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00:00:01Any time I can stick it to the man in a small way, I do.
00:00:05Could you start your life all over again?
00:00:08Leave behind everything you know for something completely different?
00:00:13It's like, I guess we live in a bit of a pressure cooker.
00:00:16I'm Ben Fogel, and over the next few weeks,
00:00:18I'm going to live with the incredible people who've done just that.
00:00:22Did you ever feel like abandoning the property?
00:00:26It's my home.
00:00:27Would you say you enjoy the companionship of animals more than people?
00:00:31Probably, yeah.
00:00:33In some of the most remote places on Earth.
00:00:36This is why I love the wilderness.
00:00:38I'll discover their motivations.
00:00:40For me, it was just, yeah, you're born, you go to school,
00:00:44you work all life, and then you die.
00:00:45The challenges.
00:00:47There's no way that I was going to put my wife and my children in that house,
00:00:51the condition that I was in.
00:00:52Just make sure there's absolutely no electrical current down there.
00:00:55And find out what it takes to make a new life in the wild.
00:01:00Hasta la vista, baby.
00:01:09This week, I'm in the forests of New England.
00:01:15Learning to live like a hunter-gatherer with Arthur.
00:01:18Will you do this throughout the winter?
00:01:19It gets tough.
00:01:20We have to start breaking through ice.
00:01:23I'll find out how he raises a family in the wilderness.
00:01:26You hit the target.
00:01:27You hit the target.
00:01:28She helps us butcher the animals.
00:01:31And the role of nature in healing his wounds.
00:01:34Death nourishes life, and life nourishes death.
00:01:38A spirit is sort of everywhere.
00:01:40That's perhaps how they grieve.
00:01:48From Boston, I'm driving three hours north to Maine.
00:01:54A state of homely towns, abandoned paper mills,
00:01:59and the most forest cover of any US state.
00:02:05I often forget just how enormous the United States is.
00:02:09You don't have to travel too far
00:02:10to find great swathes of wild back country.
00:02:19And it isn't long before I'm off the beaten path.
00:02:28I feel like I'm in a different world now.
00:02:31Not a sign of anyone here.
00:02:34Very basic track.
00:02:36A little bit creepy, if I'm to be honest.
00:02:39It's quite a harsh, wintry environment.
00:02:42It definitely takes a unique person to live here.
00:02:47I've been told my host is a primitive skills expert
00:02:50who lives off the land using Stone Age technology.
00:02:54So I'm a little surprised when I spot my home for the week.
00:02:58Here we go.
00:02:59Not quite what I was expecting.
00:03:03Hello?
00:03:04Arthur?
00:03:06Hello?
00:03:07Hey!
00:03:08Hello!
00:03:08You must be Arthur.
00:03:10I am.
00:03:10And Ben.
00:03:11Ben, nice to meet you.
00:03:12Likewise.
00:03:12So primitive skills, very modern house.
00:03:15We like to show that you don't need to live in a bark wigwam
00:03:18to be able to have connection to nature.
00:03:20So does that mean you're not going to suddenly dress me all in skins for the whole time?
00:03:24I can.
00:03:25They're in there.
00:03:26But I'm not going to do that to you.
00:03:27I don't need...
00:03:28I noticed nothing on your feet.
00:03:30No.
00:03:30It's still warm enough.
00:03:31We go barefoot a lot.
00:03:33Do you?
00:03:33Even in the snow?
00:03:34Occasionally short trips.
00:03:37Come in.
00:03:38I'm intrigued already.
00:03:39Thank you so much.
00:03:40You got it.
00:03:43Arthur grew up in Maine, where he spent his youth camping and fishing in the forests
00:03:48around his home.
00:03:50After graduating with a Masters in Botany from the University of Maine, he began a career
00:03:55as a mountaineering guide and plant biologist.
00:04:00But the woods of his youth called him back.
00:04:03And in 2010, at the age of 40, Arthur and his then partner Nicole bought a 60-acre tract
00:04:10of land to pursue their dream of a wilder life.
00:04:16Skull on the table.
00:04:17You don't often see that.
00:04:18Black bear.
00:04:19How do you end up with a black bear skull?
00:04:21We hunt them.
00:04:22You hunt them.
00:04:23Whoa!
00:04:25One of the seasonal foods.
00:04:28Did you hunt those as well?
00:04:30Yes.
00:04:30How off-grid are you here?
00:04:32I mean, we're entirely off-grid.
00:04:34We do have to have satellite internet for my employment, but that's it.
00:04:38I saw solar panels on the roof.
00:04:40Yes.
00:04:40So that's how you get all your electric.
00:04:41Yes.
00:04:42Sometimes I have to go clear them off.
00:04:44The snow gets so deep the cars can't move in and out.
00:04:46So we snowshoe in and out for the things that we need to buy or take out during that
00:04:51time.
00:04:54The house was already standing when Arthur and Nicole bought the property for $180,000.
00:05:00And today, it's a surprising blend of the modern and the stone age.
00:05:05Oh, my goodness me.
00:05:08Wow.
00:05:10Wow.
00:05:12Is this you?
00:05:13Academia.
00:05:14This is academia meets the wild.
00:05:16Oh, my goodness.
00:05:18Well, this feels like I'm in your brain right now being in your office.
