Living Primitively

Just had to use that headline. hehe

Now being extinct over much of Europe, the beaver is one of the most useful creatures there is. Not only does it create wetlands and enrich the lakes, it provides a lot of easy resources for the primitive. Photo: Lodge in the distance.

Despite some recent overhunting and poaching of the beaver by some local shit-kids, the area’s beaver population is still very high. The density is almost abnormally high for the region. Photo: A lodge in the distance, viewed from the lavvo (tipi).

Birch will rot very easily with the bark on, the beaver barks it and uses it for huts and dams. It will then preserve fairly well, as long as it doesn’t lie directly on soil. Seasoned or fresh, you can find both lying around, in a remarkably range of sizes and shapes. Ironically, I used a beaver stick for the new handle on my moose axe, but the beaver’s sticks provided such an easy source of materials and firewood that I almost never chopped a single piece. Photo: And what is this digging stick made from? From a beaver stick. No construction work and an excellent tool.

In fact, it provides so much firewood that you could pile up a huge amount outside an earthlodge for the winter and would never have to chop a single piece. That would not be very nice towards the beaver though, as it would most likely impact the beaver’s chances of survival. Photo: Firewood.

In addition, the beaver provides a potentially large amount of fat, good meat, some high quality fur and beaver teeth for precision carving. It’s fairly easy to hunt at some times of the year and trapping them is said to be very, very easy indeed.

If there is one animal that will make the primitive’s life easier, it is the beaver.

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