Join us for a special interview with Carleigh Fairchild, where she shares her passions with GAT Daily!
Carleigh, it was great meeting you at Georgia Bushhcraft and talking with you over the years at events. Can you tell us about yourself?
“86 days in the wilds of Patagonia, literally alone, filming myself. Full of joy and sadness. Plenty of pain and growth. Much love and heartache!“- Carleigh Fairchild
Who’s Carleigh Fairchild?
Hailing from Ohio, Carleigh spent her teenage summers diving into the awesome world of survival skills at various camps. She discovered a passion for everything from starting fires and constructing shelters to skinning animals and weaving baskets. These activities didn’t just teach her practical skills; they sparked a deep spiritual connection with nature.
At 18, Carleigh packed her bags and headed to Washington State to enroll in Earthwalk Northwest Wilderness School, ready to level up her primitive living skills and explore the wonders of ethno-botany.
What got you interested in this path?
CF: My grandparents were teachers, and in elementary school, I was inspired by a few of my teachers and wanted to become a teacher myself, thinking I might become an elementary school teacher. But as a teenager, I homeschooled, and that’s when I started going to Coyote Tracks, the kids’ program for learning survival skills connected to Tom Brown Jr’s Tracker School in New Jersey.
The most inspiring instructors were those who were truly alive, engaged, and curious. It felt like more than learning the skills of survival, I was learning the skills to live a vital life.
Who are Carleigh’s Mentors?
CF: My mentors were Frank and Karen Sherwood at Earthwalk Northwest. I wanted to soak it up and learn more, so I started helping them at classes. The path to becoming an educator seemed to come before me naturally. I continue to learn, and am intrigued by the many lessons that are below the first glance at a skill.
Tell us about Human Nature Connection LLC.
CF: I founded Human Nature Connection to bring together my passion for NIASZIIH bodywork-healing (as taught at Wilderness Fusion), and survival skills (from the lineage of trackerschool.com). A place where building relationships with our nervous system is woven together with the skills of survival.
Through survival skills, nature studies, and working with our psychology and nervous system, Human Nature Connection offers guided retreats, team and family bonding events, custom sessions, and collaborates with other organizations and schools for transformational experiences and adventures.
How did you get involved with the History Channel?
CF: In college, I enjoyed watching Survivor for its physical and mental challenges and entertaining social dynamics. I considered applying, but ultimately decided against the social aspect. Years later, I caught a few episodes of ALONE season 1 and felt the participants’ survival experiences were authentic, with no social dynamic involved.
I was drawn to apply for three reasons: to test my survival skills, to earn money for land to homestead, and to demonstrate a sustainable relationship with the earth, contrasting the prevalent mentality of exploiting resources.
What’s Carleigh’s favorite class to teach?
CF: I love teaching so many skills. If I have to pick one, I’d say basket making. Baskets are handy in our everyday lives, holding items in our homes, transporting herbs and vegetables from the garden or farmers market, gathering eggs, and giving gifts. I love seeing students light up when they have created a basket. Baskets can be both beautiful and functional, or one or the other!
Making a basket is a way to start to see our psychology around pressure and tension, as well as how our inner talk is around learning a new skill. There is something magical about making a container with our own hands. It gives the maker a gift of confidence and ability. Also, basket making is an inroad to building a relationship with the earth through getting to know the different plants, trees, and vines that can offer materials for making baskets.
Carleigh Fairchild’s Tool Set.
CF: My go-to set of tools to take with me into the woods is the LTWK Genesis (which I have a signature knife of), hand pruners, and a small, silky saw.
What do you love about teaching wilderness skills?
CF: I love watching people come more alive! When folks learn about the edible plants, I love seeing folks build or deepen their relationship to the earth and themselves. I hope that folks take their excitement home and share it with others. It feels like it’s giving back to the earth and folks who taught and inspired me, and giving forward to the next generation of folks who will live in relationship with the planet.
Why have you gravitated to basket weaving?
CF: Basket making is a skill that has always sparked my interest. I love the interplay between the earth, materials, and myself. It not just takes time to make a basket, but it takes relationships. Relationship between me, the earth, and the materials. Getting to know the different plants, vines, and tree barks. Where and how they grow, when to harvest, how to store, and how to prepare the materials.
Then there are all the different styles of basket making to get to know. What I love is knowing the materials so well and understanding the basket styles deeply. This allows me to combine different materials and styles to create a new basket that I’ve never made before whenever I have a need.
Where can our readers find and follow you?
Sign up for my occasional monthly newsletter at HumanNatureConnection.com.
@carleighfairchild on Instagram and Facebook.
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