Meta-primitivism

He walked into the desert barefoot but the sand was too hot so he stopped to make a pair of sandals. 

When he was done making his sandals we walked together into the canyons of the vanished. 

Southern Utah was the home of Ancestral Puebloians who lived until some time around 1500 c.e. Evidence of the once prevalent society still lingers high on cliff walls where they built home sites of stone far above the canyon floor. It was a society rich with craftsmanship and art and to our best understanding, they lived well, constructing the largest cities in North America at the time that supported thousands of residents including Mesa Verde in southwestern Colorado. 

Interest in primitive skills has grown in the 10 years since I have worked as a backcountry guide in southern Utah. Busting a fire with a friction drill and found materials is a new status for the modern man. Crafting pottery and building shelter is now called bushcraft where “handmade” denotes quality in an automated world.  Why the interest in primitive skills when humans have advanced technology that allows us to live far from the uncertainty that surely haunted our distant forebears?

We have advanced from traveling in canoes to sailboats to steamships, airplanes and spaceships yet we turn to weaving sandals from grass and walk into nature to find meaning. 

We live in a world of uncertainty.