Post by blackcrowheart on Oct 3, 2007 13:24:09 GMT -5
Radford professor makes students sweat
A homemade lodge offers a lesson in how to commune with nature.
By Anna L. Mallory
381-8627
Alan Kim | The Roanoke Times
While rocks are heated in a fire pit for the sweat lodge, Radford University English professor Justin Askins leads students through a chant Thursday while beating on an Indian drum. The students are enrolled in his literature of nature class.
How to build a sweat lodge
The lodge is a small, dome-shaped, covered hut that once was used by Native Americans for purification and religous ceremonies. Many people use these sauna-like experiences to cleanse themselves and commune with nature in a non Native form.
What you’ll need
Six to eight pairs of eight to 10-foot saplings about an inch in diameter.
Large tarp, blankets or buffalo skin to hold in heat
18 to 20 large stones
Cups of water
What you’ll do
Place them upright in the ground, in a seven-foot (or larger depending on number of people) circle.
Poke six-foot deep holes for the saplings.
Put the saplings in the circle, keeping two to make the entryway
Tie together saplings pairs, around cirumference of circle
Dig a pit in very center of the circle, about a foot deep
Cover the lodge framework and secure at the base of dome
When stones are hot, place them in pit
Pour water over stones to emit steam
IRONTO -- "Hey! Heeey. O-hey!"
Justin Askins bellows his traditional chant as 11 students thump their lap drums and jangle tambourines.
The sun is dipping behind the clouds, while the fire that Askins and senior anthropology major Nick McComas painstakingly built burns lower to the ground.
In about 10 minutes, the 18 stones buried inside the flames should be scalding enough to plop into the open pit, around which six people will stretch, and breathe in the ovenlike vapors.
"We're kind of nervous," McComas admits after hearing Askins say he once sat in a sweat lodge so hot that it felt as if his "flesh was falling off."
Just a day before, McComas was gung-ho for a try in Askins' homemade lodge to emulate an American Indian tradition said to increase focus, purge toxins and bring people close to nature.
"When I'm done, I like to lie on the grass for a while," Askins said. "You feel like you are just the medium for nature to go through. And that's the feeling I love."
With the stones crackling, McComas' face contorts.
While intimidating, the fire, chant and drumming were all in a good cause: class credit.
Askins, an English literature professor at Radford University, and a staunch environmental advocate, brought his May semester class to his home Thursday for one of their final lessons.
It's a tradition, of sorts, that he's continued with about 15 classes over the years.
Askins' abode in Eastern Montgomery is out of sight from the road, well into what many college students would term wilderness. He says the homestead visits offer a real-life lesson in nature and a way to boost students' interest in the environment.
The students at his home have been studying the literature of nature for the past three weeks in a class that is only offered occasionally and is described by its students as "intense."
"It's hard to get students to take this class," Askins said. "I only have it once every couple of years."
In the class, Askins' hopes to spark pupils' environmental consciousness though works such as A.B. Guthrie Jr.'s "The Big Sky," a story of three men traveling the Missouri River working as trappers, traders and guides.
Askins, a Staten Island, N.Y., native, has filled most of those jobs himself, in addition to scuba diving, training with naturalists and writing. He cites his experiences to inspire students during class.
"I've learned more from his stories than from the books, I think," said Donna Gibson of Fairfax.
While the class fit into most students' schedules as an elective, and most say they choose to take it for the credits, not the content, they still say it's been worthwhile.
Askins tells students the 140-acre property he bought in the early 1990s is a good sanctuary for writing. However, he sees the land as a means to get younger people less focused on material things and more in tune with the world.
"A lot of things he says, it's gotten me thinking," said outgoing senior Brittany Hall. "We were just saying in the car, 'I have so many clothes, like that I've had since seventh grade that I don't wear anymore.' "
Askins' students describe him as "chill." He lives in an off-the-grid cabin.
Most of his home, save a refrigerator and a few larger appliances that use propane, is powered by two 10-frame solar panels atop a hill across from the house.
The students' evening visit began with a demonstration of Askins' $30,000 worth of solar-power equipment, a quick hike and a stop at the homemade trout pond at the front of the property.
After about two hours, those brave enough enter Askins' handcrafted sweat lodge, a squat hut made of saplings, where they'll inhale steam from the water poured over the scorched rocks.
McComas, despite his reservations, enters first. Four other students and Askins join him. Heat radiates off the black tarpaulin covering the young trees.
The lodge is sealed, with firewood holding down the tarp's edges to keep in the steam.
Splash! Sizzle!
As Askins pours a cup of water on the rocks and steam engulfs the 8-foot space, senior Holly Henry shrieks.
"I've got to get out," she exclaims, realizing that heat quickly rises. But Askins quells her fears and she stays.
Two minutes -- and one cup of water later -- Henry emerges.
"It just felt like my breathing space was going to die," she said, her body glistening. "I didn't think this was sweat. I thought it was just water collecting on us."
A few minutes and two more cups of water later, the group exits to breathe fresh air, but less than a minute later, each member re-enters.
Shortly after nightfall, inside the lodge, the group is emporarily silent, heat rising with nowhere to escape.
