Theressa and I came up with a list of our needs and wants for our future vision. The Needs list states the things we think we require in our physical set up and in our social tribe. We'd prefer to also have the items in our Wants list, but feel much more flexible about those.
| Needs | Wants |
Solid water supply Enough land to, in theory, feed at least everyone we start with / 10 people via horticulture. No debt 10 years of taxes, hunting/fishing licenses, and other living expenses set aside Community members into hunting/gathering - enough for a viable group Not super hot, or some way to escape the heat. Feel connected to our tribe -- people not spending too much time not in community (20 hour/week max?) All tribe members committed to disconnecting from civilization Wide age range - children to elders All tribe members committed to practicing Nonviolent Communication-type communication, conflict-resolution. Income-sharing and wealth-sharing. Safey for our lifestyle, including hunting & gathering. Available land for hunting & gathering. Sufficient ability to heat ourselves. Out of reach of city - 100 miles from large cities? 50 miles from smaller cities? Tribe committed to improving land (our own & surrounding land). Fredom of living within constraints of other needs. Tribe members committed to healing from civilization. Tribe members to give more to our community than they take. All tribe members reasonably well-versed in all survival skills | Easiest climate possible for growing food & living Communal living - shared shelters & infrastructure. Tribe committed to raising children tribally - Continuum Concept ideas As little contact with civilization as possible Adjacent to national (or other public?) forest As much acreage as possible Healthy ecosystem for hunting & gathering Encourage & inspire neighbors / nearby community(s) to disconnect from civilization Encourage like-minded people to settle nearby Tribe members to be able to grow/gather food in their preferred ways Tribe members to be able to live in their preferred ways Some sort of commitment from and to tribe members - for example, buy-in & guarantee of tribal membership? Starting tribe with 6+ contributing adult tribal members / 3-5 family groups |
7 comments:
Hi,
I just found your site and browsed a little. Great work!
I was/am searching the net for articles, information on the "big Mistake" that Agriculture is. I want to post an article about it on my site.
I'll come back and visit your site.
Take care
Misko
Sigh. I feel your need and want for a 'tribe'. We homeschool and garden but live in city. One of the things that keep us from moving out is that we would like a community around us.
Maybe you already covered this, (I will be going to go back to look), but how will you decide who gets to join your tribe?
Hey FarmerGeek,
Good question! So far, we have not had the problem of too many applicants for the positions to be filled (unlike the condition at your average job application!) so we haven't fleshed out our tribe-forming process very much. We know that in the long run, we need tribe members to be sustainable--ie, giving back more than they take.
In the short term, we want to spend as much time with any potential tribe-mates as possible. I think that, to determine whether people can live together long-term, they probably need to spend enough time with each other to come into conflict and work through it. But we can't exactly plan that as a formal application process or anything. :)
Most intentional communities have a period of introductory living together, with two or more stages of commitment, so we'll probably adopt something like that once we actually have land and something started up. But living in the city, where everyone has different lives and activities scattered all over, I think the best we can do is spend time together when and as we can, and see what relationships build.
Thanks for your question,
Scrub
Inspiring!
Read the article about you in the Tribune. I think it's a very important subject, and I commend you for doing what you do. We are gardeners, and I'll try sneaking in some of the plants on your list, or maybe at least eating some "weeds" rather than tossing them out.
Hi!
I love your vision and list of community needs. My family desires this as well.
I found you through the tribune article and wrote about the article (and linked to you) on my blog. I hope you don't mind!
This is so fascinating. I'm in Portland as well, and I hope to someday come and see your garden and learn from you!
Peace,
Carrie
http://www.organicthrifty.com
Post a Comment