Lost and Found (people, pets and things)

Every year people, pets and various objects are lost at the gathering or people not at the gathering fear people have been lost.

Lost People

Every year people go to the gathering and their loved ones worry.  Just a reminder, there is no cell phone or Internet reception at this year's gathering. 


If you haven't heard from your friends and/or family since they went into the gathering, odds are they are still down in the meadow and can't call you.  Either way, it's generally safer for people to stay inside the gathering, then to run the cop gauntlet to make a phone call.  Even if your loved one promised to call every day, that's a promise they will be unable to keep as that would require them to spend their entire gathering going out to some place with reception and then coming back in again.


Even if there is a place on the top of a nearby mountain where you can get cell reception if you stand on your right foot only with your left arm outstretched and the cell phone positioned exactly on your naval - one 5 minute call will eat up all your charge.  Unless your loved one can hike from 5,000 feet to 8,000 feet and brought a solar panel to recharge their phone, the calls aren't going to happen for a bit. NOTE:  You may think this situation is made up, but folks how have been on the land in Oregon have to drive over 3 miles to get cell reception.


Again, on the road where the cars and cops are is the area where problems occur. We strongly recommend that people stay inside the gathering. Going in and out increases a persons risk of a negative experience with law enforcement. Again, people on the land will strongly suggest to your loved one that they stay inside the gathering until it's over.


That being said, if you're going to the gathering, call your Mama or someone else, let them know you are going in and will be out of cell reception until after you leave the gathering.


If something serious happened to your loved one, then they are no longer at the gathering and would be found in a local hospital, jail, or mental health facility. If you check those places and your loved one is not there, then they are probably inside the gathering.


Most people usually surface by July 15th as the clean up crew starts shrinking by then, but some people will be on the land until at least the end of July (and on the land means no or haphazard access to telephones).  If after July 10, you still haven't heard, email me a recent photo and include this information:

    How old is he/she?
    Was this her/his first gathering? 
    Was he/she planning to camp with any camp in particular?
    Did she/he travel to the gathering with friends who have since left the gathering?
    Did she/he have any mental and/or physical health issues? 
    What kind of drugs (if any) does he/she typically use?
    Was there a specific previously agreed on plan for he/she to return home at a certain time or at least check in?

Lost Things

For those people who go to the gathering and lose something, found items are taken to Info or sometimes to the nearest kitchen so don't give up yet.  If you didn't check the lost and found items at INFO, your stuff may be there. Even if you did, many items are discovered during cleanup. At the end of cleanup, all the valuable lost and found items will be taken out of the gathering site. To try to get reconnected with your stuff, at the end of July call  the Northwest Tribes Lightline @ (503) 727-2498. Leave your name, phone # and a brief description of what you lost. Someone will call you back if your or similar items are there. Keep in mind, lost and found at this level is for things like wallets, cameras, expensive gear.  We don't try to reunite people with lost t-shirts, bliss wear, etc.

Lost Animals

For those people who left without all the animals they brought, please go back to the site and retrieve your pets. I do not care if you have to be back to work or whatever. If you brought an animal, you need to go home with that animal. If you don't, folks on the land will find a home for your pet and it won't be your home. We never leave any pets behind.  Every pet will leave the gathering with a human companion ~ hopefully the one they came with. If you can't go back yourself, try to connect up with a friend in the area to retrieve your pet. Just a reminder, pets on leashes don't get lost as often as those not on a leash. The gathering is a scary experience for animals who aren't used to it. Read the Pup Rap for more info.  If you are a local who feel we drop off pets at the local shelter, we never do that. Other people may be stealing dogs from the gathering and dropping them off, but we don't. All dogs brought to the gathering, leave with people who were at the gathering.

Rap 107 & Rap 701 - How to Live Lightly and Be Healthy in Oregon

RAP 107 Gathering Consciousness

Kitchens:  Consult with Forest Service Resource folks for appropriate locations to build a kitchen, ask at INFO, or be prepared to relocate your camp due to pockets of sensitive resources. Please ASK before you dig!

Creeks: Stay at least 200 feet from the creeks to protect trout and bird eggs ready to hatch.  Stay out of the marshy/fragile meadows marked by signs or pink ribbons. Get all water from piped sources and/or go to a kitchen. Do not disturb rocks in the stream or on the land. First Nation Tribes have been restoring the creeks in this area. Please preserve their hard work.

