Schedule Co-Sponsors Registration
Celebrations, Special Features & Traditions:
Three Kaws: At the start of each meal and at our opening and closing circles, we offer three Kaws — chanting “Kaw” together (like people might chant “Om”) three times. By blending our voices, we remind ourselves of our connection to each other and the land.
Talking Circles: Each participant is assigned a Talking Circle, a small group of 6-7 people to meet with each morning to talk about how each person is doing, what you’re learning and questioning, and what you want to share about your life. This group is a great way to get to know people and to better integrate your experience of the weekend.
Open Mic on the Prairie: share stories, songs, poems, skits, dances and other creative expressions of who we are and how we live. Organized and emceed by Matthew Austin Williams.
Water Ritual: For 30 years, people have participated in this moving and simple ritual. Everyone is invited to bring a small jar of water from home or travels, and on Sun. morning, we go to the prairie, stand in a circle, and people may — one by one — step into the middle, pour water on a prairie plant, and offer any prayers, wishes, poems, gestures or other words.
Prairie Roots: A Bioregional Homecoming: keynote event includes short talks by Stephanie Mills and Ken Lassman, introductions to each other, and lively ways to get to know each other a little more (led by Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg). Stephanie Mi
lls is author of Epicurean Simplicity, In Gandhi’s Path and Whatever Happened to Ecology? and a long-time bioregional speaker and activist. Ken Lassman is a founder of KAW Council and the continental bioregional congresses, a writer and author of Wild Douglas County and Seasons & Cycles: Rhythms of Life in the Kansas River Basin. Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg – please scroll down for bio.
How Bioregionalism Changed Our Lives: A Round-Robin Discussion with Kelly Kindscher, Dan Bentley, Stephanie Mills, Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg, Ken Lassman, Joy DeMaranville, Jerry Sipe, Daniel Lassman: Join a group of us who have grown up through the bioregional movement (including Daniel, who grew up in it) to talk about how this movement shaped who we are, how we make our living, where and how we live, and what we’ve
learned about community, spirit, the earth and sky, and being in a long-term movement. All presenters have been involved in founding bioregional groups on the local, bioregional and continental levels.
Workshop Descriptions (in process):
Still Including: Gender+Equalities: To liberate ourselves and the earth, we foster more inclusiveness of all people in our communities. Friday and Saturday evening during two facilitated dialogues about gender awareness and group dynamics, we’ll address questions such as: How can we share the privilege of bioregionalism? Are the eco-feminists hiding?! The bioregional movement has worked on gender issues for over two decades and continues to work toward equality for ethnicity, class, and other identities that need more space in the movement and that the movement needs to be more sustainable. Shannon Gorres has been a community organizer in Lawrence for 6 years. She is co-founder of the Cosmic Beauty School, an intentional community & resource sharing center dedicated to integrating permaculture, holistic health, and social justice. (The Cosmic celebrates its 3rd birthday May 26th and invites you to music and BBQ.) She is also a certified Yoga instructor and will share Yoga at another point in the weekend.
Nightime Spider Hunt – Hank Guarisco: Bring your flashlight and a jar or two, and walk with me through the fields and forest to discover just how many spiders there really are. Most kinds of spiders are active at night, and we can find the smallest wolf spider by the blue-green diamond-like reflections of its eyes. We may even encounter some web-builders in the tree. Hank Guarisco studied the fascinating habits of spiders for many years, and has published about 40 articles in scientific journals and magazines for the general public. He is gathering information on Kansas spiders for eventual publication of a field guide of Kansas spiders.
