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Empowering, Connecting and Inspiring with Ancestral and
Land-based Living Skills
...because there has never been a more important time to remember how capable and resilient you truly are.
Dropped into the Arctic wilderness—solo—as winter descended, Woniya intended not only to survive, but to thrive. Out of ten participants in a rugged competition, she hoped to be the last to return home. With only a few tools and meager resources, she would need her survival skills, quick wits, and whole heart to make it through. Never Alone is the story of Woniya’s Arctic journey.
The skids scraped against the hard granite as the helicopter settled onto the barren peninsula. My fingers were shaking so badly from the adrenaline, it was hard to unbuckle my chest straps. Then, with one step down the ladder, I left the modern world and the rest of humanity behind.
I expected the land to be harsh and unforgiving, but I didn’t expect that it would be so breathtaking.
Nor that I would fall instantly in love with it.
The Arctic kicked my butt repeatedly throughout the next three months, but each time it picked me back up, staggered me with its beauty, and showed me again how truly resilient I am.
My arctic adventure could easily have been a grueling struggle, but through putting my trust in myself and the land, it instead became a beautiful journey to a deeper sense of belonging.
Advance praise for Never Alone:
“Well written, sometimes hair-raising, and always moving. She tells us what it is like to live in that primordial way, with unflinching honesty and vivid insight. Truly a memorable book."
-Kim Stanley Robinson, award winning author of Shaman, Ministry for the Future, The Mars Trilogy, and more.
Follow this link to learn more about it!
“There are few things as transformative as feeling seen and held by an intact wild place, merging with the natural world around you, and coming to see yourself not as separate but as an important and valued part of it, feeling a belonging so deep that there’s no such thing as loneliness.”
Woniya Thibeault, Never Alone
The skids scraped against the hard granite as the helicopter settled onto the barren peninsula. My fingers were shaking so badly from the adrenaline, it was hard to unbuckle my chest straps. Then, with one step down the ladder, I left the modern world and the rest of humanity behind.
I expected the land to be harsh and unforgiving, but I didn’t expect that it would be so breathtaking.
Nor that I would fall instantly in love with it.
The Arctic kicked my butt repeatedly throughout the next three months, but each time it picked me back up, staggered me with its beauty, and showed me again how truly resilient I am.
My arctic adventure could easily have been a grueling struggle, but through putting my trust in myself and the land, it instead became a beautiful journey to a deeper sense of belonging.
Advance praise for Never Alone:
“Well written, sometimes hair-raising, and always moving. She tells us what it is like to live in that primordial way, with unflinching honesty and vivid insight. Truly a memorable book."
-Kim Stanley Robinson, award winning author of Shaman, Ministry for the Future, The Mars Trilogy, and more.
Follow this link to learn more about it!
“There are few things as transformative as feeling seen and held by an intact wild place, merging with the natural world around you, and coming to see yourself not as separate but as an important and valued part of it, feeling a belonging so deep that there’s no such thing as loneliness.”
Woniya Thibeault, Never Alone
Welcome to Buckskin Revolution
The mission of Buckskin Revolution is to help people feel connected to their wildest, freest selves, to their human community, and to the living world around them.
It is to teach them the skills to gather and create the things they need for daily living- clothing, shelter, food, containers and more. It's about helping people feel empowered to choose a life for themselves rather than feeling trapped in the system. It is not just about surviving, but about living a beautiful life and thriving!
We offer online courses, in-person classes, videos, books and other writing.
The mission of Buckskin Revolution is to help people feel connected to their wildest, freest selves, to their human community, and to the living world around them.
It is to teach them the skills to gather and create the things they need for daily living- clothing, shelter, food, containers and more. It's about helping people feel empowered to choose a life for themselves rather than feeling trapped in the system. It is not just about surviving, but about living a beautiful life and thriving!
We offer online courses, in-person classes, videos, books and other writing.
About Woniya
My name is Woniya Thibeault, and I am the woman behind Buckskin Revolution.