Wood: Please leave all wood along the creek and the riparian zones. Down and dead wood less than one foot in diameter can be used for firewood outside the riparian areas. Larger down dead is used by wildlife as their home. Please protect the homes of birds and other creatures.

Wildlife & Pets: Wild horses and bears live in this area. If you are camped on the edges of the gathering, please be prepared and bear-proof your food. Treat wild horses and bears the same way to scare them off. Be very careful if you bring horses to the gathering, as the stallion may attack your horses. Beaver in area have giardia. Ticks in this area carry Lyme disease – check yourself for ticks daily. All pets must be on a six-foot leash to keep them away from critical habitat.

Tribal Relations: The Burns-Paiute Tribe has been to the site and are concerned about sensitive areas. Please respect their wishes by following ALL these site specific guidelines.. If you are digging and you find Obsidian, please stop digging immediately, mark off the site so no one else digs and let INFO or a USFS resource person know.

Pink Ribbons designate sensitive habitat, please stay out. Green Ribbons are open areas for  use. Trees with Blue spray-paint are OK to use for firewood.

Please protect this Beautiful Land. Walk softly. Harm no living thing. Harmonize - Blend in. Use only down, dead wood. Cut no living trees. Preserve the Meadows...camp in the Woods NOT in the meadows or along the creek. We are caretakers of this land. Everyone sharing makes a strong Human Tribe!

Please Protect the Water Sources by staying out of DELICATE spring areas. Avoid camping, peeing, washing above spring areas. Keep ALL soap out of streams, springs or the creek (even biodegradable soap)! Collect water from the pipes and use a bucket to take your bath 200 feet away from the water source. To be certain of drinking water: boil it!  Use the slit trenches or covered latrines - cover your paper & waste with ashes or lime, wash hands. Break the fly/illness connection: shit-fly-food-you! Dig no shitters near water areas or kitchens.

Protect our Health! Use your own cup, bowl & spoon! Wash them after eating and rinse in bleach-water. Cover prepared food with lids. Visit C.A.L.M./M.A.S.H. if you feel ill - especially if you have a contagious disease - or are injured. Camp Together - Establish neighborhoods.

PACK IT IN - PACK IT OUT !!!

Cleanup begins when you arrive. Bring in only what is necessary. There is no janitor here...you are the cleanup crew. Separate Garbage for recycling. Don't litter - Find collection point. Compost in pits only.

You are the Gathering! Participate in Shanti Sena, the peace keepers council, and all activities, councils, work crews, workshops. Volunteer wherever needed: kitchens, welcome home, fire watch, parking lot, shitter digging, supply, front gate, etc. R-E-S-P-E-C-T your Sisters & Brothers energies. Keep the Balance: Earth, Sky, Trees, Water & People! Alcohol is Discouraged, Guns are Inappropriate, Violence is contrary to the Spirit. Please take no photographs or videos of people without permission. Discourage Drug Abuse. Buying and selling endangers our legal right to be here. The Magic Hat is our Bank, donate early to fund our Needs. The Magic Hat goes around at mealtime circles and with the Magic Hat Band.

Rap 701 In preparation for leaving....

Pack up all your trash and bring to the appropriate recycling areas on the road. Dismantle and disappear your encampment. Vanish ALL traces. Fire rocks scattered, ashes cold out and buried, pits filled in. Latrines and compost holes covered over. String and twine get removed from tree limbs. Hardened ground gets aerated with tools for future root growth and moisture catch. All litter is picked up. Help with recycling. Where everyone helps, the effort is easy. When an area is clear and clean, then NATURALIZE! Scatter logs, branches, leaves, duff to disappear trails and camps and renew forest habitat. H2O systems and latrine tops are removed and cleaned for the next time. In parking areas help disabled vehicles and fully dismantle ramps and bridges. Steep places are water-barred to prevent erosion. The final crew reseeds appropriate seed to renew vegetation and complete process.

Transport as many riders as possible to aid our travels. Treat local folks with great kindness. They have been kind to us. Drive safely and share this love wherever you go.

Our power together is many times our power separated.

