Thank you so much for your patience waiting for our second blog post this summer. By now, I am sure that many of you have heard about the events of the July Session. Compared to any summer I have spent at Farm & Wilderness, this one stands out as truly unique. Below are broad strokes of the journey our little community has been on for the last few weeks. If you would like more information or have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact us at Zac@farmandwilderness.org or Zach@farmandwilderness.org. There are two big stories to share with you, one is our summer adventure during the first half, and the other is a big announcement about Flying Cloud Names.
July Session Summary:
As many of you know, our July session was quite unusual. We had the unsettling experience of having a hiker wearing a backpack and rifle (which is legal in Vermont) walk through our camp, leading to relocating FC for 12 days to Tamarack Farm and Saltash Mountain camps while we tried to make sure that Flying Cloud was safe and secure for our return. Initially, the sheriffs were unable to contact this person, who had shown resistance to our request to avoid the camp, so we had to rely on reassurances from his family and the police that he would not return to Flying Cloud. Every Flying Cloud family was faced with the difficult choice of staying at camp or leaving early. We had only bits-and-pieces of information about the man. Although we felt that the danger present at camp was no different than beforehand, there were many complicated feelings about what choice was best. Happily, the person who walked through our camp eventually contacted the sheriffs right before the July session ended. He told them that he now understands that Flying Cloud is private property in the summer months and assured the authorities he would not return to the property.
Campers and staff took the Flying Cloud spirit with them as we stayed and did activities at other F&W camps. At Tamarack Farm, we all slept in the Dance Barn together and made the most of our temporary location, with groups hiking to the top of the ridge, getting to know the TF garden, and witnessing the birth of a baby calf. We also spent an evening at Timberlake’s Ken’s Lodge and joined the afternoon activities at Indian Brook. When Saltash Mountain campers left for trips, we moved to SAM camp and set up tents in their soccer field. Flying Clouders made the most of SAM’s beautiful waterfront on Lake Ninevah, cleared brush to thank our hosts and played plenty of tetherball. We also had a visit from Red Spruce Grove.
When we finally returned to Flying Cloud, we made sure to reclaim the space as our own, with plenty of noise, laughter, games, and good food. Campers got back into the routine of living and playing at the Cloud. They built a huge fire to mark our return and to honor and appreciate the people who joined our community this summer. We ended the session with a Banquet featuring roasted goats from the F&W farm, and with a Friendship Fire where campers had a chance to talk about what Flying Cloud has meant for them. While there were plenty of stressful moments, these events became the core of our experience as a community this summer, and a story that will be told for years to come.
Flying Cloud Names:
This session was also marked by an exciting development at Flying Cloud. We continue to be committed to advancing F&W’s commitment to social justice and to turning a critical eye on ourselves, our practices, and our history. Over the last 15 years, we have made significant progress in our awareness of cultural appropriation. We’ve left behind appropriated native songs, changed the names of our lodge sites and the kinds of canvas structures we live in, altered how we appreciate each other, and now question Flying Cloud names.
While generations of Flying Clouders gave and used FC names with the best of intentions — hoping only to honor each other — we cannot escape the impact and implications of their use. In the American context, we are all living on stolen land and benefitting from the physical, mental, and cultural violence done to native peoples. As a majority-white community, we stand in a position of power, and our FC use of native-sounding names made us complicit in the continuing cultural violence against native peoples and in the erasure of their cultures. While the naming ceremony was not appropriated from any one culture, it harkens back to a popular media-based image of nativeness that collapses the hundreds of nations and cultures present on this continent (before colonization) into a single racist image. This made it easier for settlers to minimize the harm of their actions and perpetuate the myth of an empty continent open for the taking. Because we could no longer accept the harm our FC names were doing, we have chosen to discontinue our practice of giving or using them. With this announcement, we also want to extend our deepest apologies to those that we have hurt over the years. Although it was never our intent, we recognize that we must hold ourselves accountable for the harm we have done.
Over the decades, FC names have meant a lot to generations of campers and staff. The time has come, however, to acknowledge that unintentional hurt was done and that it’s time to move forward. We will continue to critically examine our past and present as we build our future, and we look forward to the opportunity to create a purely Flying Cloud way of crystallizing the appreciations we give each other and of challenging members of our community to truly be their best selves.
As always, we’re happy to talk more about these and any other community developments with parents and alums. We will also be available at Fair to do so in person. This is the latest development in a long process to end racist and appropriative practices at Flying Cloud, and every step we have taken on that journey has led us closer to the values of respect and community that are truly what make FC a special place.
Until next time, that’s the latest from the Clearing!