00:05:23Does that mean that your approach to life and lifestyle is very scientific?
00:05:28All of this is definitely an experimentation.
00:05:31I mean, there's a lot of things that we're learning fresh, if you will.
00:05:35Organized chaos in here, would you say?
00:05:37Yeah.
00:05:38I know where everything is.
00:05:39I may not look it, but I do.
00:05:44Arthur continues to work as a botanist, and he shares his home with his partner and youngest
00:05:49daughter.
00:05:51Nice to meet you.
00:05:52This is Kelly.
00:05:53Hi, Kelly.
00:05:53How are you?
00:05:54Sorry to interrupt you.
00:05:56Hello.
00:05:57This is Farrah.
00:05:57Hello, Farrah.
00:05:58What have you got here, Farrah?
00:06:00We're cracking acorns.
00:06:01Then we'll grind them, and then we'll make acorn pancakes.
00:06:04Of course you'll make acorn pancakes.
00:06:07Presumably, this is all parts of life here?
00:06:10This is our food prep.
00:06:10Yeah?
00:06:11And Farrah's fully involved in all of that?
00:06:13Yeah.
00:06:13I mean, she helps us butcher the animals.
00:06:15What?
00:06:17Farrah, did you help butcher it?
00:06:19Do you enjoy doing it?
00:06:21Yeah?
00:06:21How old are you, Farrah?
00:06:23Five.
00:06:23Five years old.
00:06:25Well, listen, I'll leave you to your pancake prep.
00:06:28I'll see you all a bit later.
00:06:29Bye, Farrah.
00:06:30See you later.
00:06:31Bye.
00:06:31Bye, Kelly.
00:06:34They may not be dressed in animal skins, but Arthur and his family seem to take their
00:06:39lifestyles seriously.
00:06:42Little single room cabin.
00:06:43Oh, I love this.
00:06:44With a wood stove.
00:06:45I'll leave you to it.
00:06:46Thank you so much.
00:06:47You got it.
00:06:47Thanks, Arthur.
00:06:50I'm fascinated by Arthur.
00:06:52I think he's a man of many sides.
00:06:56I think there's quite a lot to him.
00:06:58On the face of it, what he's trying to do is very straightforward.
00:07:02Primitive skills.
00:07:03Killing animals.
00:07:05Living a kind of low impact lifestyle.
00:07:07But he doesn't want to completely abstain from modern technology.
00:07:14I'll be curious to find out about schooling, about work.
00:07:18So I think the lifestyle that I'm going to explore this week is one that walks a very
00:07:24fine line.
00:07:25I think right now what's missing here is people.
00:07:30The volume, the size of this place seems a little bit too large for just three of them.
00:07:36But there must be a reason for that.
00:07:38And I'll look forward to exploring why.
00:07:44I'm keen to learn more, but Arthur's starting me off with the basics.
00:07:49So what are we actually doing, Arthur?
00:07:51Well, we're gathering water to drink.
00:07:53Right, so, yeah.
00:07:54Why have you chosen here?
00:07:55Just it's deep enough.
00:07:57I don't want to scrape the bottom and fill this with gravel.
00:07:59Will this water be drunk as is or do we filter it further?
00:08:03Any of the leaf particles will just settle out and we'll just decant off the top and we'll
00:08:07discard the last little bit.
00:08:08If I'm not mistaken, there are taps in the house.
00:08:11Yeah, there's running water in the house.
00:08:13And we mostly use that for washing dishes, bathing, those kinds of things.
00:08:18The water that we imbibe comes mostly from this brook.
00:08:22You know, many people are terrified they're going to pick something up and get very, very sick.
00:08:27But I've been doing it for my entire childhood and on.
00:08:30And I came to understand that I'm not saying Giardia and things like that don't exist.
00:08:35I'm saying their frequency is overrated, exaggerated.
00:08:39But some contamination does worry, Arthur.
00:08:42They're finding plastic microparticles in the rain.
00:08:45Because it's being swept up from the ocean.
00:08:48I'm carrying it over.
00:08:49It's in human breast milk now.
00:08:52This is a provocative question.
00:08:53Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:08:54But I don't feel negatively impacted by that plastic that is in me.
00:09:00The evidence is pretty clear that we shouldn't be imbibing these compounds.
00:09:04This isn't about longevity.
00:09:06It's about health while we're alive.
00:09:09I want the full complement of my abilities.
00:09:11No chronic disease while I'm alive.
00:09:14If that makes sense?
00:09:16But for Arthur, there are other benefits.
00:09:19If we rely on this water for our drinking water, then we care greatly what goes down the drain and
00:09:25what we do with it.
00:09:26So there's a little bit of a, we have to take care of it, because that's our drinking water.
00:09:31We want to be part of that web of life, not like the onlookers.
00:09:40Since he moved here, Arthur has been buying up neighbouring parcels of land.
00:09:47And the family now get half their calories from the forest around their home.
00:09:52It's like magic, isn't it? It's beautiful.
00:09:55I love the way you involve Thera in everything.
00:09:58Well, that's the only way she's going to learn, right?
00:10:00Yeah.
00:10:01Bera, do you like watching your dad do stuff?
00:10:05Yeah.
00:10:05Would you like to start a fire of your own one time?
00:10:07Do you think you could do it?
00:10:09I think you could do it.
