Life on Trail
Gift on a Windy Day
Trails Guide ‘Dreamtime’
Aboriginal Australians have developed, and are bound by, highly complex belief systems that interconnects the land, spirituality, law, social life and care of the environment.
A Native Land Ethic
In 1854, the President of the United States in Washington (the “Great White Chief”) made a purchase offer for a large area of Indian land and promised a ‘reservation’ for the Indian people. Chief Seattle’s reply has been described as one of the most profound statement of modern environmental matters.
“How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and sparkle of the water, how can you buy them?” -Chief Si’ahl
‘Three Command System’
George B. Shaw summed up the current status of the Trail Guides’ Brief when he said; “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place”. This greatly neglected, yet critical discussion between the Lead and Back-Up Trail Guides before a walking safari should include standard operational procedures (SOP’s) or ‘golden commands’ for a sudden situation or dangerous encounter.