Bodies in Nature Sculpture – Susan Rieger: This workshop will open up our senses as we create human sculpture in nature. Participants will warm up through breathing and gentle movement exercises. We will practice tuning into the world around us, focusing on each of our senses. We will learn a score/structure that allows the group to work together. Then listening, seeing, smelling and touching, we will choose spaces in which to work and follow our desires to create community sculpture. Susan Rieger has toured the country; teaching and performing for all ages; training professional dancers; and presenting innovative choreography. Most recently, she was the Artistic Director of the 940 Dance Company in Lawrence, Kansas. She was also one of the founders of aha! dance theatre, which had a 14 year history in Kansas City. In addition, she is a social worker, who specializes in facilitating the union of body and mind.
Bird Song Walk — Stephen Figgins: Join Stephen early to experience bird song on this bird walk that feeds all the senses.
Photography Walkabout- Jerry Sipe (open to all, with or without a camera): For me, making a photograph is about choosing a subject and exploring ways to present that subject. In this digital age, I capture and review as many shots of a subject as it takes to satisfy or frustrate and then move along. On Sunday, we can share our critiques and processes to teach and learn from each other as we go. Jerry Sipe has spent most of the last 37 years doing carpentry work on new and existing houses. His photography started about 50 years ago as a boy on vacation in Minnesota with a Brownie camera and a chipmunk as subject.
Edible/Medicinal Pl
ant Walk -Kelly Kindscher with Dan Bentley, Ken Lassman & Frank Norman: The Plant walk will be of the edible and medicinal plants of the prairie area at Camp Hammond, where we will discuss the edible and medicinal uses, and the ecology of the species found there. Kelly Kindscher is a passionate advocate for native plants, native landscapes and wild places. He is a plant ecology for Kansas Biological Survey, where he conducts research on plant communities throughout Kansas, the Midwest, and the Great Plains and Rocky Mountain states, and he is author of Edible Wild Plants of the Prairie (1987) and Medicinal Wild Plants of the Prairie (1992), both published by the University Press of Kansas. He is one of the founders of the Kansas Land Trust and a current board member. He also is a board member of the Prairie Plains Resource Institute, based in Aurora, Nebraska. He lives near Lawrence, Kansas, where he is an active gardener and conservationist. Ken Lassman, Dan Bentley and Frank Norman are long-time prairie plant enthusiasts, and all are experienced at leading plant walks. Ken, Dan and Kelly were co-founders with others of KAW Council in 1982.
Grafting Fruit
trees – Skyler Adamson and Wade Myslivy: Skyler Adamson and Wade Myslivy will present a demonstration and discussion of grafting techniques for fruit trees. Wade Myslivy has many years of experience in a wide variety of primitive life skills and their application on the prairie/forest transition zone. He has a life-long interest in the technologies employed by primitive and pre-industrial people and the manner in which they can be used in our region to promote sustainability and awareness. He lives with his family on a diversified, small farm in Jefferson County where they raise vegetables, fruit trees, sheep, pigs, chickens and bees. Skyler Adamson is founder and co-coordinator of Lawrence Fruit Tree Project, which works to proliferate perennial foodscapes throughout Lawrence. Skyler presents workshops on pruning and grafting and operates a home-scale tree nursery. He provides home garden and orchard consultation services. In 2011 he received his Permaculture Design Certificate from the Possibility Alliance.
A Poor Person’s Guide to Living Green: A Collaboration — Rachel Myslivy: As environmental issues expand and evolve living in right relation with the earth is increasingly complex. Changes in lifestyle can seem overwhelming, intimidating and out of reach. In this interactive participant-driven workshop, we will discuss large-scale issues and present solutions, tips and tricks to living green. Bring your ideas and questions alike as we will collaboratively build a Poor Person’s Guide to Living Green. Rachel Myslivy is a graduate student at the University of Kansas researching the intersection of religion and environmentalism as seen in religious communities in Kansas. She has spent years volunteering in environmental education and community outreach. She lives with her family on a diversified, small farm in Jefferson County where they raise vegetables, fruit trees, sheep, pigs, chickens and bees. The farm is an ongoing experiment in frugal living, simplicity and sustainability.