00:10:10You want to try right now?
00:10:12No.
00:10:13We've got a good fire here.
00:10:15Arthur's vision goes further than drinking from streams and hunting game.
00:10:20We treat children just like the elderly.
00:10:24Farrah's free to do what she wants around the fire.
00:10:27If she wants to damage something that's hers, or have a certain amount of risk, that's her business, not mine.
00:10:34That's quite a thing for a parent to say, just because surely we're there to forewarn them before injury happens.
00:10:43She's very good at understanding where the risk line is from a whole life of being given that freedom to
00:10:51explore it.
00:10:51And you can see when you're watching her put things on the fire, she's back here.
00:10:55She's not sort of falling into it.
00:10:57Kelly, I'm wondering what your thoughts are on risk.
00:10:59I'm going to let them climb trees.
00:11:01Mm-hmm.
00:11:01I'm going to let them maybe take a tumble into the water and pull them right out.
00:11:07Mm-hmm.
00:11:07Because I want them to find their own limits. I don't want to find their limits for them.
00:11:12We have these needs that are built into us by this long ancestry of being hunter-gatherers.
00:11:18And so we're trying to essentially regain what it means to be biologically normal for a human.
00:11:29I can see a few complications, but in today's online world,
00:11:34there's something refreshing about a five-year-old eating by the light of a campfire.
00:11:40Enjoy.
00:11:42So this is wild rice?
00:11:44Yes.
00:11:45And tell me about the moose?
00:11:47We pulled out the tenderloin, the nice bits for you.
00:11:50So how long have you guys been together for them?
00:11:53Two years and some change.
00:11:56How does that work?
00:11:57Well...
00:11:58Sorry to sound so nosy.
00:12:00I did used to have another partner.
00:12:02I was married to a woman named Sarah, and that was Farrah's mom.
00:12:05Mm-hmm.
00:12:05Can I ask where Sarah is?
00:12:07I mean, her physical remains are...
00:12:09There, she's died.
00:12:10Oh, I'm so sorry.
00:12:11Yeah.
00:12:12How long ago was that?
00:12:14Uh, two and a half years.
00:12:17Now.
00:12:18Yeah.
00:12:19Um, Sarah lived here and participated in all of these things.
00:12:23And, um, Farrah was her little peanut, her child.
00:12:26Um, Kelly, um, had lived with us for a while and knew Farrah from when she was very young.
00:12:33I guess I'm ecstatic that Farrah has somebody that knew her mom, and we don't have to hide this prior
00:12:41relationship.
00:12:42Wow, so into this intricate web here, I'm now understanding it's deeper than I realised probably when I first came.
00:12:52Yes.
00:12:53Yeah, I would say that her spirit at least is here some of the time.
00:12:58It's quite a revelation from a family I've only just met.
00:13:02Do you know what Sarah looks like?
00:13:04I do.
00:13:05Do you?
00:13:06Oh.
00:13:07Because I knew her.
00:13:10Wait, did you cover she's alive?
00:13:12I did.
00:13:13Yep.
00:13:16If I didn't know differently, I would have thought that Kelly, Farrah, and Arthur were a biological family.
00:13:23But now I understand differently.
00:13:26That must still be a very raw wound.
00:13:30And perhaps over the next few days I'll start to learn a little bit more about what happened.
00:13:36I think they're emotionally very free.
00:13:39I get the feeling this is a family that is very, very much part of nature, part of the landscape,
00:13:46where most of us live apart from it.
00:13:50And it's a very big difference.
00:14:09I'm in the woods of New England.
00:14:13Very peaceful sleep.
00:14:15I had a few squirrels on the roof.
00:14:17Right.
00:14:20It's my first morning with primitive skills expert, Arthur, and his family.
00:14:27So what are you doing up in the chair?
00:14:29I'm going to take a tree stand shot, which is probably what I'd be doing if I was shooting a
00:14:32deer.
00:14:33And his 11-year-old daughter, Samara, has joined us to practice her hunting skills.
00:14:40Oh, nice. Very nice.
00:14:42Normally with deer hunts, people are up in a tree.
00:14:44But when I shot my deer last year, I was in a blind with my dad.
00:14:49Was that your first deer?
00:14:51Yes, that was my first deer.
00:14:53She was a very pretty deer.
00:14:54Did you feel sad at all?
00:14:56Definitely.
00:14:57I always feel sad when I take an animal's life, but I also feel very happy and excited and kind
00:15:02of like relieved too.
00:15:03Like, ah, I did it. It's not wounded.
00:15:05I way rather miss an animal than wound an animal.
00:15:09Arthur is separated from Samara's mum, Nicole, who lives nearby.
00:15:14And the couple share homeschooling duties.
00:15:17On top of his botany work, he also raises money by teaching primitive skills to paying students.
00:15:23Wow. You're up.
00:15:25Of all ages and abilities.
00:15:27Two fingers down, one finger up.
00:15:30Draw all the way back to the corner of your mouth if you can.
00:15:33And let go.
00:15:35Wait, wait, wait. That one didn't count.
00:15:37I didn't even see you shoot it.
00:15:38You didn't? No.
00:15:39Okay.
00:15:40No pressure.
00:15:43Oh, you're in the target.
00:15:45You hit the target.
00:15:46You hit the target.
