It was winter in the Australian Outback, and there was a chill in the air. For the fourth night in a row, I slipped out of my swag (that's a sleeping bag to us Yanks) to walk beneath the stars of The Southern Cross. Each night previously, I had wondered why I didn't just go back to sleep, but I was compelled to get up and walk. And walk I did. I walked until my bones ached from the cold and my socks collected so many burrs my ankles felt like pincushions. Eventually, I'd scamper back to camp, pull into my swag, and fall asleep.
The fourth night seemed no different as I crept out of my warm cocoon with the impulse to walk again. But this time, I decided to walk toward the camp area of the Aboriginal clan who had invited us into their part of the country so they could share messages and their ancient knowledge of the earth. We were the students; they were the teachers.
As I made my way along the moonlit path toward their camp, I noticed their fire still going. We had worked so hard to gather heaps of wood, piling it high, only to have our blazing campfire die in a few hours. They had yet to teach us how they managed to keep theirs going all night. (Just one of the mysteries that grew daily.) I stayed outside the stated boundaries of their camp, as it was their rule that we could not go beyond a certain point unless invited. So I stood there on the edge, peering into this other world, and gazing into their fire. After a time, a vision I'd had as a child appeared to me; a picture of lots of kids in a group playing musical instruments and singing in a beautiful outdoor setting. And that's when I got it! The art camp that I had always wanted to create for young people would now include the teaching of indigenous cultures and sustainable living so kids could learn about new ways of living in harmony with the earth. And it was NOW that I needed to start creating it! I don't remember sleeping at all that night, and in the morning, I shared my vision with our aboriginal hosts, our teachers. They knowingly smiled and nodded their heads in approval. From that fourth night on, I was no longer compelled to take my midnight walkabout.
When I returned to the States, I began development of "The Art Ranch"; a summer youth camp with an Arts Component, Native American Component, and a Sustainable Living Component. And this August 2007, five years from that night in The Outback, The Art Ranch is producing a pilot program in support of its full launch in the summer of 2008. The pilot, White Buffalo Camp, will offer Art Ranch programs for children along with a Native American spiritual retreat for adults. For pictures and information on this beautiful tented camp please go to www.whitebuffalocamp.com
Creating an arts camp for children has been a life long dream of mine.
The Arts are integral to the development of the right hemisphere of the brain, which is the bridge to our evolutionary development. Indigenous peoples through their culture and teachings, hold a key to a deeper understanding of the self, humanity's existence, and the realization of the fundamental Oneness of all life. Combining The Arts and Native American culture along with hands-on workshops, ancient-to-modern sustainable building, eco systems and renewable energies, our young people will learn to use their imagination and creativity to integrate world-wide cross-cultural knowledge, applying this expanded thought process to develop new ways of being and living on the earth.