During
the late 1800s and early 1900s, there was a story that was frequently repeated,
in many different books, about a Native American who, rather indignantly,
stated “I’m not lost, wigwam is lost”!1
The
story, which was meant to be funny, is a stereotypical story, full of past
stereotypes, that poked fun at Native Americans; however there is a vital,
survival clue hidden in the Native American’s response, that the city-dwelling
storytellers didn’t understand and therefore missed: you are only as lost as
you think you are!
This
is important, in a wilderness survival situation, if you think your lost, then
you are right, you are! And if you think
that you aren’t lost, well then, you are right, and you are just
“misplaced”. I have said it before (“Being
Bewildered and Bending the Map ©”, HERE),
but it is important, so I am going to say it again; “lost” is a scary thing,
and scared people often panic2 and panic makes everything worse and it
is usually fatal!
So,
when you are in the wilderness and you suddenly realize that you don’t know
where you are, or how to get back to where you were, instead of deciding that
you are “lost”, and panicking, and floundering through the wilderness until you
are eventually found, most likely dead; decide that you are not “lost”, you are
simply “misplaced” or “bewildered”, to quote Daniel Boone, who in June of 1820
told Chester Harding that “I have never been lost, but I was once bewildered
for three days”3.
You
should choose to be like the wise Native American in the story, and remember
that you are only as lost as you think you are, because “misplaced” things are
almost always found, but “lost” things are sometimes lost forever!
I
hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me
on YouTube at Bandanaman Productions for other related videos, HERE.
Don’t forget to follow me on both The Woodsman’s
Journal Online, HERE,
and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube. If you have questions, as always, feel free
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That
is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!
Notes
1 Below
is an example of one of these stories, as published in 1913.
An excerpt from Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society, Volume 23, April 6, 1913 to October 15, 1913, page 72 |
2 No
matter where you are, or what the emergency is, panicking always makes things
worse. So, if you don’t know where you
are in the woods, or you are injured, or you are feeding a bonfire and a gust
of wind blows out a sheet of flame and lights your head on fire (yes, this
really happened to me), or you are on a deserted ocean beach and a rogue wave
slams down on you, breaking your nose, shocking your optic nerves and
temporarily blinding you, as the waves continue to pound you and you don’t know
which way to go to get out of the surf (and yes, this also really happened to
me), don’t panic, because panic always, always, always, makes things worse!
3
Margaret E. White, Editor, A Sketch of Chester Harding, Artist: Drawn By His
Own Hand, p. 48
Sources
American
Antiquarian Society, Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society,
Volume 23, April 6, 1913 to October 15, 1913, [American Antiquarian Society,
Worchester, Massachusetts, 1913], page 72, https://www.google.com/books/edition/Proceedings_of_the_American_Antiquarian/F-MzqvD373IC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22indian+not+lost+wigwam+lost%22&pg=PA72&printsec=frontcover, accessed June 2, 2020
National Council, Boy
Scouts of America, Scouting, Volume 8, Issue 10, [Boy Scouts of America,
May 6, 1920], https://books.googleusercontent.com/books/content?req=AKW5QafIIDF2UtEQZHN-Wj92ZEErbkCC90CXvm7TpX4YBQiWOdj0TKXtUyp_52_st_dnFTz4_k4YaAsPrOQx7xRBEm1pLAnLyQQx7AU48ELqOo_0-enqAmnPlGWXtIIgtIeH9rK3VdBRpUyonBCroWZe9F9SQgbhZDcEuGQcUx9HEnoURvXL7BMGlKLOy6sJVj1vXR7v_brCuW2D27ar1BR8A6PUaLI5Gnn_793bnhU0FFnI0a4KYGs,
accessed June 3, 2020
White,
Margaret E., Editor, A Sketch of Chester Harding, Artist: Drawn By His Own
Hand, (Houghton, Mifflin and Company, New York [1890]) p 47-48 reprinted in
https://books.google.com/books?id=zgROAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA48&lpg=PA48&dq=%22he+had+a+very+large+progeny%22+%22chester+harding%22&source=bl&ots=I9y_v-yRI2&sig=qxwqKUR9y42naWBjhoArGJi2P5U&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj4goGi7czdAhXEnOAKHWvECaoQ6AEwAHoECAUQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22he%20had%20a%20very%20large%20progeny%22%20%22chester%20harding%22&f=false,
(accessed 9/21/2018)
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