00:15:46You hit the target.
00:15:46I hit the target.
00:15:48Very good.
00:15:48Quit while we're ahead.
00:15:49That then actually may have been a lethal shot, you know?
00:15:52Oh, really?
00:15:52Yeah, yeah.
00:15:53What's, Samara, I'm wondering what's the hardest part when you go hunting?
00:15:57What do you find the most difficult?
00:15:59Well, some of it is waiting.
00:16:01How long will you wait for?
00:16:02A lot of times it's two, three hours, something like that.
00:16:05We all here recognize that we didn't grow up as hunter-gatherers.
00:16:10Sometimes it's difficult for some people to sit with their thoughts and just be still and tranquil.
00:16:16One aspect of it that's really good for her are those longer sits, to be able to just calmer mind,
00:16:21calmer body, and not have to have sensations just coming in all the time.
00:16:28Beyond killing an animal to consume it and eat it, what are you trying to teach, Samara, with these skills,
00:16:35with the lifestyle that you have here?
00:16:37I do want them to learn how to get their food from the forest.
00:16:39If they can't do that, that idea of being part of the wilderness as opposed to an observer will never
00:16:46come.
00:16:47I know you've never been to school, but is there anything about school that you've heard or you've ever read
00:16:51about that you think would be fun?
00:16:53Definitely. I feel like I'd like to have more friends.
00:16:57Just because I'm homeschooled, I don't feel like I have as many and I don't get to hang out with
00:17:00them as much.
00:17:01Is it worth missing out on those for living the lifestyle that you live?
00:17:06Definitely. I definitely, that's why I haven't gone to school, because it's my choice.
00:17:11Arthur has mentioned about this idea of sovereignty when it comes to his children.
00:17:14They are the decision makers. They can stand or fall according to those decisions that they make.
00:17:21I don't want to kind of pick holes in that, but when you are arming your children with one line
00:17:29of information,
00:17:30it tends to sway that decision making anyway.
00:17:34It's really important that you hear all sides of the story.
00:17:40It's not a trade-off everyone would agree with, but for Arthur, there are other lessons to learn.
00:17:47I need Samara to understand that everything living is mortal,
00:17:52and I want her to experience death around her so that she comes to that understanding
00:17:58that death nourishes life and life nourishes death, and they're in a cycle and they both have to happen.
00:18:07Arthur is quite unique in many ways.
00:18:10He's obviously incredibly academic, very thoughtful, very philosophical, very confident,
00:18:16and just someone who sort of seizes the moment, and he really believes in what he's working towards.
00:18:27Arthur is dedicated to this way of life.
00:18:30So these are examples of arrows that were made with stone tools.
00:18:34Although I'm still not entirely sure why.
00:18:37I can make these bows, and I can make new strings if they break. I can fix things.
00:18:43So those wooden bows hanging here in the rafters represent a technology we can replicate.
00:18:48When I look around what you've created here, is there part of you that is preparing yourself and your family
00:18:55for surviving beyond anything bigger?
00:18:59Why wouldn't you think that? But the reality is no. I don't do any of this out of fear.
00:19:05I hope for world peace. I don't want to ever have to do anything extreme with this stuff where we're
00:19:10in a survival situation.
00:19:11I want this to be a peaceful existence where we're just getting to practice the things that we love to
00:19:18do.
00:19:20Arthur isn't just raising his daughters this way.
00:19:24He takes in apprentices in the hope that they'll stay.
00:19:29Kelly first came here part-time to learn, and the couple hoped to build a permanent community.
00:19:36It's an ambitious goal, and I want to understand where Arthur's passion for this way of life began.
00:19:44So what is that?
00:19:45This is a species that has not been described yet. It's new to science.
00:19:50Most of them I don't hold on to. I actually give them over to museums.
00:19:54Mm-hmm. Was there ever another route?
00:19:57I was getting ready to go into the military. What else was available to me?
00:20:00I'd spoken to a recruiter and was getting ready to go into the army.
00:20:04Wow. I can't imagine a more different path that you could have taken.
00:20:08Yeah. But that was almost my path.
00:20:10How much time did you spend outside, though, as a child? Were you outdoorsy?
00:20:14I mean, seeing your kids, they're racing around outdoors.
00:20:19I spent a tremendous amount of time outside for a variety of reasons.
00:20:25I would be gone overnight frequently.
00:20:28There were periods of time where it was really tough.
00:20:31I had, you know, certain caregivers that were not particularly kind to me.
00:20:37I was not their child.
00:20:38And so the patience that they might have extended to their own children was not extended to me.
00:20:44And it was sometimes just better that I was out of the home.
00:20:48I mean, you think about what nature is.
00:20:50It's an awe-inspiring, low-stress environment, generally speaking.
00:20:54And if it hadn't been for that access to the forest, to the rivers around our home,
00:21:00I don't know, I'd be a mess right now. An absolute mess.
00:21:04It's so fascinating to hear that, as a child, you were comfortable going off into the woods, the wild, the
00:21:11wilderness.
00:21:11Because there's a lot of people that would be fearful into older age to go and do that.
00:21:16You have to understand that the forest to me where I could conceal myself, and that includes the darkness,
00:21:22is like this cloak of invisibility.
00:21:24You know, my daughters are afraid of being out in the dark.
