What would you put in a Traditional Skills SKIP badge?

Hello friends, I'm working towards setting up PEM.  It's like PEP (Permaculture Experience according to Paul) except I'm the M.  I'm going to have a badge for "Traditional Skills" and I want to make sure I'm not missing too many obvious skills.

This badge is a bit of a catch-all that includes things people did 2000 years ago in the Americas, things people did in Europe 500 years ago, things early pioneers did here 200 years ago and current wildcrafting and "survival" activities.  It's oriented towards Wisconsiney things so I won't have any projects involving alligators or coconuts.

Since it's for SKIP, each activity/task has to have a finished product or artifact.  For each short description here, there will be a lot of background info and requirements.  

I'm a bit short of bigger projects, can you see anything I should have in here that I'm missing?  Including everyday things that folks made themselves back in the day instead of going to Target...  Thanks!

Pottery:
Make wild clay for pottery
Make wild clay slip for pottery
pinch pot
make a coil pot
fire a pot in a crude fire
Make a simple brick or earthen kiln
Make a fancier kiln
Make an earthenware plate

Material collection:
spruce root
willows
pine tar
Pine pitch stick
Birch bark
Make Twine
hide or sinew glue
sinew
Tanning is in the Textiles badge

Basketry:
Weave a small Basket
Weave a tray
Pine needle basket
Weave a fish trap
Make a split wood basket
Make a woven bark basket
Make a bark basket
Waterproof bark basket

Flame:
Dipped wax candles
Rushlights
Fire drill
oil lamp

Food catching:
Snares
cane pole
Make a bow
Make a bow string
Make an arrow
Make an atlatl
Actually catching critters is in the Foraging badge

Shelter:
snow cave
debris shelter
Oilcloth tarp
wigwam
Teepee

Transport:
canoe paddle
oar
snow shoes
birch bark canoe
Wagon parts???
Cedar strip canoes are in Dimensional woodworking badge

Household:
Soap
Shell buttons
Antler buttons
horn spoon mold
horn spoon
Powder horn
Horn mug with handle
Handle on a knife (antler or wood)
Spoon carving and wood plates/bowls are in another badge already

Foraging Plants.

Making your own clothes.

Tanning

Learning to cook like the pioneers and cattle drives, especially baking.

Learning to cook what is foraged, both plant and animal.

You could add oilcloth canvas tent, sod house and log cabin to the shelter section.

Transport could have a sled? dogsled, sledge for heavy things, skis, ice skates, a sail for a canoe?
Material Collection could include tinder, fatwood, beeswax.
Basketry could include a pack, an animal cage.

Anne Miller wrote:Foraging Plants.

Making your own clothes.

Tanning

Learning to cook like the pioneers and cattle drives, especially baking.

Learning to cook what is foraged, both plant and animal.

I think there are already badges for all these.

Building and using cellars at all the various sizes from potato pit to a buried stone vault. Cold-survival by using a layer of leaves and grass between two shirts or shirt and coat or whatever. Building an ice-house, collecting ice from a frozen lake, and still having ice in sawdust come September. Finding, identifying, and documenting tracks and scat -- this can be used directly for hunting and trapping, but also just for homestead situational awareness. How about carrying a live ember from camp to camp as part of fire-starting?

I like the OP and was already mulling this over having recently discovered the badge system here.

Snares are great but illegal in my state of Georgia. I wish I could understand why but for this reason please make one for foothold and/or bodygrip traps.

-pit traps

-sling shot

-boa

-gold panning/prospecting

-mineral collecting

-metallurgy

-jewelry crafting

-smithing/blacksmithing

-water witching

-mapmaking

-land navigation

-maritime navigation

-celestial navigation

-boating skills & seamanship

-boatbuilding (dugout canoe already listed but can do rafts & sailboats)

-caravanning

Thanks everyone, keep em coming!!!  Some of these are in other badges but it's good to list them anyway just in case.  And it triggered another idea that I added to my list, a smoker.  

Vanessa, do you have particular projects in mind for metallurgy or jewelry crafting?  Also, what do you mean by "boa" and "caravanning"?

Vanessa Smoak wrote:I think there are already badges for all these.

Probably are for PEP and PEA.

I am not sure that PEM has gotten that far into making them yet.