Bees Are My Muse: The Art of Pollinator Awareness – Laura Ramberg: Bees invaded my dreams some years ago, and I finally consented and got a hive and fell in love with honey bees, which led me to make more observations on other pollinators. This led me to make art on bees, and study the history of the relationship between bees and humans, and particularly, the dangers bees — and because of bees, all of us — face now with colony collapse disorder. Come hear my story, share my art, and discuss what each of us can do in our own backyards to help all the pollinators. Laura Ramberg is known regionally as a sculptor in stone and ceramics. She teaches art at the juvenile detention center, yoga at Obiji dojo, and has danced, clowned and performed every which ways for years all over the world. She makes her home at Obiji, north of Lawrence, where she continues to grow and expand with humans, the land, other critters and especially her honeybees.
Write from the Earth — Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg & Denise Low: Come explore our connection with the more-than-human world through our words in this eco-writing workshop co-led by two Kansas Poets Laureate. We’ll engage with our life places through short, innovative writing prompts, talk about how to use language to connect with what’s outside of human language, and discuss how writing can be a spiritual, bioregional and artistic practice. You might even write something to read at the open mic! Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg is the Poet Laureate of Kansas, the author of 14 books out or forthcoming (including poetry, and an ecological memoir, The Sky Begins at Your Feet), and is currently curating the Kansas renga project, featuring 150 Kansas poets She’s been active in the bioregional movement for 30 years, and she blogs at http://carynmirriamgoldberg.wordpress.com. Denise Low, Kansas Poet Laureate 2007-2009, has been writing, reviewing, editing and publishing literary and scholarly articles for 30 years. She is the author of ten collections of poetry and six books of essays, including Natural Theologies from The Backwaters Press 2011, and a biography of Langston Hughes (co-authored with Thomas Pecore Weso). She has awards and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Sequoyan National Research Center, Lannan Foundation, Poetry Society of America, Roberts Foundation, and others.
Medicinal and Edible Plants in Your Yard, Woods, and Prairie – Frank Norman:This workshop will provide information on what weedy and native plants growing in your yard, garden, woods, and nearby fields to help you with cuts, sores, bee stings, and your general health. Class will consist of discussions, hands-on demonstrations, and possibly a walk. Examples of the plants will be presented in the form of roots, leaves, tinctures, etc. Frank Norman is a Plant Ecologist and Master Herbalist, with a great of love of plants. He has a masters degree in botany from KU and has worked in Kansas professionally for over 20 years. He has Master Herbalist certification from the School of Natural Healing in Springville, UT.
Transitioning to a Sustainable Local Economy — Michael Almon, Amber Lehrman, Ralph Bauer: Transition Kaw Valley of the Sustainability Action Network will present a vision for a relocalized economy. It will include a review of the collapsing conventional economy, and steps to achieve local exchange based on justice and shared wealth in collaboration with other organizations. S.A.N. is a multi-faceted organization going beyond ecological literacy, education, and talk, towards creating tangible solutions of local exchange, permaculture, bicycles, local soils and food and societal transformation. S.A.N. focuses on personal change, public policy initiatives, and action oriented collaborative efforts. Amber Lehrman has been preparing for powerdown by re-skilling and growing food sustainably. She and her family have grown over 1500 lbs of food per year on a 1/4 acre urban homestead. Amber co-founded of the Lawrence Food Garden Tour, teaches Transition Kaw Valley re-skilling workshops, organized community gardens at FaithChurch of the Nazarene, Penn Street Gardens, and the KC Ronald McDonald House, and is a member of the Sustainability Action Network. Ralph Bauer, ThM, is retired from a marketing career in musical technology. As a true generalist, he now provides consulting that intuitively addresses economics, technology, biosciences, energy, and spirituality, integrated wholistically. He offers personal and group training to increase spiritual integration and past-life awareness. Ralph serves on the Board of the Sustainability Action Network and its Transition Kaw Valley re-skilling efforts. Michael Almon operates Forest Floor Permaculture, a half-acre food forest. He holds a Permaculture Design Certificate, and a design degree from the KC Art Institute. He has served on City task forces and community organizations including: Community Mercantile Credit Union, KAW Council, Wild Ones Natural Landscapers, and Citizens for Responsible Planning. Michael operates Paradigm Design selling ecological products. He serves on the Board of the Sustainability Action Network and the Kansas Permaculture Institute.