"I'm ready for more whenever you are," McComas says.
A homemade lodge offers a lesson in how to commune with nature.
By Anna L. Mallory
381-8627
Alan Kim | The Roanoke Times
While rocks are heated in a fire pit for the sweat lodge, Radford University English professor Justin Askins leads students through a chant Thursday while beating on an Indian drum. The students are enrolled in his literature of nature class.
How to build a sweat lodge
The lodge is a small, dome-shaped, covered hut that once was used by Native Americans for purification and religous ceremonies. Many people use these sauna-like experiences to cleanse themselves and commune with nature in a non Native form.
What you’ll need
Six to eight pairs of eight to 10-foot saplings about an inch in diameter.
Large tarp, blankets or buffalo skin to hold in heat
18 to 20 large stones
Cups of water
What you’ll do
Place them upright in the ground, in a seven-foot (or larger depending on number of people) circle.
Poke six-foot deep holes for the saplings.
Put the saplings in the circle, keeping two to make the entryway
Tie together saplings pairs, around cirumference of circle
Dig a pit in very center of the circle, about a foot deep
Cover the lodge framework and secure at the base of dome
When stones are hot, place them in pit
Pour water over stones to emit steam
IRONTO -- "Hey! Heeey. O-hey!"
Justin Askins bellows his traditional chant as 11 students thump their lap drums and jangle tambourines.
The sun is dipping behind the clouds, while the fire that Askins and senior anthropology major Nick McComas painstakingly built burns lower to the ground.
In about 10 minutes, the 18 stones buried inside the flames should be scalding enough to plop into the open pit, around which six people will stretch, and breathe in the ovenlike vapors.
"We're kind of nervous," McComas admits after hearing Askins say he once sat in a sweat lodge so hot that it felt as if his "flesh was falling off."
Just a day before, McComas was gung-ho for a try in Askins' homemade lodge to emulate an American Indian tradition said to increase focus, purge toxins and bring people close to nature.
"When I'm done, I like to lie on the grass for a while," Askins said. "You feel like you are just the medium for nature to go through. And that's the feeling I love."
With the stones crackling, McComas' face contorts.
While intimidating, the fire, chant and drumming were all in a good cause: class credit.
Askins, an English literature professor at Radford University, and a staunch environmental advocate, brought his May semester class to his home Thursday for one of their final lessons.
It's a tradition, of sorts, that he's continued with about 15 classes over the years.
Askins' abode in Eastern Montgomery is out of sight from the road, well into what many college students would term wilderness. He says the homestead visits offer a real-life lesson in nature and a way to boost students' interest in the environment.
The students at his home have been studying the literature of nature for the past three weeks in a class that is only offered occasionally and is described by its students as "intense."
"It's hard to get students to take this class," Askins said. "I only have it once every couple of years."
In the class, Askins' hopes to spark pupils' environmental consciousness though works such as A.B. Guthrie Jr.'s "The Big Sky," a story of three men traveling the Missouri River working as trappers, traders and guides.
Askins, a Staten Island, N.Y., native, has filled most of those jobs himself, in addition to scuba diving, training with naturalists and writing. He cites his experiences to inspire students during class.
"I've learned more from his stories than from the books, I think," said Donna Gibson of Fairfax.
While the class fit into most students' schedules as an elective, and most say they choose to take it for the credits, not the content, they still say it's been worthwhile.
Askins tells students the 140-acre property he bought in the early 1990s is a good sanctuary for writing. However, he sees the land as a means to get younger people less focused on material things and more in tune with the world.
"A lot of things he says, it's gotten me thinking," said outgoing senior Brittany Hall. "We were just saying in the car, 'I have so many clothes, like that I've had since seventh grade that I don't wear anymore.' "
Askins' students describe him as "chill." He lives in an off-the-grid cabin.
Most of his home, save a refrigerator and a few larger appliances that use propane, is powered by two 10-frame solar panels atop a hill across from the house.
The students' evening visit began with a demonstration of Askins' $30,000 worth of solar-power equipment, a quick hike and a stop at the homemade trout pond at the front of the property.
After about two hours, those brave enough enter Askins' handcrafted sweat lodge, a squat hut made of saplings, where they'll inhale steam from the water poured over the scorched rocks.
McComas, despite his reservations, enters first. Four other students and Askins join him. Heat radiates off the black tarpaulin covering the young trees.
The lodge is sealed, with firewood holding down the tarp's edges to keep in the steam.
Splash! Sizzle!
As Askins pours a cup of water on the rocks and steam engulfs the 8-foot space, senior Holly Henry shrieks.
"I've got to get out," she exclaims, realizing that heat quickly rises. But Askins quells her fears and she stays.
Two minutes -- and one cup of water later -- Henry emerges.
"It just felt like my breathing space was going to die," she said, her body glistening. "I didn't think this was sweat. I thought it was just water collecting on us."
A few minutes and two more cups of water later, the group exits to breathe fresh air, but less than a minute later, each member re-enters.
Shortly after nightfall, inside the lodge, the group is emporarily silent, heat rising with nowhere to escape.
"I'm ready for more whenever you are," McComas says.