Enjoy the Rainbow with an open heart and you Will see the Vision. Join us for July 4th Silent Contemplation & Prayer for Peace, respect those maintaining silence from dawn. Hold the silence until the arrival of the Children's Parade. Be prepared and look out of the health and safety for those who are unprepared.

On Creeks and Camping

Bad Tent Location - Too Close to Creek
(Photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/meganpru/5914413517/)

Creeks provide water for animals in the area and spawning grounds for fish.  Creeks are the heart of the ecosystem. When folks disrespect the creek, they disrespect the land on which we gather as well as the heart of the gathering itself. 

The creeks in this gathering have trout eggs waiting to hatch and the shrubs along the creek have birds sitting on eggs waiting to hatch. Let's give our fish and feather friends some space to raise their families.

When silt gets into the creek it covers trout eggs preventing the fish from hatching. Lots of people have been putting a lot of effort into restoring the creeks at our gathering site and supporting spawning grounds for the native trouts.  We need to honor the trout and the people working year round on protecting trout habitat.

If we are not careful, we will silt up the creek. 

THINGS NOT TO DO: Enter riparian areas with pink ribbons.  Allow yourself, your dogs, or your kids to play in the creek. Trample up the banks or in the muddy riparian areas near the creek.

THINGS TO DO: Stay 200 feet away from the creek.  The local tribes have invested heavily to restore the creeks where we are gathering. Please let's leave these creeks in as good or better shape then we found them. Educate yourself and take your knowledge home and share with others.

~~~Nothing is biodegradable in water.~~~

Good Tent Location - In Woods away from Creek
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/50461467@N00/6075694833/)

Soil filters and decomposes soapy water, food scraps and urine.  We always need to make sure we keep all our waste far enough back from the creek so that the wonderful micro-organisms in the soil have the chance to do their magic.

In my mind, our shining stars are folks who make signs asking people to not camp along the creek. Family who go around and talk to people about why we don’t camp adjacent to creeks are my heroes and I workshop at your feet.

When we gather, we are visitors to the land. The plants and animals that live there year round are depending on us to tread lightly and leave the ground upon which we drummed and danced, ate and loved, in better shape than when we arrived. This, my friends, is the Rainbow way. 

Of course every site is different. The soil drainage and the type of creek varies ecosystem to ecosystem and the down-stream features indicate how close is too close. Different areas have different animals who need access to the creek for drinking purposes. If you’re too close, you’ll scare them off. This year the local First Nation tribes have requested that no one harms the restored streams by keeping camps at least 200 feet away from any creek.  This includes insuring that kitchens and/or shitters are at least 200 feet or more away from the creek. When you come home, check in with INFO to learn the site specific considerations for each the current gathering. Or find a friendly Forest Service Resource person and pick her/his brain.

Or camp on the promenade -- a flat plateau with trees to shade your tent.


A gathering is not a festival. Please don’t camp on the grass.  Camp in the woods, under the trees, 200 feet back from a creek.

Be the consciousness you wish to see in this world!

Why Gather by Garrick Beck

Excerpts from All Ways Free Summer 1997. (Reprinted from All Ways Free, Winter ‘88) - Written by Garrick Beck

Why should anyone want to go thru the 1001 tasks that are the life-support system of the Rainbow Gathering? Hauling large rocks for bakery ovens, digging & filling latrines, tending medical emergencies, installing water pipe systems that need to be taken apart,…sorting garbage, not to mention doing all this with the added difficulty of our own problems: upset or belligerent people, alcoholics in rainbow clothing, rude or unhygienic behavior; and sometimes with only minimal help or even opposition from the public service of the government.

…

Why do it? Why face all the problems, all the maps & mailings, all the fundraising for printing; all the long-winded discussion over procedures; why consume all this time of our lives? For what? Why gather?

…

We are utterly capable of seeking and finding the pure natural experience without subjecting ourselves to all this trouble. So why do we put this on our shoulders and go on? Why do we do it? I mean: Why gather?

Because   we love each other. We really do.

Because   we are creating something new and beautiful….

Because   we hold the vision of a peaceful world in our inner eyes - in our hearts - and we make it real in this outside world.

Because   is a thrill to experience a cooperative society.

Because   only when we take personal responsibility for the needs of each other - water, food, security, fuel, healing, childcare and recycling - do we take mature responsibility for our lives.

