lives Wild Again 67

Chapter 5 Deep Nature Connection: Our Longing to Be Like the Bushmen 85

Chapter 6 The Reindigenization of the Soul: Native Perspectives on the Survival Skills Movement 106

Chapter 7 Primal Origins: Out of Africa and Toward Wakanda 131

Chapter 8 Free-Range Children: Kids Being Rewilded 153

Chapter 9 Our Longing for a Village 179

Afterword 187

Acknowledgments 189

Appendix: Primal's Cast of Characters 191

Index 197

About the Author 206

Editorial Reviews

Are you stressed out? Do you want to foster healthier relationships? This well-written engaging book will help you reconnect to your primal self, leading to a happier, healthier you.” – Nicole Apelian, Ph.D., co-star of the television show Alone, season 1 and 2

“Through stories that invoke passion and practical pathways toward connection, Primal asks us to explore what it means to be human...this book is not just for people wanting to walk away from modern comforts, but to embrace the wild instincts in all of us.” – Doniga Markegard, author of Dawn Again: Tracking the Wisdom of the Wild

“Primal is a fascinating look at why getting a heavy dose of nature is more critical than it ever has been in human history. Nate Summers asks the deeper question of why paleo diets, crossfit, and survival shows are so popular - and how that relates to the animal that lives within all of us.” – Dan Corcoran, Survival Skills Instructor/ Program Director - Wilderness Awareness School, author of Ignite

"What is it about making fire that is so magical?  What about the mystery of long-lost primitive survival skills, and the simple curiosity about what our pre-agricultural ancestors ate?  In this book, you meet people who asked the same questions, then dedicated their lives to seeking the answers. Like you, they were searching for something lost long ago — a window to who we really are and a way to make sense of the world we have inherited." – Tamarack Song, founder of the Teaching Drum Outdoor School, and author of Becoming Nature  

From the Publisher