00:21:26And I can't download the experiences that I've had where the dark forest is, I'm gone, and I will never
00:21:35be found, and I'm safe there because of it.
00:21:40It sounds like nature really was his sanctuary.
00:21:44And I think that's where he kind of really found himself.
00:21:47That's where his personality began to grow.
00:21:50He'd be a very, very different character if I was talking to Colonel Arthur Haynes at this point.
00:21:57I really can't imagine that.
00:21:59But isn't that beautiful that in life we're all presented with those sliding door moments?
00:22:02And he certainly picked one that I think suited him more.
00:22:08But I can see that Arthur's love of nature has given him something else.
00:22:13Do you like the story about Sailor John?
00:22:16Yeah.
00:22:17OK, so it was a very dark and stormy night.
00:22:20And the boat comes into the harbor.
00:22:22And a sailor gets out and climbs up the stone steps and goes into the bar.
00:22:28I think Arthur is kind of utilizing his own love of nature, his own childhood experiences,
00:22:35to give his own children their own very best experience that they could ever ask for.
00:22:42I think that's really rather special.
00:22:43And he's an amazing father.
00:22:45What does a moose sound like then?
00:22:47Well, the female moose, when she's breeding, like calling for males or something, sounds like this.
00:23:04But there are questions here that I still want to ask.
00:23:20Arthur and his family are still recovering from the tragic loss of his wife, Sarah.
00:23:25I can't imagine what it must be like for them.
00:23:28Is it something that you had time to plan for?
00:23:30It wasn't a shock.
00:23:32And so when it happened, then that could have happened.
00:23:35Sarah, who felt so much, who was just so empathetic and caring about the state of the world,
00:23:42it became too much for her.
00:23:44And when you say they became too much for her, what are you saying? What happened?
00:23:48Being in that mindset all the time.
00:23:51And she eventually raised her hand against herself.
00:23:55She took her own life?
00:23:57She did.
00:24:02I assumed it was Farrah that would keep her alive.
00:24:06If you could have seen the moments of them sleeping together, you know, ones asleep on each other's arm.
00:24:12And the depth of love there was intense, for lack of a better word.
00:24:18You always think that had you had that foresight, you could have somehow woven a path through all this.
00:24:25But I'm not sure that that was ever a possibility.
00:24:29I mean, who's to say that this wasn't going to happen regardless of what multiverse we're in,
00:24:35what reality we were facing, that this was something that was her path and it was also to be ours.
00:24:42Trust me, I cried for longer periods of time than I ever have in my life.
00:24:51Arthur has endured so much.
00:24:53But once again, it's in nature that he's found solace.
00:24:57It's obvious why he feels connected to this way of life.
00:25:01Someone that you loved the mother of your child to have taken their own life is a lot to process.
00:25:11And it's not that he necessarily accepts it, but he understands it.
00:25:20And I think that's probably one of the first and most important steps to dealing with the grief that you
00:25:28experience.
00:25:30Obviously, there is a complex tangle with relationships past and present.
00:25:37I think when it comes to the emotional toll of everything that's happened in the last few years,
00:25:42I don't think that's been easy at all.
00:25:57I'm in the woods of Maine, with Arthur, a primitive skills expert who believes we can lead a healthier, happier
00:26:08life by staying connected with the wilderness.
00:26:12And who's raising two daughters in his lifestyle.
00:26:15This woodpecker pecked this tree.
00:26:17They take up the bark and then they'll peck into the wood to get all the grubs and bugs and
00:26:22that.
00:26:22It's like their main diet.
00:26:25Eleven-year-old Samara has joined us for a morning hunt.
00:26:29But with game scarce, she swapped her bow and arrows for something more modern.
00:26:35So Samara, what kind of animals do you go hunting for here?
00:26:40Squirrels, grouse, bear, moose, deer.
00:26:44You gave an example with Farrah that if she touched a hot surface and got a little burn, she learns
00:26:49the hard way.
00:26:50Yes.
00:26:50It's very different with a gun.
00:26:51It is.
00:26:52Which is one of the reasons that, you know, we started early on with something like a bow.
00:26:57It's a thing that's a much harder thing to accidentally discharge.
00:27:01And now, as she's gotten older and demonstrated that she can handle the responsibility, now you see a firearm.
00:27:07Would you be happy with Samara going off with a gun on her own?
00:27:10She can't.
00:27:11Nor would I.
00:27:12Not yet.
00:27:13But I'm legally responsible for her and she has to have an adult with a hunting license,
00:27:19who has a hunting license, in her presence until she's 16.
00:27:24Local laws and permits also mean that Arthur can't hunt all year round.
00:27:29This will go up through here, okay?
00:27:33A reminder of the fine line that this lifestyle walks.
00:27:37Ha!
00:27:38Ha!
00:27:39Ha!
00:27:39Ha!
00:27:43I have no idea how the hunt's going, because they're off on their own.
00:27:47You know, we're heading into winter, so I'd prefer to give them the best chance they have.
00:27:58Hi.
00:28:00Any luck?
00:28:01No, no luck.
00:28:02No.
00:28:02We saw one, but it was way off in the distance.
00:28:05I didn't even get to see it.
00:28:05It was just Dad.
00:28:06Mm-hmm.