Because   the children need something gentle and loving to look forward to.

Because   it is important to teach and learn as much as possible about human cooperation.

Because   we are fed up with war economy & economic exploitation & political over lording, and we want to try something else.

Because   gathering teaches thousands of people, even tens of thousands, respect for the earth, the water, the plants & the animals.

Because   even the addicts, the dissolute, the spaced-out space cadets, the drunks who come are in need of love, and every society must care for its own.

Because   laughter, music, celebration and rejoicing in life are needed in this world in great measure.

Because   gathering unifies ancient tribal wisdom with current ideas and technologies.

Because   we want to inspire hope that it is indeed possible - and in fact pleasurable - for people of all kinds to live in peace.

Because   our councils are open to everyone to speak, we hear ideas, poems, stories and wisdom from the seven corners of the earth.

Because   the work and play-shops are education’s, the massage delightful, and the music rich with interlace harmonies.

Because   light and life and love deserve to be celebrated by lots of us.

Because   when we hold hands in our circles we can feel the energy that moves the atoms and the moon and stars.

Because   gathering teaches us to have faith, to trust each other, to believe in good and goodness, and to have the strength - in the face of the rest of the world - to carry on.

Garrick Beck (1988)

Sage Advise for First Time Gatherers

People who participate in Rainbow Gatherings have a written a number of raps over the years that help distill collective wisdom on how to have a fun, safe and memorable gathering. If you're a first time gatherer, or still in the fog about gathering logistics, here's some great links, all posted at Bliss-Fire.

The Mini Manual is a great how to plan a gathering, how to be safe at the gathering and how to keep yourself and the rest of the gathering healthy.

Rap 107 is the short version on gathering safety - learn it, know it, live it.  Print out extra copies to share with folks at the gathering.

Not sure what to bring, check out the awesome Turtle guide. If you've never camped before, remember the golden rule: “Bring every good thing. If it ain’t on this list, consider leaving it home. If in doubt, leave it out. ‘Cuz if you bring it in, you gotta bring it out. And well, dang! You just might be surprised how little you really need.” Bring love and hugs and good vibes, and most importantly, bring you.

Have children, then you want to read the Kidz Rap.

If you're not using to being on the opposite side of the law, you better read Rap 420.

Wondering about how alcohol fits into the gathering, if you ain't a problem and you keep it in your personal camp, then it's not an issue. Otherwise....

Peace out!

Words of Wisdom

Courtesy some good siblings.

How to Gather (AKA gathering basics)

Just an FYI, no one speaks for the gathering and there are as many different opinions as there are gatherers. For a hipstorical perspective, click here. For a more recent perspective, here's a great video for those new to the gathering that was done by some folks in Oregon in 2012.

Remember to Breathe

From Soaring Eagle, Thank you for making such a beautiful video.

On Peeing in the Woods

A message primarily for my sisters at the Rainbow Gathering:

If you're drinking enough water to stay hydrated, you're probably peeing a lot. Now when you pee, hopefully you'll be peeing behind a tree or a bush or somewhere in the woods (Not the shitter). If you're like me, you like to wipe after you pee. But then you have some slightly used toilet paper to dispose of - and NOT by burying it under two inches of duff. Some one will have to pick up that tissue - let that someone be you.

I've taken to bringing extra washclothes to the gathering. I keep one in my daypack at all times. Then when I need to pee, I wipe with a washcloth. I put it in a plastic bag in my pack. The next day I grab a new one. The old one gets rinsed out and left to dry for a day or two. 4 or 5 washclothes will last me 3 weeks using this method.

The other option is to carry all that used TP to the nearest shitter and toss it in. Or burn it in a fire. Or carry it home with you. I like my washcloth movie a whole lot more.

Please do not leave toilet paper on the ground!

Shanti Sena by Medicine Socks (Guest Post)

This comes from a wonderful sister Medicine Socks bit I will add my two cents. I never support duct taping of people. Sometimes we need to restrain people to prevent them from hurting themselves or others and then rolling them up in a blanket or sleeping bag is much more loving than duct tape.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ On to the guest post ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

it's been a while, i'm too old, poor and crippled to involve myself in rainbow gatherings nowadays, so this qualifies as something like armchair quarterbacking...

but i was once all gung ho, a regular local folkielizer and all about dealing with the some major instances of weirded out shit that sometimes came up at the getherings i was part of...especially around kid village... so here's some shanti sena lessons i learned in the trenches

