Earth Skills
I first learned about the Trading Blanket event (or ceremony) at the Earthskills Rendezvous summer camp held near the Smokies a few years ago (now the group has a home-base in Georgia to host their bi-annual Rendezvous events that draw experts in primitive skills from across the US). I went with friends and kids in tow to this nature and primitive living skills workshop and camp. There the boys learned to fletch arrows of river cane, I made a wood-fired clay pot, made some progress toward starting a fire with a bow-drill, and learned various woods skills for staying warm, finding water, and putting out a fire run amok.
Also, after an unexpected yellow jacket attack on the children leading a ramble in the woods, we learned from a veteran primitive skills practitioner that the chewed up leaves of plantain can help with insect stings (as can chewed tobacco leaves or the contents of a cigarette chewed into a poultice– but we didn’t have any).
But for me the tradition of the Trading Blanket was the best idea we brought back to our community, and luckily friends have made this event a regular feature of the post-Thanksgiving “Black Friday” Buy Nothing Day — an effort to get people to halt consumer spending for just one day. The Adbusters Media Foundation web page about No Buy Day discusses the link between this symbolic protest and environmental/sustainability education, referring to our “five planet” habits.
How it Works
To set up a Trading Blanket, pick a pretty location (preferably outdoors) and choose one facilitator each for an adult trading blanket and a kids trading blanket. Place a blanket on the ground (and surround the main blanket with other ones for sitting, if the group will be large) so that everyone has a warm spot to sit and there is still plenty of space in the middle for displaying items for trade. For those who cannot sit on the ground, stools or folding chairs are fine. Those who will actively trade should ring the blanket, while onlookers can assemble behind the main circle. Put your bags of possible trading items behind you so as not to clutter the space and confuse traders. The moderator asks the first person to his or her left to begin and place one or more items in the center of the blanket to offer for trade. The person offering can give an explanation of the items, and if he or she is willing to trade for one or all of them, can specify.
It is also fine to state a rough value for the items (“I often sell my soaps for $8 a bar,” for example), especially since the value of hand-crafted items might not be something understood by some participants. Then the moderator goes around the circle asking each person if s/he has something to offer in trade. The viewers can go into the center of the blanket to touch and examine the items offered, and then decide whether to propose something in trade or not. An item for trade is placed in front of the person offering it, so that the blanket has the primary item in the middle and soon a ring of possible trades forms around it in front of the seated participants. Anyone can pass. The person making the center offer can ask a trader to “sweeten the pot” if they are tempted by the possible trade but feel that an extra item or service might seal the deal. (A note: services can be written on index cards, such as “split wood for 30 minutes.”) The trader does not have to accept any offers, and may withdraw the item from the center.
When a trade is accepted the 2 parties shake and say “good trade” and all the other items are withdrawn. Then the next person takes a turn at putting an item in the center. Side trades are allowed – as long as they are conducted quietly, so as not to disturb the flow of the main blanket.
A Mix of Hand-made and Yard Sale Items is a Good Strategy
At our blanket I took a mix of non-commercial items and things commercially produced that I suspected would suit the values of the people who generally attend. I traded a butternut squash and some children’s story CDs for some hand-milled soaps, and a pair of earrings for a set of old bottles that my son, who collects such things, wanted. My big trade was another butternut, a jar of home-made canned tomato sauce, and a silver cuff bracelet for a suede cloak with faux fur trim.
Among the items offered that day were hand-painted Ukrainian egg decorations, a jar of mint for making tea, a large bamboo vase for dried flower arrangements, a hand-sewn child’s purse, a book on solstice rituals, 2 tanned animal skins, home-made blackberry mead, a set of elegant hand-thrown pottery dishes with a special glaze, an alpaca sweater, and several Indian silk scarves. At the kids blanket the following items changed hands: a battery-driven R2-D2 Star Wars robot, a hand-held microscope, a hand-made basket and clay necklace, a set of baseball gloves, and a number of paperback books.
The entire event was made more enjoyable by a campfire and cups of hot soup, since a chill wind was blowing down at the lake where we gathered. Kids played and dogs gamboled and many people went away with items they can treasure or give as holiday gifts in the upcoming season.
