Woodcraft and Indian Lore

by Ernest Thompson Seton

"I should like to lead this whole nation into the way of living outdoors," wrote Ernest Seton over seventy-five years ago. If the nation was in need of a dose of nature then, we can certainly benefit even more from Seton's sage advice now.

Learn how to build a campfire, a dam, or a birch bark basket; to recognize animal tracks, constellations, and all manner of forestry; to stop a nose-bleed, ease poison ivy, or soothe a sore throat with natural remedies; to make delicious biscuits on the trail and spot edible mushrooms; and more. This book is essential for Boy Scouts and their leaders, and great fun for anyone desiring a fuller experience of outdoors life.

Genres: Outdoors, Nonfiction, Reference

624 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1912

About the author

Ernest Thompson Seton was a Scots-Canadian (and naturalized U.S. citizen) who became a noted author, wildlife artist, founder of the Woodcraft Indians, and one of the founding pioneers of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Seton also heavily influenced Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting. His notable books related to Scouting include The Birch Bark Roll and The Boy Scout Handbook. He is responsible for the strong influence of American Indian culture in the BSA.

He was born Ernest Evan Thompson in South Shields, County Durham (now part of South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear), England of Scottish parents and his family emigrated to Canada in 1866. As a youth, he retreated to the woods to draw and study animals as a way of avoiding his abusive father. He won a scholarship in art to the Royal Academy in London, England.

He later rejected his father and changed his name to Ernest Thompson Seton. He believed that Seton had been an important name in his paternal line. He developed a fascination with wolves while working as a naturalist for Manitoba. He became successful as a writer, artist and naturalist, and moved to New York City to further his career. Seton later lived at Wyndygoul, an estate that he built in Cos Cob, a section of Greenwich, Connecticut. After experiencing vandalism by the local youth, Seton invited them to his estate for a weekend where he told stories of the American Indians and of nature.

He formed the Woodcraft Indians in 1902 and invited the local youth to join. The stories became a series of articles written for the Ladies Home Journal and were eventually collected in the The Birch Bark Roll of the Woodcraft Indians in 1906.

He was married twice. The first marriage was to Grace Gallatin in 1896. Their only daughter, Ann, was born in 1904 and died in 1990. Ann, who later changed her first name, became a best-selling author of historical and biographical novels as Anya Seton. According to her introduction to the novel Green Darkness, both of her parents were practicing Theosophists. Ernest and Grace divorced in 1935, and Ernest soon married Julia M. Buttree. Julia would write works by herself and with Ernest. They did not have any children, but did adopt an infant daughter, Beulah (Dee) Seton (later Dee Seton Barber), in 1938. Dee Seton Barber died in 2006.

Reviews

[Jaime T · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recommended by Dave Canterbury, I found it a great read; learned lots about wood craft and Indian lore (their ways of life, games, art). I took down notes along the way and this book opened my eyes to a new part of the wild and things to try.

The Indian was the great prophet of outdoor life who shows us the way in nature. He is a master of woodcraft with their skills in the woods, creatures, stars, plants, etc. He has the perfect body and strength. He sought for beauty in everything with dance, songs, etiquette, etc. He believed in the nationalization of natural resources to stop poverty. He was against war which comes from greed.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Written by one one the founders of the Boy Scouts of America, the book gives the author's idealized vision of Native American and their way of life.It was intended for the Boy Scouts. While some skills and plants are portrayed most relate to the Eastern and Central United States. He has excuses for some Native American practices such as torture of captives and the constant warfare between tribes.

[mirabilos]

https://archive.org/details/bookwoodc...

[Richard Fulgham · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was a Boy Scout from the age of eight (Cub) to fourteen (Explorer) during the late 1950's and early 1960's. Growing up in Old Georgia.

It was a maturing experience -- we once spent a week in the Okefeenokee Swamp; we went on ten mile hikes through the Great Pine Forest regularly.

We learned about the outdoors, camping, survival skills, wild animals, plants, geology, maps, compases, firearms, archery, knots, knives, carving, caving and even less tangible things like "Indians, their lives and lore".

Which brings me to this book. It fascinated me at an age when I was just beginning to question the religion I was taught and the religion that made most sense to me. Indian beliefs made much more sense than "the white man's religion".

(We unapologetically called them "Indians" back then and they proudly called themselves "Indians". They still do. I happen to know.)

Anyway, Ernest Thompson Seton talked about every plant and animal having a spirit and a soul. He talked about how the Indians treated all living souls, man, plant or animal, with reverence.

The Indians (though they could be savage at war or when robbed of land)were religious in the sense they respected all creatures, not just human beings.

Humans were just another animal, but that was a gift to them -- for the Great Spirit was kind enough to allow humans also to live.

I remember especially how Seton taught me that Indians, after they had made a kill, prayed over the animal's body, asking it's spirit to forgive them. Few things have impressed me more than that.

It really began to hit home when I discovered my grandfather was one-half Choctaw, making me one-eigth Choctaw.

I literally loved the woods and everything in it. To me, like the Indians, I quickly began to see the white man as insensitive to Nature -- a beast who loved to kill for the fun of it.

This review is reminding me of the sense of wonder and enlightenment I enjoyed then. How I miss it . . . . Thompson's book was one of the greatest influences of my life, even after I'd matured and read books by Camus, Thoreau, et al.

Now that you've reminded me of who I used to be -- a nature boy whom I wish I still was -- I realize why I so quickly embraced the philosophy of Lao Tze (and the wisdom of his Tao Teh Ching) when I read that book at the age of 45 or so.

The unnamable, all persausive Tao. The Tao, of course, is the Great Spirit of the Indians. One journeys through a mystical, unknowable world of spirits -- walking softly, silently, trying not to upset the harmony.

Ernest Thompson Seton Revealed to me who I was. Just another animal -- but luckily so, for all animals have spirits linked to the Great Spirit.

Knowledge leads to wisdom. Wisdom leads to silence.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I had this book growing up as a kid. This book appears to be Seton's first manual and compelation of knowledge for his boys outdoor group called the Woodcraft Indians (later to become the Boy Scouts of America).

History was lucky to have someone like Seton who captured some of the wonderful things about Native American culture before it completely disappeared as a way of life. The games, outdoor tenacious spirit, and woodcraft knowledge is something missing today in America's male youth.

No matter how much technology we have, it can never replace the joy of developing the skills described in this book.

[Heidi Nemo · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the foundational texts of my youth. Bound in tattered green, I drank a better, hopelessly idealized world from the pages. How to ID trees I'd never seen, trap animals, track game, hang off a galloping horse and pick up my hat (this one never worked, somehow; I always fell off), make bows and arrows (I later made my hands a maze of cuts, trying to knap arrowheads), tie knots, tell stories, play rough games, make a bed out of boughs.
How to be a man, in short, even though I wasn't, exactly.

[Raymond · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of great information for those wanting to be outside.