first of all, it means, translated literally, something like peaceful scene. at a gathering, if everything's mellow, if everyone is feeling alright and nothing much is going on, that is shanti sena. there is a marked absence of drama. no one has to do anything in particular about anyone except mingle and enjoy.

shanti sena also became a term for a clique of people who, at gatherings, styled themselves a kind of affiliated crew of plain-clothes, radio toting, duct tape weiding rainbow hippie police force. some of these guys and gals do a great job, others, well.... these people may have sincerely thought of themselves as peacekeepers, but some of their attitudes, imho were pretty obnoxious, kind of a weird mix of biker/hobo/ dope dealer/ ex marine/cop-brotherhood and some of em drank heavily and lived in hotels off campus somewhere... whatevah...they had dramas of their own, but at times they did deal with flarings of violence inside or dangerous situations with the LEO at the gates effectively enough...

then there's the people at gatherings who put their energy into constantly teaching & lovingly demonstrating basic rainbow, at councils, at dinner circles, in workshops and ongoing conversations with the newbies. if no one around seems to know what shanti sena is, or how to shit in the woods, or build a proper campfire, or help in a kitchen or where to put the "garbage".. to paraphrase mother jones, who said, "don't mourn, organize!"...don't bitch; teach teach teach
teach teach! *that* is true shanti sena, in my book, or what i like to call pre-traumatic stress prevention. the more you get these teaching memes out and get conversations going among gatherers about how to deal with a crisis if it arises, the more peaceful and calm the response will be whenever somebody yells shanti sena!

shanti sena is like that kipling poem, "if" If you can keep your head while all around you others are losing theirs... *that* is shanti sena. it involves remembering to breathe, and slow your heart rate down. it involves knowing how to get, and stay, clear headed in a crisis. and knowing how not to do *anything* until and unless you have effectively calmed and centered your own damn self, until you know as much about the situation you're addressing as it is possible to quickly assess,& until you're sure that you're coming from a place of alert, calm strength and compassion, and a fair degree of certainty that you can handle whatever's happening when something out of hand and really threatening is potentially unfolding. if you can't calm down, if you feel at all overwhelmed by the swiftness with which a violent situation is escalating... then it is quintessential shanti sena to get your overwhelmed ass out of the way... but if you're cool, and you decide to stay.... it helps if there's more than one of you, best if there are enough strong people to contain a really violent individual without hurting him (or her). once contained, you need enough gentle people to keep the vibe around such an action as calm as possible. not too many people, at that point!

people who can stay cool and focused are key.

then you have some decisions to make. is this someone who can be reasoned with, talked down, who may, once their grievance is understood and addressed, be willing to calm down and stay peaceful of his own volition? if that's the case, peer counseling can do wonders to diffuse a tense, angry, but essentially rational human being who actually *wants* to find a solution to whatever set him off. or are you dealing with a crazy? i'm sorry to be so blunt, but often shanti sena situations arise when someone at the gathering is, for one reason or another, experiencing a psychotic break, is operating on aggravated sleep dep, rampant ptsd and/or spasms of pure inexplicable violent impulse...& i've seen sad, bad things happen under these conditions... people trying to trail a raging psychotic & discretely babysit him without impinging on that person's freedoms get to watch a terrified, often violent and frighteningly delusional poor soul battle his demons for days on end, becoming weirder and more at risk as the days tick by of hurting himself or others... i know this seems like a cop out, but in my experience, i feel to this day we might have spared many a poor psycho and all those who got caught up in the babysitting movies a lot of anguish if we had just quickly secured & duct taped em, got to phone quick and got a parent or sibling or someone to come get their sick puppy & take him home or some other
mellower place than a gathering for a real crack up...

that said i know a few gifted healers who really do know how to help a body navigate the terrifying inner landscape of psychosis. there are shanti sena shamans, soul retrievers, spirit world energy workers, who understand intuitively what it's going to take to get a freaked out
freak through the worst of it, how to help him break down the old disfunctional precepts of his consciousness, how tto guide lost souls til they break on through to the healing side of their nervous breakdowns. if you can do that, boy... that's great... more power to you. you know who you are, and you are a boon and a blessing to any gathering. then again..