A few more, and yeah, you might have some of this in other categories already, but I'm thinking about the stuff our pioneer and native forebears had to do: Pottery can also generate pipes and roof tiles. Making leather hinges. Maple sugaring. Weaving of flooring mats from bullrush, sweetgrass, cedar, birchbark, etc. Harvesting and working with birchbark sheet for baskets and wall-pockets. Finger weaving. Making Mukluks. Making soap.

Anne Miller wrote:

Vanessa Smoak wrote:I think there are already badges for all these.

Probably are for PEP and PEA.

I am not sure that PEM has gotten that far into making them yet.

Yeah, sorry about the confusion.  PEM will be roughly similar to PEP so a lot of things that are in PEP will be in PEM somewhere.  If there's a BB in PEP that I think is important, we'll have it in PEM.  I do have the badges all assembled in a private forum so interested staff members are welcome to look at them and comment!

Mike Haasl wrote:Thanks everyone, keep em coming!!!  Some of these are in other badges but it's good to list them anyway just in case.  And it triggered another idea that I added to my list, a smoker.  

Vanessa, do you have particular projects in mind for metallurgy or jewelry crafting?  Also, what do you mean by "boa" and "caravanning"?

No specific project ideas other than turning my finds into dreadlock adornments 😆 Also thought about how rings can either be fashioned out of 1-piece solid stone or else fit a gemstone into a metal band.

There are 2 types of slings. I can’t believe I forgot about the type of sling made entirely from leather or sinew. When I listed “sling” earlier I was just thinking about the type with the rigid wishbone part.

As far as “boa” I think that is what they’re called. I’m referring to 2 stones tethered together with leather or sinew and thrown to tangle the legs of the target.

And there’s a new take on the ancient practice of caravanning:

https://homesonwheelsalliance.org/2022rtrs/

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g32784-d18153825-Reviews-Slab_City-Niland_California.html

We might not need to move in groups for protection of commerce anymore but people often meet and travel together (carpool, arrange to bus X-number of people) to events that otherwise never meet. Caravanning is alive and well. People go camping, RVing, workkamping, work remotely, and live as nomads. My 10 years in the U.S. Navy was very nomadic - a maritime caravan with quite a bit of terrestrial caravanning as well.

Gotcha, thanks!

Vanessa Smoak wrote:
As far as “boa” I think that is what they’re called. I’m referring to 2 stones tethered together with leather or sinew and thrown to tangle the legs of the target.

I believe what you are thinking about here is a bola.  

That does seem like a potential traditional skills sort of thing.

I don't know if you want to go here, but I think traditional skills would also include certain levels of physical fitness or ability.  Can you climb a tall tree?  Can you run/jog a mile, 2 miles, 3 miles or more?  Can you hike 20 miles in a day?

Something about traditional leisure and hobbies? Even a complete categorie about having fun with others or alone or mixing that with community badge?

recite song, stories, making simple music-beat instruments and-or playing them to entertain around campfire?. I remember seeing in the foxfire book index things abouts banjos, fiddles, dance. Knowing some simple games or doing Whittling. Writting hand letter (to paul ?), making paper and ink. Painting or adding colors to  something to make it more beautiful , not just like painting a wall 1-2 colors. Making alchool or plants bringing pleasure? Some types of markmanship other than with guns, like archery, slings, knife-axe throwing, etc. Candle making, genealogy, basics methods of starting fire (no matches or lighter). Using ham radio. Tatoing, permanent or not.

I am sure others could add many things into that.

Mike Haasl wrote:Gotcha, thanks!

You’re welcome.

Caravanning might be a social aspect: Traveling in a group and camping out in some fashion. Group bonfires are nice, too.

A few more I thought of:

Native American fish trapping

fish netting

Was throwing nets over land game ever a thing?

Native American buffalo stampeding

3-sisters planting

Native American seed planting in small fish

Choose a Native American tribe abode and construct it

Make pemmican

Make hard tack 😝

Make a travois and use it

Accurately fire an arrow while on horseback at varying speeds

Caveat: A lot of the Native American practices are illegal. I wonder if some things can be modified and done legally.

How about "Dairy Works"?

Making butter(s) and cheeses? Isn't cheese essentially a way to store milk for the longer term? I think that would be cool; not sure if there are already butter or cheese badges but I'd love to learn this art at some point.



