Nikki van Schyndel Becoming Wild book signing at Lonsdale Quay on Saturday, April 12 from 1 to 4 p.m. For more information go to becomingwild.com.
On a cold, grey day in February 2004 the scraping of the rowboat's metal hull signaled their arrival on Village Island. The water taxi that had brought them to this beach was becoming a speck on the horizon and now they were on their own.
The question Nikki van Schyndel and Micah Fay had to ask themselves is were they truly ready to survive in the wild, for Scout there was no question as the cat began to explore their new home.
There would be no supplies delivered, no support, they had their training and each other and under harsh winter conditions they survived and proved to themselves that they could follow ancient traditions and live in the wild in a way that connected them to the natural world.
After six months on Village Island they moved farther north to Booker Lagoon on Broughton Island where they would live for the next year. Their story is not just a fascinating tale of survival; it is also a spiritual journey to a level of selfunderstanding that few attain.
Van Schyndel has written a book that is compelling from the opening page. Her honest prose explores every aspect of their journey and leaves you with a better vision of what is possible when you pursue your dream.
I was fortunate to catch up with her this week while she was visiting her mother in North Vancouver.
Terry Peters: This is an amazing story. A lot of people might dream of living off the land but the reality of it is hard work. You and Micah took it to a whole other level as primitive survivalists. How did you prepare yourself for this? Nikki van Schyndel: For me it all began with an interest in plants and expanded from there. The first time I saw my instructor start a friction fire and watched him blowing on the tinder to make flames I felt something stir inside me and I was hooked. I started taking courses and then you'd hear about another one and pretty soon I was going all over North America to try to learn from the best. I spent about five years learning all that I could about primitive survival.
TP: You ended up instructing at WOLF Camp and you met Micah there. NVS: I was helping out at WOLF and Micah signed on to their apprenticeship program. We soon realized we shared a dream.
TP: What were the most important lessons you learned in preparation for this experience? What could you have done to be more ready? NVS: There were practical skills, particularly for hunting, that we had learned but while I knew how to make dozens of different snares I hadn't gone out and caught anything, the same with fishing. We knew how to make nets from woven cedar bark but hadn't actually caught a fish.
TP: Were you able to learn from people who had done anything like this? NVS: Not really. We found there were people who had done short trips but no one who had done what we were planning. A lot of it we just had to figure out as we went along.
TP: I have to ask about the food because you describe the good and the bad. You were eating all kinds of plants, seaweed, cockles, even mice. Did you prepare yourself ahead of time for what you'd be eating? NVS: I had already learned a lot about native plants and had been foraging for wild foods before we left. I had tried all kinds of different foods at various courses. When you get that hungry you'll eat just about anything. We ate a lot of clams and it took me awhile to figure out how to prepare them so they tasted better.
TP: In the book you describe hunting bear and also finally catching a big halibut as turning points. Getting a bigger supply of food seemed to give you the time for things other than day-to-day survival. NVS: Yes, once we had made a ton of jerky we had more time to explore, to make things using the skills we'd learned. We needed that food to get stronger.
TP: When you returned to Vancouver it was only for a few weeks, was it hard to be back in the city?
NVS: It was really hard, especially the first time. I had a headache, my eyes hurt, and it was like a constant white noise. All the things that I thought I'd been missing I didn't really want now that I could have them and the peace that I'd found inside of me was slipping away. It took a long time before I could find a balance between the life I had there and being able spend time in the city. When you have found perfection for you anything that is less than that is very difficult.
TP: You now live in a tiny community in Echo Bay on Gilford Island. Have you found the balance now? NVS: It hasn't been easy but now I've found a way to live in both worlds. I spent two years building my log cabin and it is great but I could walk away and head into the bush and be happy and I can come into the city for a couple of months and not go crazy.
TP: Now you are running your own eco adventures and giving people a chance to experience some of what you know, is this the future for you? NVS: Yes, I'm still working towards making a bridge between these ancient skills and the modern world. I think I'm unique in my perspective because I'm kind of half and half, part city girl and part bush. There should be a way for people to connect to the primitive world. I feel I am that bridge and I hope to be able share this with other people.
- Nikki Van Schyndel will be holding a book signing at Lonsdale Quay tomorrow from 1 to 4 p.m. For more information on Echo Bay ecoventures visit echobayecoventures. com/teaandspa.html For more information on Becoming Wild, Caitlin Press, 240 pages, $24.95, becomingwild.com.