if you're one of those sorts who merely wishes you were an aikido master or a cop or a magical healer, please take your woo woo bullshit as far from the crisis as possible and go chant and shake your fake honky indian yaya sticks over there... please! shanti sena! keep the scene peaceful! over that-a-way!

Tips for a Safe Journey Home & A Positive Gathering

If you plan on driving, make sure your car and driver is 100% legal-all lights work, valid insurance and registration, seatbelts, car seats for children. Our government assumes that we are criminals. Please try to arrive during daylight hours as the roads into gathering sites can be tricky and we want you to arrive home safely. If you can make space in your vehicle for a rider or you need a ride, ride share is happening at your local craistlist.org or on FaceBook.

If you will be sharing a ride, please meet the folks you'll be riding with at a local coffee shop, make sure you feel comfortable traveling a long distance with them, and establish the ground rules. If you are coming via bus, plane or train, try to connect up with a ride from your destination before you get there. If you are planning on hitchhiking, please travel with a buddy, only bum rides during the day and if you get a bad feeling from a ride, PLEASE don't take it. There will always be another one.


I strongly recommend you plan on arriving home in the morning - the earlier the better. If you are coming home and it's late, my best recommendation is you kick it at a campground, roadside rest area, or motel as you sit fit. Then get up at dawn and come on home.  The roads into the gathering can be challenging, the signage can disappear, and you will be tired. Keep in mind that your journey really begins once you park your car. From there you'll have to hike into the gathering with your gear and try to find a place that meets your needs -- very hard to do after dark.  It can easily take 6 hours from the time you park your car until you have your tent set up. Doing it in the daytime is fun, doing it at night when you are exhausted is not my idea of a good time.

*Always* say no to requests for search, no matter what they tell you. It is not illegal for cops to lie to you, and they often will do so to get your consent to search. "You might as well give us permission, because if you do not, we will go get a warrant and you will be here for hours." This is a bluff. Don't fall for it. Their time is much more valuable than yours.

If they insist on searching over your objections, don't prevent them physically in anyway - but continue to repeat "I do not consent." Ask for names and badge numbers, write down time, place, and what happened in detail. Every little thing matters in a court of law, even the things that don't mean much to you or me. If you can, take pictures, videos, and/or tape recordings.

Also, if they ask you if you have contraband, and tell you that if you have just a little bit and give it to them that they will not search you, tell them no. Never, never, never incriminate yourself. That means don't consent to anything, don't give them anything but your license, registration, and proof of insurance, don't admit to anything.

When approaching the Gathering site, remember that you're coming as friends in somebody else's back yard. Treat the local folks with the courtesy, respect and concern that they deserve as members of the Family of Humankind. Be Loving and Kind. Don't be rude, steal, trash the town, disturb the Peace, or try to "shock" people. Be mindful of others' sensitivities. Remember the original Golden Rule when dealing with BOTH Babylon AND Rainbow: Treat Others the Way you want to be treated! Please, make your journey a safe one. Don't be under the influence while driving.

Let's all get home safely.

DRIVE SAFELY!
Ignore all rumors of cancellation or organization!
Live Lightly with the Land and People!

Gathering with Kidz by Info Karen (Guest Post)

My good friend, Info Karen, put together today's guest blog post -- not to confuse anyone but there are two of us living in San Diego. Karen with an "E" and me - Karin with an "I". Since Info Karen has kids, she graciously agreed to put together today's guest post for those of you coming home with kids. If this helped you, please stop by Info when you're at the gathering and thank her.


Bringing babies and small children to the Rainbow Gathering can be quite a chore, but it is also very rewarding, and a wonderful growth experience for them. But deep woods camping with your kids can be quite a challenge. Being a Rainbow Mom myself, I was asked, a few years back to pass along some helpful advice for folks who are bringing their kids for the very first time. The following article sprang from those requests. I wrote it when my eldest was 6 and my twin boys were three and potty-training. I’ve been to the annual Gathering with my first when he was an infant and when he was 3, and then brought all three of them many times after that. This is especially directed at first time Gatherers since a few requests of this type have come my way, but there is lots of good advice for anyone with kids. Do you have more ideas? Please add them in the comment section.