I have been practicing and teaching ancestral, wilderness and related land-based skills and for over 20 years. They have been not just a hobby, but a life way. I have spent much of my adult life living off grid, growing, gathering and crafting the things I need with my own hands from the land around me. With this extensive hands on knowledge of traditional skills and a Masters degree in Environmental Science, I bring a well rounded approach to my teaching and to have all I share tie in to the bigger picture of how it relates to the world around us and ourselves.
These days most people know me through my appearance on Alone, a self-filmed wilderness survival challenge and television show. I was the runner up on Season 6, living off the land for 73 days just south of the arctic circle in the Northwest Territories. I was later invited on the show's "all-star" challenge, Alone: Frozen, where I became the first woman to win Alone and set a new record for cumulative days solo in the wilderness on the show, 123 total days. The experiences were life changing and helped me share with the world not just how strong women are, but also how approaching the wilderness from a place of connection and relationship, rather than trying to conquer it or fight it, is a better approach. I made a lot of my own clothing and gear for both adventures, showing that handmade gear of traditional materials, can be just as good as fancy high-tech modern equipment. A win for me, a win for women, and a win for nature connection and traditional skills! Hooray!
Connect with me on Patreon
As you can imagine, I am getting a lot more attention and interest in all I do since the Frozen season. I am not able to respond to all email inquiries and questions, but there is a way to be more connected to me, my work and all that I do. My Patreon supporters are my inner circle. I prioritize responding to their comments and questions and they are the first to hear about what I am up to and to have access to my writings. We have regular interactive Zoom calls and they get discounts to my courses, along with a variety of other benefits. If you would like to support and be a bigger part of what I do, I encourage you to join me on Patreon. More details here
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So many ways to learn!
Online Courses: The Corona virus pandemic woke a lot of people up to why it is so important to know how to grow, gather and make more for ourselves, just at the same time that it made it a lot harder to get out and do that! My response was to start teaching online courses. I had thought this would be a one time thing, but the connections made through these courses and the ways I saw them change peoples lives for the better changed my mind and the Buckskin Revolution Academy was born! I once a year and have 2 shorter courses, Connection is a Survival Skill and Buckskin Sewing 101, both available year round. More courses are in the works! Click the links here to learn more and to sign up!
In person Courses: I don't have any more in person classes scheduled for 2022 class schedule. I will be updating the Classes and Events page when my 2023 schedule comes together. Sign up for the mailing list or check again here soon to sign up!
In person Courses: I don't have any more in person classes scheduled for 2022 class schedule. I will be updating the Classes and Events page when my 2023 schedule comes together. Sign up for the mailing list or check again here soon to sign up!
In the media: read more about Woniya's teaching philosophy and her students experience The Guardian
I consider myself someone who teaches "wilderness living" as opposed to "survival" skills. The beauty of this is that the more empowered and connected we feel, and the broader our skill set; the better suited we are for survival and "surthrival" anywhere, be it in the wilderness, in the backyard, or in a city apartment! Focusing on being comfortable and in tune with the world around you and maintaining a good mind set is one of the most vital and undervalued survival skills out there!
The course referenced in the article was my Fall Online Gathering, which covered wilderness skills and also Ancestral and Land-Based Living Skills, Awareness, and Connection which took place December 2020, but there will be more similar gatherings in the future.
I consider myself someone who teaches "wilderness living" as opposed to "survival" skills. The beauty of this is that the more empowered and connected we feel, and the broader our skill set; the better suited we are for survival and "surthrival" anywhere, be it in the wilderness, in the backyard, or in a city apartment! Focusing on being comfortable and in tune with the world around you and maintaining a good mind set is one of the most vital and undervalued survival skills out there!
The course referenced in the article was my Fall Online Gathering, which covered wilderness skills and also Ancestral and Land-Based Living Skills, Awareness, and Connection which took place December 2020, but there will be more similar gatherings in the future.
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Not familiar with Patreon? It is a crowd funding platform that connects people with creators they believe in and want to support.
Joining Buckskin Revolution on Patreon makes you part of the team- you get access to exclusive videos and posts, exclusive merchandise and book rough drafts, video conferences with Woniya and other members, and more. |
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