...and to Vanessa:

Vanessa Smoak wrote: ...other than turning my finds into dreadlock adornments 😆

I must learn!!! I love it.

Start a fire with flint/tinder

Make a snow shelter

Cook something in a pit

Split a log using only nonpowered hand tools

A lot of the natural building PEP badges would apply here as well

Kenneth Elwell wrote:Transport could have a sled? dogsled, sledge for heavy things...

I had a similar thought when I read the OP and I have a few suggestions for expanding the transport section.

Wheels have been expensive for much of history and, later, there was an entire branch of the economy that grew up around their repair and construction (at least in Europe, I'm afraid my knowledge of historic America is quite limited).

People made do with carrying, dragging, rolling or floating as much as possible.

You could consider including:

Floating a log downstream

Moving a large timber or building stone by rolling it on felled poles

Trussing and carrying a large bundle of sticks for a fire

Carrying an ember to move a fire*

* for this, I know the very early Europeans would use certain fungi (King Alfred's Cakes is one, Horses' Hoof or Amadou another) to hold an ember. By blowing on the ember or swinging it as they walked, it could be kept glowing for hours.

Thanks Chris, dairy stuff (and cooking in general) is covered in the Food Prep badge.

Malek Beitinjan wrote:Start a fire with flint/tinder - added!

Make a snow shelter - added!

Cook something in a pit - in Food Prep

Split a log using only nonpowered hand tools - added to Woodland Care

A lot of the natural building PEP badges would apply here as well - Yeah, that badge got fiddled with too and there is lots of overlap in all of these...

Thanks Malek!

Luke Mitchell wrote:

Kenneth Elwell wrote:Transport could have a sled? dogsled, sledge for heavy things...

I had a similar thought when I read the OP and I have a few suggestions for expanding the transport section.

Wheels have been expensive for much of history and, later, there was an entire branch of the economy that grew up around their repair and construction (at least in Europe, I'm afraid my knowledge of historic America is quite limited).

People made do with carrying, dragging, rolling or floating as much as possible.

You could consider including:

Floating a log downstream

Moving a large timber or building stone by rolling it on felled poles

Trussing and carrying a large bundle of sticks for a fire

Carrying an ember to move a fire*

* for this, I know the very early Europeans would use certain fungi (King Alfred's Cakes is one, Horses' Hoof or Amadou another) to hold an ember. By blowing on the ember or swinging it as they walked, it could be kept glowing for hours.

Thanks Luke, I struggled with wheels and wagons.  I know they're very hard to make well.  So I think they're out of the scope of a young person looking to inherit land.  Sure it's a tremendously impressive skill but I thought it was too in-depth.  Maybe making a simple wheel would work but I'm not sure it's worth the trouble.  You spend a few hours making a crappy wheel and then it doesn't really work well enough to use.  You kinda learned something but you probably wasted more time.  I dunno....

Some of those log moving things are in Homesteading already...  The ember one is interesting, consider it added!

Mike Haasl wrote:
Thanks Luke, I struggled with wheels and wagons.  I know they're very hard to make well.  So I think they're out of the scope of a young person looking to inherit land.  Sure it's a tremendously impressive skill but I thought it was too in-depth.  Maybe making a simple wheel would work but I'm not sure it's worth the trouble.  You spend a few hours making a crappy wheel and then it doesn't really work well enough to use.  You kinda learned something but you probably wasted more time.  I dunno....

I absolutely agree.

Perhaps my post was confusing but I was trying to suggests why I felt that many ancient skills focused on transporting things without wheels - they were incredibly expensive, difficult to make and repair and, for much of their history, beyond the reach of "normal" people (who were more likely to roll/drag/carry things).

I'm glad you found the ember suggestion helpful.

Good luck with this project, I look forward to seeing it develop

How about knife throwing and/or ax throwing…

I find throwing knives to be one one of the more effective ways to take care of flock/heard predators like skunks/possums/raccoons — traditional plus zero reload time and no wasted munitions…

Luke Mitchell wrote:
Perhaps my post was confusing but I was trying to suggests why I felt that many ancient skills focused on transporting things without wheels - they were incredibly expensive, difficult to make and repair and, for much of their history, beyond the reach of "normal" people (who were more likely to roll/drag/carry things).