00:28:07When you have just spent a couple of hours and you haven't come back with anything, how
00:28:11do you feel?
00:28:12There's always that hope that you'll get something, but I don't feel disappointed because it's
00:28:16fun and I'm normally quite comfortable because I just lean against my dad.
00:28:20In the animal kingdom, if you came back empty handed, you'd go without.
00:28:23That's right.
00:28:24And we've talked, oh, maybe over the last year about doing that as a family, that on days
00:28:30that we don't forage or succeed in hunting or fishing, that in fact, perhaps we will go
00:28:36hungry that day to actually feel that true participation in the wilderness.
00:28:40How do you feel about this, going without no breakfast now?
00:28:45I'm a very hungry person, so it might be challenging.
00:28:48I think you deserve a breakfast.
00:28:49I think we're allowed to go there.
00:28:50I absolutely do deserve a breakfast.
00:28:52I do.
00:28:52You definitely do.
00:28:57Growing up in the wilderness might not always be easy, but there are other ways of getting
00:29:03a good meal from the forest, if you know what you're doing.
00:29:07When you say wild rice, you really do mean wild rice.
00:29:10Oh, it's 100% wild grown, nobody's cultivating it.
00:29:14Remember, pick that foot up.
00:29:16This is what wild rice looks like?
00:29:17Yeah.
00:29:18This is the equivalent of crushing grapes with your feet.
00:29:22In a sense, yes.
00:29:24Arthur and Kelly have a wild Thanksgiving planned for this evening.
00:29:27A chance to come together and mark the change of season.
00:29:32Who's coming?
00:29:33Some of them have been students, some of them have been fellow instructors, people that
00:29:37we organise gatherings with, people that we've travelled with.
00:29:41All of them appreciate this locally sourced wild food as a part of their life as well.
00:29:48As always with Arthur, he's done his homework.
00:29:52The Indigenous people worked out what works here in this place.
00:29:57And to try to reinvent the wheel is sort of a ridiculous proposition.
00:30:02They understand what needs to happen to make this into food.
00:30:05It's a lot of work, isn't it?
00:30:07On top of your 40-hour work week.
00:30:10I mean, this is the complete antithesis to fast food, isn't it?
00:30:13It's as slow as the food gets.
00:30:15Yeah.
00:30:17With plenty of slow food to make, I'm keen to pull my weight.
00:30:23My observations in the short time I've been here is that Arthur really likes to get things
00:30:29right.
00:30:30There is a perfectionist streak in him.
00:30:33I think he's actually softened.
00:30:35Oh, really?
00:30:36A little bit.
00:30:37He likes things precise.
00:30:39And with Farrah growing up, presumably, you're both going to try and encourage her to take
00:30:47up similar sort of philosophies?
00:30:49Yeah, we're trying to teach her.
00:30:50But also, if she wants to go into an industrial life where we have to be okay with that too.
00:30:56Do you think Arthur would be?
00:30:57If she said, I want to be a banker?
00:30:59She would, er, he would be saddened.
00:31:02He would be saddened, I think.
00:31:04Yeah.
00:31:05But, presumably, he wouldn't try to dissuade her?
00:31:07Oh, he would try.
00:31:08He would.
00:31:12Kelly first joined Arthur and Sarah part-time, helping out after work.
00:31:17But today, she's helping raise Arthur's two daughters.
00:31:21I want to know how she's adjusted to her new role under such difficult circumstances.
00:31:28But I've always thought of adopting.
00:31:30I actually, when I was in graduate school, I wrote my adopted children a letter telling
00:31:34them I always wanted them, so that they know that someone did.
00:31:37Mm-hmm.
00:31:38And do you feel a burden of responsibility ever?
00:31:41Sometimes.
00:31:42But seeing you and Farrah together, for example, you have a very maternal sort of relationship
00:31:48with her.
00:31:49There's this concept of alloparenting, so you're a parent to all the children.
00:31:55Mm-hmm.
00:31:56And so when anthropologists would go into hunter-gatherer areas, he would have a hard
00:32:01time figuring out which children belong to who.
00:32:05If there's children in your home, you feed all of them.
00:32:08They're all your children.
00:32:09You know, in tribes, the baby would just be passed and passed and passed.
00:32:12And everyone would experience this joy, and it wouldn't be a burden at all.
00:32:15Mm-hmm.
00:32:16And so I tried to help as much as I could when Sarah was alive.
00:32:20And now, she's not here.
00:32:26Kelly had grown close to Sarah before her death.
00:32:30And her new relationship with Arthur adds to an already complex picture.
00:32:36Arthur's told me that he buried Sarah in the forest not far from the house.
00:32:41And he's invited me to visit her.
00:32:55How did you choose this spot?
00:32:58Well, a beautiful sunny spot looking away at land that she asked the world to protect.
00:33:04It's where the deer and many of the things that we eat come from every year.
00:33:08It fed Sarah.
00:33:09It feeds her child.
00:33:11And this grave is looking onto that land.
00:33:14Mm-hmm.
00:33:15You include Farrah in everything, including this, that some people may try to shield youngsters
00:33:21away from a little bit.
00:33:22Yeah.
00:33:23I mean, you can understand from our life, she sees death of animals and plants, and this
00:33:29is no different.
00:33:30The part that Farrah had the hardest time with, though, is trying to understand who did this
00:33:36to her mom.
