Mission

Vashon Wilderness Program provides nature immersion experiences that cultivate a deep relationship between self, community and the natural world.

Vision

Our teachings nourish the growth of a community devoted to sharing the gifts of compassionate connection, belonging, and harmonious living, thereby contributing to a culture in which individuals experience themselves as integral to the natural world, and richly woven into the place we all call home.

LINEAGE

We honor and acknowledge the sx̌ʷəbabš - known today as part of the Puyallup Tribe - and their traditional, unceded lands upon which we gather, work, and learn. Vashon and Maury Island are within the tribe's accustomed area for fishing and shellfish, and still today remain a vital part of the tribe's cultural sovereignty.

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JUSTICE

Nature connection is a birth rite and a way of being and belonging that all of Life benefited from until relatively recently in the story of our human family. We believe that all humans deserve to experience health and wholeness that arises from a nature-rooted life.

Please check back with us to learn more about our updated Commitment to Justice.

Land Acknowledgement

We recognize that playing and learning in Nature would not be possible without access to the natural world that has been tended since time immemorial by the many indigenous peoples of this land. We have a responsibility to learn about their histories and the ongoing harm carried out against their communities. We invite you to join us to listen, learn and actively work in solidarity to repair harm and co-create a more just and equitable future. Read more.

Values

From the Board of Directors to our program staff, from our curriculum to our community building, everyone and everything we do flows from these essential principles:

Gratitude - In all that we do, we model appreciation and reverence for the abundance and diversity in the natural world. Through giving thanks, we understand our direct impacts and the great potential we each have to nurture the health of our environment as well as our human family.

Peace - Compassionate connection flows through all our communication. In this way, our words and actions reflect our commitment to peace, appreciation, understanding, and meaningful connection and action through unity.

Play -  We honor play as an essential gateway to learning and awakening our passionate aliveness, and possibility for healthy, joyful relationships. 

Balance -  We support individuals to learn, grow and discover a deeper sense of resiliency and place within a loving, caring community. Balancing individual and group health, we foster a generation of grounded, connected, resilient, and caring human beings.

Community - We create a learning community wherein each person feels at home among their peers, mentors, and nature. In this space of acceptance and interconnectedness, we can relax and embody natural communities living in peace.

We honor and acknowledge the sx̌ʷəbabs - known today as part of the Puyallup Tribe - and their traditional, unceded lands upon which we gather, work, and learn. Vashon and Maury Island are within the tribe's accustomed area for fishing and shellfish, and still today remain a vital part of the tribe's cultural sovereignty.

While many of the skills and crafts we teach have cultural roots all over the world, we recognize our responsibility to mentor the next generation in ways that honor the sx̌ʷəbabš and all Indigenous peoples whose lives and culture are intricately woven with this place. We recognize our responsibility to honor and acknowledge all Indigenous people who stand strong in the face of ongoing injustice, and persist in sustaining a culture deeply committed to caring for each other and the Earth. We strive to honor our individual cultural legacies and authentic ways of being with nature. We commit to understanding the differences between cultural appreciation, appropriation, and misappropriation. We humbly welcome conversation and friendship in support of our collective work to join together in love and care for the Earth and future generations.

Approach

Vashon Wilderness Program is devoted to health, well-being, and harmony - for individuals, communities, and the planet. We carefully tend relationships with ourselves, each other, and the Earth based on peace, compassion, reverence, and reciprocity. We honor Nature as a powerful teacher and healer, and strive to help our students fall in love with the Earth so that they may grow to protect our shared home.

Our approach to deep nature connection invites our playful, attentive selves to meet each student where they are, and awaken their natural curiosity and direct engagement in a learning process. With a powerful set of nature, wilderness, and community-building skills, we nourish and support our students to live, learn, and lead with joy, vitality, peace, passion, and care.

CURRICULUM

Following the rhythms and seasons of nature, we explore, learn powerful nature skills and practices, and embrace the diversity of the natural world: 

Nature Awareness and Safety: Core routines, sensory awareness, nervous system balancing, hazards awareness, problem solving for physical and emotional safety. 

Mammals and the Art of Tracking: Identifying animal tracks and sign, interpreting patterns of life, learning key survival strategies of the mammals, developing empathy, cultivate inner tracking (self-awareness).

Plants, Trees, and Ecological Principles: Direct sensory experiences with plants and trees; using field guides; honorable harvesting; making wild plant food, medicine, and tools; crafting with trees for survival.

Elemental Living Skills: Building shelters; purifying water; creating fires; making objects of function and beauty from nature’s materials. 

Bird Language: Attuning to interspecies dialogues to further embed us in place; deciphering bird vocalizations and behaviors; learning what birds tell us about how to stay safe from predators.

Natural History and Heritage: Developing powerful body-based tools for observing nature; discovering our place among the more-than-human world; learning the legacies of our local home, and honoring those who have come before us and who are still here.

Exploration of these areas of knowledge leads to a greater sense of place and confidence in the natural world, as well as a strong moral compass rooted from the inside out. From this experience and understanding, an invitation to explore personal passions and affinities arises. We encourage our students to manifest these gifts to honor themselves, and share with their communities.

Gratitude

We offer gratitude to those who help us on our journey of deep nature connection.

We honor the Earth. All of the natural world is our teacher, and we are grateful for the gifts of connection with the myriad sentient beings of the more-than-human world we all share. We honor all our mentors, who, directly and indirectly, have enlivened and challenged us to grow as individuals and as an organization. We also offer gratitude to the many founding families who generously gave countless hours of visioning and labor to form our non-profit. We also humbly thank our Elders and Board of Directors that help our organization remain healthy and sustainable in perpetuity.

We honor all our youth mentors past and present for showing up with their heart, bright minds, and playful bodies in all weather to help make a difference in the lives of so many children and adults. And we offer gratitude to all our staff past and present who work behind the scenes to ensure that this living breathing community is nourished and nourishing to one and all.

Lastly, and by no means least, we honor and express deep gratitude to the thousands of people of all ages that have connected with us since our inception in 2007 through our weekly and monthly programs, summer camps, adult workshops and trainings, and seasonal celebrations. You are the reason we exist, and we are grateful for our collective story and our connections with each other and the Earth.