Red Osier Guild

Red Osier Guild has been operating for a full turn of the earth. Today we gathered at the rivers edge, stoked a warming fire, and spent hours harvesting and processing red osier, talking about spring medicines and food, the chicks, cubs, and kits all being born this time of year, about fire and wet and cold and survival. We saw hundreds of birds, a loon, a beaver. The land held us and we celebrated a great day in the falling wet snow.

Was that ever fun.

We have our wood, and selves ready!

We are looking at predicted 0C with a sprinkling of snow. What a perfect day to be out on the land in February!

We will bring the solo stove and wood to have a small warming fire, and are greatly looking forward to spending time on the land with you.

Remember to dress for the weather, including possibly cleats for ice. Bring chairs for a sit by the fire, walking sticks, hot tea, coffee, hot chocolate, and let's have a great learning and social time together!

We haven't had a public event in a long time! We have been working to build up the youth in the guild, and creating space for more.

But now we are at the 1 year anniversary of Red Osier Guild, and we decided to have a day of learning and working, open to the broader public.

Red osier is an important medicine in Indigenous cultures. Come today and learn about this, and other land based late winter survival, foods, and medicines. We will gather red osier, process some of it, and create an abundance to share with elders and ceremony keepers in the community.

It’s that time of year, before the red osier awakes. Join us for our yearly harvest and land based teaching on late winter foods.

Learn how to harvest and process red willow. Also learn about early spring land based food and help us celebrate our first year of working and learning on the land! We will have a small warming and gathering fire. Bring your harvesting kit - knife/sheers and bag, tea, snacks to share, and dress for the conditions!

Red Osier Guild receives no funding: is an ad hoc collective. We recommend paying what you can for this day, especially to settlers - recommended $30. A lot of knowledge, teaching, and work happens on a day like today, wood is bought and brought in, our guild elder will be present as well. All money is used by the guild to build land based learning tools and workshops for the Indigenous youth in the guild.

Gwiingwa'aage Collective will be hosting a workshop on situational awareness for community in March. This workshop will focus on situational awareness for community organizing, community defense, and activism. There will be 8 spots open to the public and it will be pay what can, $20 suggested, with a mandatory $5 cost for materials. $25 total for a 2hr workshop.

More details including registration will be released soon.

We haven't had a public event in a long time! We have been working to build up the youth in the guild, and creating space for more.

But now we are at the 1 year anniversary of Red Osier Guild, and we decided to have a day of learning and working, open to the broader public.

Red osier is an important medicine in Indigenous cultures. Come today and learn about this, and other land based late winter survival, foods, and medicines. We will gather red osier, process some of it, and create an abundance to share with elders and ceremony keepers in the community.

It’s that time of year, before the red osier awakes. Join us for our yearly harvest and land based teaching on late winter foods.

Learn how to harvest and process red willow. Also learn about early spring land based food and help us celebrate our first year of working and learning on the land! We will have a small warming and gathering fire. Bring your harvesting kit - knife/sheers and bag, tea, snacks to share, and dress for the conditions!

Red Osier Guild receives no funding: is an ad hoc collective. We recommend paying what you can for this day, especially to settlers - recommended $30. A lot of knowledge, teaching, and work happens on a day like today, wood is bought and brought in, our guild elder will be present as well. All money is used by the guild to build land based learning tools and workshops for the Indigenous youth in the guild.

We are producing series of kits, lists, and materials, and will be offering training under the banner of Gwiingwa'aage Collective around abolition, liberation, and readiness.

Here is a list for a Small Survival Kit. This kit works on its own as a land survival kit for extreme situations, and can be extended with other materials to address different conditions. With a Bug Out Bag, it extends the bag into a Bug Out System with greater capacity to address scenarios where survival on the land may be necessary.

As always, the kits are only as good as the training. If you assemble any kits for survival, be sure to have training and familiarity on all items in the kit.

Chi Miigwetch to Sakej Ward for his sharing of materials, resources, and knowledge. Both Red Osier Guild and Gwiingwa'aage Collective are deeply grateful for your assistance in helping us build our community readiness.

We had a great night of storytelling with Kevin George. Giichi miigwetch Kevin for sharing with us tonight!

Red Osier Guild is thoroughly watching and preparing for hard times. We are learning situational awareness, community and self defence, we are building mutual aid.

We also want to remind ourselves and others that Indigenous and Q***r joy is a revolutionary act of reclamation of our humanity in the dark times. Tonight was an important reminder that love comes in the shape of sideways walks, love filled teasing, and raucous, gut splitting laugher.

Indigenous and Q***r joy is about something more than survival - it is survivance. It is beyond ongoing survival and victimhood and deep into resurgence, deep into the holding of our lives as precious, full, worth living and defending, and thriving while building Indigenous futurities.

Gwiingwa'aage Collective is a new all nations collective focused on anticolonial and abolitionist education, and readiness, run along the side of Red Osier Guild.

We have been producing resources for Gwiingwa'aage Collective. Here's the Bug Out Bag resources. These will eventually be produced into zines.

There are many small things that you can add to a kit to extend its care, but every addition will add weight. Some people like to add seasoning salt, pepper, small items that help with morale. This is the most basic kit.

We will be producing a Bug Out on a Budget list later as well for a lean mean, cost effective life saving kit. Next will be the simple survival kit.

With gratitude to Sakej Ward for sharing resources in creating these lists for kits.

Gwiingwa'aage Collective is a new all nations collective focused on anticolonial and abolitionist education, and readiness, run along the side of Red Osier Guild.

We have been producing resources for Gwiingwa'aage Collective. Here's the EDC - Every Day Carry kit.

The much anticipated next edition of Building You Bundle zine features Anishinaabe Elder Mary Anne Caibaiosai. Mary Anne met for an interview with us to talk about care and reciprocity for Olders and Elders as part of our bundles. From day to day support and creating meaningful relationships, to how to navigate ceremonial protocols this guide is a great starting point. We are so grateful for Elder Mary Anne. We built this guide with so much laughter and joy, our cheeks hurt.