00:33:37She would ask, who died my mom?
00:33:40That's how she used to refer to it.
00:33:42So I think that took a long time to understand.
00:33:45It must be difficult for you, this scenario, generally.
00:33:48It's pretty complex for me.
00:33:50Yeah.
00:33:50Yeah.
00:33:51Yeah.
00:33:51It's a very complex scenario.
00:33:53How do you deal with that?
00:33:54Well, I mostly just want this one to have somebody.
00:33:59Mm-hmm.
00:34:00Because I tried my best to help her.
00:34:04Yeah, I like, I don't know, I mix it up.
00:34:07Sometimes I'm fine, and then sometimes I'm like, I hear a song, and it's usually the songs
00:34:12that I'm like, oh.
00:34:15You're crying.
00:34:17Yeah.
00:34:17She was a tortured soul.
00:34:22And it's just messy.
00:34:24Mm-hmm.
00:34:26Suicide's messy.
00:34:27You don't know what to make of it.
00:34:29Someone going before they were destined to go, and leaving their children, and all the
00:34:38mix of emotions and anger that came with that, and now more acceptance and sadness.
00:34:43It's just, it's a spiral experience.
00:34:47Kelly, you are beautiful.
00:34:50Kelly, you are strong.
00:34:55Wonderful to be with you.
00:34:59Carry us along.
00:35:01Kelly, you're our heart song.
00:35:08I think we all manifest grief in so many different ways.
00:35:13It really is bespoke and unique to each and every one of us.
00:35:17They have a very healthy attitude towards death.
00:35:21Sarah's spirit is here.
00:35:23She's sort of everywhere.
00:35:25And that must make it very, very complicated for Kelly.
00:35:30But they seem to have found a way.
00:35:33They want Sarah to live on here.
00:35:36This was part of her journey as well.
00:35:40And although that must make it difficult at times, that's perhaps how they grieve.
00:35:54There are no easy answers for the loss this family's been through.
00:36:00But as guests arrive for our wild feast, I can see that they're not alone.
00:36:06Mmm.
00:36:08The wild rice is delicious.
00:36:10But now you know what goes into it.
00:36:11As soon as I clearly know.
00:36:13Arthur's feet.
00:36:13Yeah.
00:36:14Yeah.
00:36:16How did you first meet these guys?
00:36:18I met Sarah, Arthur's late wife Sarah.
00:36:22I met her back in, I think it was 17.
00:36:24That's how I got more involved with the community.
00:36:26And then after Sarah passed, I took care of Farrah on Thursdays for...
00:36:32Two years.
00:36:33That was a long time.
00:36:33Two years, yeah.
00:36:34Yeah.
00:36:34Yeah.
00:36:35Every single person here, and many who can't be here, are...
00:36:40What do you want to say?
00:36:41A very important part of our life.
00:36:43There are people that have stepped in to help us when we needed that help.
00:36:48I'm wondering how many people here have done a class with Arthur.
00:36:52Mm-hmm.
00:36:53What kind of class did you do?
00:36:54The herbal medicine class.
00:36:56Arthur is the reason that we now tap our trees.
00:37:00And he taught me a little bit about ice fishing.
00:37:02So ice fishing is on the agenda for this winter.
00:37:04A good teacher?
00:37:06Oh, absolutely.
00:37:07You have to say this when he's here.
00:37:08I've paid the most.
00:37:10You've paid them all, yeah.
00:37:11To speak well.
00:37:14It's a reminder of what Arthur's already achieved.
00:37:18Yeah, cheers, everyone.
00:37:19Cheers, cheers, cheers.
00:37:20I'm sure he feels immense pride that many of these people have been his students,
00:37:25now have become good friends of his and are sharing his visions.
00:37:30Everyone who was at dinner tonight goes back to their own homes,
00:37:33start sharing their own understandings, their own visions with other people.
00:37:38Then it starts to spread, doesn't it?
00:37:40It's a bit like that wild rice.
00:37:41It takes a long time to process it.
00:37:43You have to have a slower attitude and outlook on life.
00:38:03I'm coming to the end of my week with Arthur and his family in the wilderness of Maine.
00:38:09See the little house in the lake?
00:38:11Like a strawberry?
00:38:11Oh, yeah.
00:38:12Take a look.
00:38:15With winter fast approaching, it's a final chance to enjoy what the forest has to offer.
00:38:21Quite cold.
00:38:23What?
00:38:24Yeah.
00:38:26Will you do this throughout the winter?
00:38:29We do a full six months of the year without much trouble, and after that it gets tough,
00:38:35because we have to start breaking through ice.
00:38:38Yeah.
00:38:41For Arthur, the changing season is a reminder of our place in the cycles of nature
00:38:46and of those who've gone before us.
00:38:50It feels good to just know that there's this person who used to walk right here,
00:38:56who came to this very part of the brook with Farah.
00:39:01It's now a very good feeling to know that that spirit still walks here.
00:39:05You've talked about this kind of this ultimate contract that we have.
00:39:09The original agreement.
00:39:11The original agreement.
00:39:12Yes.
00:39:12That agreement that, you know, as a being that needs to eat other living beings to stay alive,
00:39:19that I get to do that without guilt.
00:39:21But at some point, we have to give our body back to the other beings that turn us into soil
00:39:28for the trees.
