Ten Canoes

Ten canoes was released on DVD yesterday.

An Aboriginal tale of magic and mystery, set in a time before white settlers came to Australia, this comic retelling of a traditional fable is the first major feature film to be made entirely with native Aboriginal dialogue. It's thoroughly entertaining, moving and informative too.

Set a thousand years ago in central Arnhem Land in northern Australia, a group of Ganalbingu tribesmen embark on a hunt for magpie geese. To navigate the crocodile-infested swamp, elder Minygululu leads the tribe in building canoes made out of bark. When he discovers that Dayindi has a crush on his third wife, he tells him a story set in a mythical time after the great flood that explains how his people developed laws to govern their behaviour, the same laws used by the tribes today.

Mors Kochanski making a survival bow

A rare online video with Mors Kochanski.

Hollowtop lake

Tom Elpel's stomping ground, lucky sod. (Just don't tell anyone from a West Virginia mining comany).

Destruction of West Virginia

Why mine when you can blow it up, more logical thinking from the worlds super power great thinkers.

Cutting a hearth board notch w/ stone tools

2 videos from sourswithhark

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Plants with eyes

Here's a video of some very strange plants, great piece of work, must of taken ages to complete, don't know who made though.

Bow Drill Vids

This guy made a set of videos for a friend and stuck them on google video, they are funny, cringe worthy (that poor knife) and entertaining but he does know what he's doing (although thats a lot of work to get a hearth board)(contains swearing).

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Across Canada in a canoe

In the Summer of 2005 Peter and Andrew Marshall paddled across Canada in a 20-foot canoe named 'Beast'. They made this set of wonderful videos about that journey.
The sound is slightly out of sinc but don't let that put you off. (Please let me know if the videos will not play, this is due to blogger being behind the times).

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Bushcraft.se

Most people who have the internet and into survival/bushcraft will be aware of Michel Blomgren and his great videos he made, sadly though, since his Iceland adventure nothing new has been posted on his web site, however, on his company web site it's obvious that people from all over the place have mailed him, the green "I'm Okay ;-)" says it all. Anyway, here is one of his vids, have a look on his site for more.

Reactions of sodium and Potassium with Water

If your into your survival techniques then you will understand why i posted this video.

Knife Tests

Just found this interesting site, where they push knifes to their limits, click on the photo for their testing guidelines.

Fallkniven A1 Test

Water, clay and cow dung

Water, clay and cow dung - that's all you need to make an energy-saving stove. Hadja Diallo has helped to make nearly a hundred of them in villages in Senegal in west Africa. It takes her an hour and a half to mix the ingredients and mould the stoves. Then she leaves them for a week and after that they're ready to be used. The stoves make cooking much faster and use less wood -- crucial in an area where wood is scarce. For more info, please go to http://www.togethertv.org/

Energy-saving stove in Chad

Have a look at this interesting stove. (Youtube link)

CARE is managing 3 IDP sites in Eastern Chad. To face the lack of natural resources in the region, CARE provides energy-saving stoves to IDPs and local population.

The stoves save up to 80 per cent of wood comparing to a traditional fireplace.

marshmallow

This vid shows you how to make original marshmallow out of the common mallow plant mmmm. This girl Sunny has a series of wild living videos but i have not yet watched the others but you can see her Youtube profile here

Wild Living with Sunny Savage: episode 16
Sunny joins Dr. John Kallas, of Wild Food Adventures in Portland, for a class on making marshmallows out of the common mallow plant. This deliciously sweet treat is easy to make from a ubiquitous weed.

Solar Cooking in Chad

Paiute Indian obsidian arrow heads

Paiute Indian obsidian arrow heads of Owens Valley.
Native American Indian Obsidian arrow points around the Great Basin and California mainly came from around Mono Lake. Yosemite - Mono Lake Paiute, Bridgeport Paiute, and Owens Valley Paiutes used obsidian for all types of hunting as they traveled through out the area. Arrowheads of the California and Great Basin Indians.
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Light at the Edge of the World: The Wayfinders

A nice set of docu vids for you here, they are slightly American cheesy (too much music as usual) but if you were interested in the Kon Tiki experiment then this may appeal.

The Wayfinders of Polynesia inhabited the largest culturesphere in human history, spanning one fifth of the surface of the planet. Navigators of the sea, Wayfinders used wave pattern 'fingerprints' and the stars to travel to thousands of islands. However, this culture that once flourished over 25 million square kilometres of ocean, has seen much of its history and tradition die out. To preserve Wayfinding, one Hawaiian native learns this art form of navigation and designs a traditional Polynesian boat to sail across the islands. Wade Davis accompanies him on one of these journeys to learn and listen as he shares his emotional story of overcoming stereotypes and disillusionment to embrace the culture of his ancestors. Complemented with commentary from a Polynesian scholar, The Wayfinders offers an in-depth look into the life of this ancient culture.

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Dersu Uzala

I finally got to watch Akira Kurosawa's Dersu Uzala last night and what a great film it is, I highly recommend you rent it, buy it or download it. I also recommend you watch it in it's original language with subtitles as the dubbing seems to take something away from the experience.

Kurosawa’s remarkable film, his only produced and financed outside of Japan, is an extraordinary tale of friendship and survival, based on the memoirs of Russian explorer Vladimir Arseniev.
In the harsh environs of the Siberian frontier, an expedition led by Arseniev encounter the nomadic Goldi tribesman Dersu Uzala, who agrees to guide the men through the vast uncharted wilderness.

Although initially considered by the group as little more than a savage, Dersu’s skill, courage and spiritual wisdom soon earn their respect and admiration, as well as instilling in them a new-found compassion for the natural world. Bearing all the unmistakable hallmarks of the great cinema master, Kurosawa’s Oscar-winning classic is a visually stunning humanist epic.

Into The Wild

Well here's the cheesy trailer for the 'Into The Wild' film based on the book, there's some exciting reviews over at IMDB. It's not released in the UK until the 9th of November and although it looks a bit cheesy I'm still going to track it down to watch it, even if it does mean a couple of hours drive. Film's like this don't come often, i just hope it's not a pile of crap.

Tribes & Tribulations - trailer

WARNING: Contains graphic images that may shock.
A trailer from friends of Peoples close to Nature:defenders of free tribal life Please take a look at their site and support them if you can.