Walking With Mother Nature: What Our Youth Will Learn This Summer

By Rooted Warrior Society | June 2025

This summer, the Rooted Warrior Society is proud to host the Walking With Mother Nature Bison Camp — a land-based rites of passage and cultural learning camp for our Indigenous youth.

As the Council Fires return and our Nations rise once more, we know this truth: our youth must be ready. Ready to walk in the ways of our ancestors. Ready to carry the teachings, languages, and laws of our peoples. Ready to defend and protect the land, the water, and the sacred ways.

The Walking With Mother Nature camp is part of that preparation. Through this camp, our young people will reconnect with Mother Earth, with ceremony, and with their own inner strength.

The Meaning of Walking With Mother Nature

To walk with Mother Nature is to live in relationship with the land. It is to listen to the wind, the water, the animals, and the trees. It is to understand that the land is not a resource to be exploited, but a relative to be protected.

In today’s world, so many of our youth are caught between two worlds — disconnected from land, culture, and community. This camp is about helping them come home to who they are.

What Our Youth Will Learn

This is not just a camp — it is a rites of passage. Our youth will not simply attend; they will transform.

Here is some of what they will learn:

🦬 Bison Hide Tanning & Traditional Skills

• How to scrape, tan, and prepare bison hides using traditional methods.

• Understanding the sacred role of the bison in our cultures.

• Respect for the animal and the teachings of reciprocity.

🥁 Drum & Rattle Making

• Creating their own drum or rattle to carry the songs and teachings forward.

• Learning the songs, rhythms, and protocols of drum use.

🏹 Four Directions Martial Arts & Warrior Training

• Physical training based on the 4 Directions and traditional teachings.

• Discipline, respect, endurance, and strength of mind and body.

• Basic self-defense and fitness for land defenders.

🪶 The 7 Sacred Teachings

• Humility, Respect, Courage, Honesty, Wisdom, Truth, and Love — not as abstract ideas, but as ways of living.

• Daily reflections and teachings on how to embody these principles.

🔥 Council Fire Governance & Leadership

• Learning about our traditional Council Fire systems.

• How true Indigenous governance works under Natural Law.

• Preparing youth to take leadership roles in their communities.

🌱 Land-Based Skills & Plant Knowledge

• Identifying and harvesting local medicines with respect and care.

• Building fire, preparing traditional foods, and respecting the gifts of the land.

🧭 Rites of Passage & Personal Growth

• Guided personal challenges and reflection periods.

• Understanding their place as future protectors and leaders of their Nations.

• Building confidence, resilience, and cultural pride.

Why This Matters

Colonial systems have done everything possible to disconnect our youth from their languages, cultures, and lands.

But the land still remembers them. The ancestors still walk with them. The Council Fires still call to them.

Through this camp, we are helping our youth answer that call — with their hands, their hearts, their bodies, and their spirits.

When they leave this camp, they will walk stronger, speak with more clarity, and stand rooted in who they are. They will carry forward the sacred work of protecting our peoples and lands.

How You Can Support

The Walking With Mother Nature Bison Camp is a grassroots effort — powered by love, dedication, and community support.

Here is how you can help:
🔥 Donate supplies, food, or funds for the camp.
🔥 Share our camp information and invite youth to apply.
🔥 Volunteer your time or skills at the camp.
🔥 Hold space in your heart and prayers for the young ones making this journey.

Together, we can raise a generation of Indigenous youth who walk in balance with Mother Nature and in strength with their ancestors.

The fires are being lit. The drums are sounding. Our youth are ready.

- Rooted Warrior Society
Anishinaabe – Dene – Nehiyaw Warrior Societies United

www.rootedwarriorsociety.com
rootedwarriors@gmail.com