Vintage "Survival in the Bush" video

[Ralph]

One of my favourites. Re-found when I was looking for Omer Stringer films.

Survival in the Bush

Survival in the Bush

This short documentary illustrates what to do when you're lost in the bush. Filmed in 1954, an NFB producer and a Native guide allow themselves to be marooned …

www.nfb.ca

 

[ppine]

Good one Ralph.
It has always interested me how our outdoor ethics have changed over the years.
"Wilderness and the American Mind" by Nash is a book that refer to over and over. It would make a great textbook for a class.

 

[Robin]

I have seen it before but I enjoyed it again. Mr. Angus Baptist was a skilled craftsman and excellent at living off the land. A light hearted view of surviving in the bush, well done.
Thanks for the heads up, I enjoyed it.

 

[MyKneesHurt]

I'm very curious about the "firestick". I used to be obsessed with bow drill and hand drill fires; in all my research and experimentation with those, I never saw anything like that, apart from a phillipine/southeast asian method involving bamboo.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Interesting video. Thanks, Ralph.

Angus kept reminding me of the actor Claude Akins.

I was impressed by Angus's bushcraft, but would have been more impressed if he had to use pre-Columbian tools rather than a steel axe. That raises the question of what kind of cutting tools did pre-Columbian natives of North America have.

As far as I can figure with limited research, they were basically a stone age culture that had not yet invented metal smelting nor the wheel for transportation purposes. (Some cultures seem to have had toys with wheels and potter's wheels.) The primary metallic exception is that certain areas of North America did have copper, and the natives of those areas did fashion unsmelted copper into ornaments, trinkets and some tools. Therefore, pre-Columbians could have had copper axes in some areas. Copper is so soft, however, one wonders whether a copper axe would have been superior to a flint axe.

Here's a site that summarizes some information about native American tools:

Native American Tools ***

Check out this site for facts and info on the Native American Tools. Facts and information about the Native American Tools, used to make Native American weapons. The use, construction and materials used to make a Native American Tools.

www.warpaths2peacepipes.com

 

[Gamma1214]

Angus built a birchbark, without tools, in under 3 weeks. I've got power tools and it takes me over a year to build a stripper.

Cool video but, yes, it would have a much different look today. Then again...

I thought the "paddle away from your camera equipment" shot was just a YouTube thing until the end of this video. (I am, however, wondering how the camera followed them with the cameraman in the bow. Only one camerawork credit at the end but they stay well centered... ?)

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

I thought the "paddle away from your camera equipment" shot was just a YouTube thing until the end of this video. (I am, however, wondering how the camera followed them with the cameraman in the bow. Only one camerawork credit at the end but they stay well centered... ?)

I thought of that earlier in the film around 10:20 when they showed the cameraman carrying branches for bedding. All three men were in the camera shot and the camera was being moved. It sure seems like there was a fourth person there, at least at times.

I was also impressed at how Angus could make such smooth planks and ribs for the canoe with just an axe and no crooked knife.

 

[Ralph]

I'm very curious about the "firestick". I used to be obsessed with bow drill and hand drill fires; in all my research and experimentation with those, I never saw anything like that, apart from a phillipine/southeast asian method involving bamboo.

I'm a lighter and tinder kind of fire-starter so his ability to get a fire started so quickly was one of the first things that I found amazing about his skills. It's interesting that in your research you found only a few other people using his method when it looked so easy for him.

I was also impressed at how Angus could make such smooth planks and ribs for the canoe with just an axe and no crooked knife.

Again, his skills were amazing and certainly reminded me of my extremely limited bush-craft skills.

Angus built a birchbark, without tools, in under 3 weeks. I've got power tools and it takes me over a year to build a stripper.

Amazing, for sure.

 

[MyKneesHurt]

what kind of cutting tools did pre-Columbian natives of North America have

Inuit ulus and harpoons were often made of slate. Of course chert, flint, obsidian, etc were used where they were available or could be traded, the Clovis caches indicate that continent-wide trade networks were in place long before there were white people to record them. I've seen sharpened bone knives, something like those in the video, but I don't have any historical sources for their use ready to hand. Here in Virginia there are plenty of arrowheads made of quartz.
I know that beaver teeth set in a handle were one stage in the development of the mocotaugan. Of the little I've read on the subject, Ned and Russel Jalbert's book on crooked knives is the most reliable source for that statement; I quote their text that "Knives [beaver teeth on a handle] like this, excavated along the Ottawa River, have been estimated to be some 5,000 years old." They also mention a crooked-knife-like tool excavated from a cliff dwelling in the Southwest USA, but though they offer an extensive bibliography I have no idea where they found that information. Dropping big trees required girdling or burning.

There were many less-than-artful cuts in the video; I think a great deal of things happened that weren't necessarily in the spirit of "keep two white guys alive when the only guy who knows what he's doing has just an axe". I was enjoying it until the orphaned bear cub on a belt. :/

 

[Robin]

I agree that a lot of this was staged, but I still enjoyed it. Here’s some similar discussion on this documentary.

Watch Survival in the Bush on NFB.ca

Watch Survival in the Bush, a short 1954 film that shows how a little basic woodlore can save a man's life when marooned in the wilderness.

blog.nfb.ca

 

[Ralph]

Thanks, Robin, similar comments to here. They noticed the same things that we did. I agree that, although it was somewhat staged, it doesn't diminish Angus' skills.

 

[memaquay]

Yes, I'm certain that canoe was not the one he was building, it was pretty fancy. I'm not certain that deadfall trap would have killed a bear that size either. The one time I had experience with bear trapping, a foot snare was used, and a small bear around 200 pounds was caught. He had ripped up everything around him, and thrown trees around the size of the one in the dead fall. Anyway, I have watched that video a few times and always enjoy it, especially the freighter canoe.

 

[Gamma1214]

Sorry if my musings have, in any way diminished the video for anyone... Certainly not my intention. I enjoyed it immensely and am amazed at the ability to film for 2+ weeks in 1954 as well as Angus' bushcraft skills.

I've actually been wondering where the canoe is currently. Seems like (given that the NFB was, and remains, noteworthy) the canoe would be a nice addition to any museum.

PS: Mem: I'm not at all surprised that the freighter is what caught your attention.

 

[jdeerfoot]

Very interesting video. It’s too bad that many of the bushcraft skills demonstrated in the film have probably been lost.

One of the reasons Uncle Phil Cotton started the Wabakimi Project was to find and document the many historic canoe route/portages that cover the greater Wabakimi area. They were being lost because the First Nations people no longer traveled them while hunting, trapping and fishing in the bush. In talking with tribal elders Phil was told that many of the younger generation were not interested in carrying on these traditions.