As I was reading, I thought about the travois, which Vanessa Smoak mentioned: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travois
I don't know if a travois can be made "people sized" as opposed to just horse sized, but if you need to follow a trail rather than a road, I can remember reading that the travois was quite practical. Much depends on the type of country. Many areas of South America knew the concept of  "wheels" but made no use of them for transportation, and this has been ascribed to the terrain being unsuitable. My 'Murican Geography isn't good enough to picture "Wisconsiney" geography, so you'll have to decide if a travois is helpful or not.

Is a Sleigh of some sort covered - I do recall that Wisconsin has snow?

I have a toboggan, bob sled (horse-drawn size), dogsled and skis.  The kind of thing I think should be on there is a sled.  Maybe this is along the lines of what would be a good BB:


A horse drawn sleigh is a bit bigger than I was thinking of including in this badge.


A cutesy Christmas sleigh for decorations isn't what I'm after.

Mike Haasl wrote: The kind of thing I think should be on there is a sled.  Maybe this is along the lines of what would be a good BB:

It might be more useful if it had a rigid handle like a wagon, unless it was going to only be used on flat land. On a down hill slope it might run up your ankles. Uphill or flat a rope is fine. I find a wide "U" shape handle that I can pull with both hands easier on my back as the twisting action from uneven one armed pulling gives me grief - but then, I'm a wimp!

Harvesting and processing dry grains, beans and seeds.
An important part of the milpa system is to know how to process dry corn, beans and pumpkin seeds to store for food until the next harvest.

Flint napping to make arrows & cutting tools. Make clothing from the tanned hides. Water filtration with sand & charcoal. Preserving foods such a pemmican. I see sled pix but what about a travois? Simple musical instruments.

Orienteering.

I saw bola, axe throwing, knife throwing, shooting an arrow, was atlatl on the list anywhere? Atlatl and spear was very high tech for a long time.

The canjo is the quintessential first homemade string instrument. You can also build a cigar box guitar with as many strings as you like.

Good ones!  Maybe I should update the top post...  I've been adding items to my list as people suggest ones that resonate for PEM.

The thing I struggle with for actual "throwing/shooting" type skills is they don't result in an "artifact" like most of the PEP BBs.  I do expect for bow/arrow and atlatl BBs to have people hit a target to show the device works.  But it won't require lots of practice.  Maybe I'm off base there but that's where my head is at now...

I have arrow head making, atlatl and thrower making and a couple musical instruments on the latest list.  I didn't want to add any leather clothing since that's in Textiles already.  I'm debating pemmican since it would fit in Food Prep and Preservation already but maybe I could have a few cool food related ones in this badge that could count as twofers with Food Prep...

Mike Barkley wrote:Preserving foods such a pemmican.

I'm thinking that I should add some preserved foods as a "twofer" with Food Prep.  So by doing a pemmican BB you'd get a small amount of points in this Traditional Skills badge plus you could use it for your Food Prep BBs.  IE - Dehydrate meat (Food prep), dehydrate berries (Food prep), render tallow (Food prep), combine it all into pemmican (Traditional Skills).

So...  If I were to add a half a dozen foods like this, what are some other candidates?

Build a water wheel. It could be used to lift water or to power tools like saws & hammers.

Make a grist mill. Either a small hand turned one or something larger powered by animals or even a waterwheel.

Wild rice. Could be either harvest some or plant some. In Minnesota there are many laws & regulations about wild rice. Not sure about Wisconsin.

There is a thing called field copper in Iowa. Not sure if there is some in Wisconsin. It's rocks containing copper ore brought down by the glaciers thousands of years ago. Might be a good foraging BB for that area.

You might already have this planned, but I woke up thinking about how I would move cordage and basketry from PEP's textile category into PEM's traditional skills category. (I do see at the top you have a basketry section.)

Thanks Christopher!  Yeah, things like that are tricky.  If I was totally redoing the Textiles badge to be different from PEP, I'd do that.  Since I'm actually copying most of PEP Textiles, I think I have to leave most of them over there.

But checking into it, I did move the "Make twine" BB over to Traditional Skills from PEM Textiles so that one did move (Yay!)

I am so looking forward to doing all that.

What about growing, processing, and making clothes from flax for the "make your own clothes" section?
That's definitely a bigger, time- and energy-consuming project.

Good idea April!  Luckily that's already in the Textiles badge in PEP which I'll be copying heavily from.  It was written by some lovely people who know much more about it than me.