The Ancient Ways of the Cherokee and How We Can Use Them Today with Mark Warren

In-person, masks required, or Virtual option.

Mark Warren, owner of Medicine Bow Wilderness School in Dahlonega, GA has been teaching nature and survival skills of the Cherokee to adults and children for more than 45 years.

Mark believes today’s society can — and should — learn some valuable lessons and skills from those native people who inhabited the southeastern part of the United States hundreds of years before European explorers ever landed on its shores. He will be discussing how some of the most common native plants and trees were used by the Cherokee for food, medicine, insect repellent, crafts, shelter and fire. Mark will bring along some plants and handmade crafts for viewing and discussion.

Quote from Mark, “All of us who live in North Carolina and the northern third of Georgia reside on land that once belonged to the Cherokee. While these native people led lives of intense daily interaction with their natural surroundings, most folks today have reduced nature to a backdrop of scenery. The great deficit in this scenario is our lack of understanding that we still depend upon nature. That dependency is largely hidden to us, especially to the new generations that come along to take over the ‘rules’ of how we behave with nature — air to breathe, water to drink, energy to consume for our daily actions. These are commodities that are easy to take for granted. If taken for granted, humans will have no reason to respect and conserve the pieces of the puzzle we call ecology.”

Mark has packed 45+ years of teaching and knowledge about the Native Americans’ everyday life skills into a four-volume series of books titled Secrets of the Forest, which he wrote with three purposes in mind: “To provide clear instructions in primitive survival skills for anyone wanting to better his/her self-sufficiency in the wilderness . . . by learning the old Indian ways of living comfortably in the forest; to offer parents, teachers, Scout leaders and outdoor educators a guide to engage their students in nature . . . at a time when our young ones so desperately need this connection, as does nature itself; [and] to win over a new generation of environmental advocates who will look after this world. Mark’s Secrets of the Forest series will be available for purchase at this event.

Mark Warren owns and runs nationally renowned Medicine Bow Wilderness School in the Southern Appalachians of Dahlonega, GA where he teaches nature classes and primitive skills of the Cherokee. Mark travels and lectures around the country on primitive skills and Western frontier history.

In 1980, the National Wildlife Federation honored Mark as Georgia’s Conservation Educator of the Year. In 1998 he became the U.S. National Champion in whitewater canoeing, and in 1999, he won the World Championship Longbow title.

His published books include:
* Two Winters in a Tipi (Lyons Press, 2012) a memoir
* Wyatt Earp: An American Odyssey (Two Dot August 2021), an historical novel trilogy that dissects the events and motivations of America’s most iconic lawman. Comprised of:
The Long Road to Legend
Born to the Badge – “2019 Spur Award Finalist”
A Law Unto Himself – (2019) an “Editor’s Choice” by the Historical Novel Society and winner of the 2020 Will Rogers Medallion Award (under the original title Promised Land)
* Secrets of the Forest (Lyons Press, 2020) a 4-volume series on nature and primitive skills
*Indigo Heaven (Five Star – Gale Cengage, July 2021)
*Librarians of the West: A Quartet (Five Star – Cengage September 2021)
*Song of the Horseman (SV Original Publication, 2021)
*Last of the Pistoleers (SV Original Publication, 2021)

Find out more about Mark Warren on his website at medicinebow.net

In-Person at Reedy Creek Nature Preserve. Masks required.

Reedy Creek Park, Shelter 3, 2900 Rocky River Rd, Charlotte NC 28215
Take the Reedy Creek Park main entrance road until it dead-ends. Turn left and follow the park signs to Shelter 3.

If you prefer to join us virtually,  REGISTER FOR ZOOM