Biochar: The Growing Edge – Ruth Lewis. Gardiners employing biochar attempt to emulate the originators of terra preta. We know some, we guess some and we are still learning more of how that process worked and how to adapt it to our use. Curious beginners and active biochar practitioners, we can help each other refine this technique. Ruth Lewis toured Albert Bates’ biochar installation at CBCX. She has been applying biochar to her small garden. This year the yield surpassed all expectations. She describes herself as a “missionary for biochar,” as the agricultural practice that could turn back global climate destabilization.
Understanding Bird Language – Stephen Figgins: Birds use sounds and visual cues to communicate with each other. Learning to understand what they are talking 
about helps us become aware of animal activity near us. It can also help us to move stealthily through the woods, allowing us to see more wildlife. You don’t need to be able to identify birds in order to understand their voices. With patience and practice, you can learn to intuit their language. Join this early morning workshop to learn the five basic voices used by birds and what they can tell you about what’s going on around you. We’ll take some time to put this knowledge into practice, then gather again to share our experiences. Stephen Figgins learned about Bird Language from the Wilderness Awareness School in Duvall, WA. Shortly after returning to our area in 2002 he founded Plainscraft Wilderness School though which he has shared this and other outdoor skills..
Star walk with David Neuenschwander
Urban Permaculture – Steve Moring and Amber Lehrman: In this workshop you 
will learn how to apply permaculture principles to an urban lot. The topics covered include using permaculture design principals to create a garden, using permanent raised beds, water catchment, and the advantages and disadvantages to growing in the city and examples of successful urban gardens. Amber Lehrman co-founded the Lawrence Food Garden Tour and has been an avid urban gardener since 2006. The Lehrman family has grown over 1200 pounds of food off of their 0.25 acre city lot for 4 consecutive years using permaculture principles. Amber has helped start two community gardens and has consulted on personal gardens. Steve Moring is the founder of the Kaw Permaculture Collaborative and the Kansas Permaculture Institute. He owns and manages Vajra Farm & Kaw Permaculture, a 45 acre farm and permaculture training site in Jefferson County, KS. He received his training in permaculture from Midwest Permaculture and has been teaching permaculture courses for 4 years. To Learn more visit his site.
Children’s Activities: We are offering workshops for kids of all ages from 8:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m., and 12:45-5:45 p.m. on Sat,; and 8:30-11 a.m. on Sun. There will be childcare (although kids are welcome to come to keynote sessions) 7-9 p.m. Fri. and 7-8 p.m. Sat. Here is a sampling:
- Primitive Skills for Kids – Wade Myslivy will offer a hands-on introduction to such skills as: cordage making from native plants, twined basketry from native plants, soap stone bead making, fire by friction, and natural pigment face/body paint making
- New Games – Stephen Figgins will lead kids of all ages in games on the prairie.
- Singalong with Stan Slaughter: Sing old and new songs with Stan, including songs about worms, compost, the earth and what we can do.
- Environmental Art: Artist Angie Babbit will engage children in collaborative
Environmental Art. The kids will create simple, temporary artwork out of natural, found objects, using nature’s textures, patterns and colors as inspiration. They can watch the environment interact with their work as time passes, wind blows, and the sun shines. Adults might want to record these changes with their cameras. - Spiders – Hank Guarisco: Learn about all the spiders all around us with Hank, who has been studying the lives and habits of spiders for decades.
Registration at http://PrairieRoots.eventbrite.com/ or go to our registration page for details.