00:39:32But Arthur's still got so much to live for.
00:39:36Oh, the bounty the earth she provides.
00:39:41And with the sun shining, I have just enough time left to try Kelly and Farah's homemade acorn pancakes.
00:39:50Wow.
00:39:51That's really good.
00:39:52Oh, good.
00:39:53Mm-hmm.
00:39:53You were worried.
00:39:54We were.
00:39:55I think there is an assumption that if you're living a simple off-grid life,
00:40:01you just kind of, food is just fuel.
00:40:03Oh, no, no, no.
00:40:04Oh, no.
00:40:05Spiritual energy.
00:40:06You look horrified by that.
00:40:10Arthur and Kelly are hopeful that Samara and Farah will follow in their footsteps.
00:40:15But they're also working towards a larger goal, a self-sustaining community.
00:40:20Are you confident that you'll be able to find enough people to fill your vision?
00:40:27Eventually.
00:40:28Yeah, I do.
00:40:29I think not working full-time or having a flexible job is actually pretty critical because it just squeezes your
00:40:38time too much.
00:40:38It's challenging to go from on-grid to off-grid because you're just so used to all lights can be
00:40:44on.
00:40:44I don't need to, you know, think about the impact.
00:40:48And so that was a little bit of an adjustment.
00:40:49I think a lot of people understand that community is very important, but they do not want to give up
00:40:54that individuality,
00:40:55that complete control over their environment.
00:40:58If I want the cup right there and I want this picture tipped exactly like this, I want this temperature
00:41:03in the house,
00:41:04that's hard for some people to give up.
00:41:08Arthur and Kelly don't just want people.
00:41:10They also hope to buy more land, an entire slice of the main forest ecosystem.
00:41:18How big do you want to go?
00:41:20It's a minimum of about 4,000 acres that we sit in the middle of.
00:41:24If you make it a little funny-shaped, it's about 9,000 acres.
00:41:27Because I was going to ask how you finance all of that.
00:41:29To buy all that land is going to be very good.
00:41:30It's both straight from our wallets and from donations that come in
00:41:35and also proceeds from like a gathering that we do every year.
00:41:40It's the first step on what Arthur hopes will be a much longer journey.
00:41:44Away from harms of industrial society, towards the ways of our ancestors.
00:41:51For Arthur, I think his life's work has led to this point.
00:41:55I think he sees this as the culmination of everything he studied,
00:41:59everything he's learnt, everything he's practised.
00:42:02And I think it makes even more sense now why they don't just wear animal skins and buck skins.
00:42:07The whole time.
00:42:09I think they want ordinary people who embrace just a slightly less ordinary life.
00:42:17And I think what they are trying to show is that actually there is a halfway line.
00:42:24Would I be allowed to put up a little yurt here or something?
00:42:27After you go through the apprenticeship program.
00:42:30So my week here hasn't been enough.
00:42:32We need a few more.
00:42:33You need to scratch deeper beneath the surface.
00:42:35Yeah.
00:42:35In all seriousness, it's been an extraordinary week.
00:42:38I've been very moved by your honesty and your approach to life, death, nature.
00:42:49You should be very proud as a father.
00:42:52Appreciate it.
00:42:52Yeah, I know. Listen.
00:42:55It really is a special place.
00:42:56You've got a special family.
00:43:03I've got to go.
00:43:04Thank you so much.
00:43:05I wish you could stay longer.
00:43:07Aw.
00:43:07It's far from perfect.
00:43:09There has been great tragedy and loss here.
00:43:11But, you know, this is a family entwined within this landscape.
00:43:16What have you got?
00:43:17What is this?
00:43:19A bear tooth.
00:43:20A bear tooth.
00:43:21Aw.
00:43:21I shall treasure that.
00:43:24Safe travels.
00:43:25Look after yourselves.
00:43:26You're all very special.
00:43:28You too.
00:43:29Bye.
00:43:29Thanks so much.
00:43:31I'm gonna miss him.
00:43:32Yeah, he's funny.
00:43:34For Arthur, I think this landscape kind of has been his sanctuary ever since he was a child.
00:43:41And it's the place that he has remained.
00:43:44I think it's what's missing from so many people's lives, the invisible power of nature.
00:43:49And I think that's where the resilience comes from.
00:43:52He believes that this place can heal.
00:43:57If you care for it, it will care for you.
00:44:07Next time, I head to Botswana.
00:44:10Life in the desert is hard, you know, the Kalahari kind of hates you.
00:44:13Yeah.
00:44:13To stay with Norwegian conservationist Alex.
00:44:16You good?
00:44:17Yep.
00:44:17Who lives and works alongside the people of the Junquazi tribe.
00:44:21I wanted to welcome him into the village.
00:44:26They brought nature to life around me.
00:44:29Could you get a better gift than that from anyone?
00:44:34And if you or someone you know has been affected by any of the issues raised in tonight's episode,
00:44:39please go to channel5.com slash helplines for information and support.
00:44:44Now, would you fork out a tenner for a frozen lasagna?
00:44:47We ask, is this Britain's poshest ready meal?
00:44:50Brand new tomorrow at night.
00:44:52True Crime next – it's in the basement.
00:44:54True Crime next, in the basement,
00:44:54in the basement.
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