*********************

ARRIVAL AND HIKING IN: When you first arrive at the Gathering, you will be directed to a meadow to park in, (or perhaps along a road). Hiking in with kids often takes a couple loads, so having a partner who can either hang with kids or go get the second load is a huge help. Get a baby carrier of some sort to carry your littlest ones in. On the first trip into the site, we tend to bring the kids, the tent and our plates, cups and utensils in the first load, plus whatever else we can manage. We each will wear a kid on our backs (we have twins). After figuring out where we want to camp, I will stay at the tent site with all three kids while the hubby goes out for another full load. While he is gone I will put the tent up, and perhaps go exploring with the kids to find a meal, fill our water bottles, and locate the nearest shitter.

KID VILLAGE: You can camp anywhere with kids, but it is especially nice to camp at Kid Village. It is a drug-free, peaceful area that serves three good kid-friendly meals every day. Kid Village is easy to find. Ask anyone. When you get to Kid Village ask the folks there where there are some good tent spots. They will direct you. At Kid Village, they usually have a little play area with seesaws and swings made from downed trees and rope. There is also usually a sit-down potty there (people just call toilet areas "shitters" so sorry if your child goes home spouting that word!! For adults, shitters are long trenches that you straddle. It’s nice to wear skirts if you want to have a little privacy cover!) Often for little children there are small deep cylindrical holes dug so that the kids don’t have to balance across a trench.

DAILY LIFE: You will want to bring, for each of you, a water bottle, a dish, a spoon, a cup and a day pack to carry everything in while you are away from your tent. If you drink coffee, make your cup a thermal one with a lid. If you can, put a carabineer on your cup as it’s nice to always have it hanging from your belt. Each morning, you will want to pack your daypack for the day and go out wandering. You may head back to the tent for naptime, but you will want to take your dishes, your water bottle, and whatever diapers or things you need for the day with you when you leave your tent in the morning. For dishes, most people bring just a bowl. But after many years of gathering, I have discovered that the very best bowl is a tupperware or similar style container with a lid. This way, if you can't get to a dishwashing station right away after you eat, you can pop the lid on it and toss it in your bag without dirtying anything inside your bag. We found plate-shaped containers with three divided sections which is nice if you get soup and something else. It keeps them divided. Plates with lids are also good for bringing food back kids, or storing things they might not eat right away.

DIAPERS: If you use disposable diapers, I would bring a double thick bag (one inside the other, to lessen the smell and strengthen the bag) with some kind of clasp that can be put on and taken off numerous times, to keep your dirties in. You will need to hike this (very) heavy bag out at the end, as there are no trash stations inside the gathering. Everyone carries their own trash out. Depending on how long you stay, a full bag of dirty diapers can be one whole load! With twins, and ten days in, our bag was large and difficult to manage. If you use cloth diapers, I have seen people wash them out in five gallon buckets and hang them on clotheslines hung between trees. You can get a 5 Gallon bucket for about 3 bucks at large hardware stores. Bring your own clothesline as well. Kid Village has had a communal diaper wash area in the past but I don’t think it is a regular thing at all.

FINDING FOOD / DINNER CIRCLE: At Rainbow the food that is cooked in the kitchens is free for all, and is purchased with donations to the Magic Hat that lives on the desk at the Information Booth, and is also carried around every evening at Dinner Circle in a musical parade. Dinner circle happens every evening in the Main Meadow. Most larger kitchens will bring their cooked food down to the dinner circle and serve there. Bring your dishes! People form a large circle, do a group “Om”, and sit down in circle to be served by the food servers. Pregnant or nursing Mamas and children (and non-parents helping children) are asked to come to the center of the circle before the food is served to get first dibs. Don’t be shy. Come forward when it is announced and get your kid a plateful of good food! Breakfast and lunch are often served out of individual kitchens. Kid Village is a good place to find steady outpouring of food, and if your kid misses a meal, they can direct you to fixings for a peanut butter sandwich or a carrot or something. That said, most people like to bring snacks from home to keep in their tent to keep the kids happy. Dried fruit, nut butters, jerkey and granola are things many people tend to bring.

NAPS: For small babies, it’s not common, but I have seen people bring a playpen and hike it in. That way you can set the baby down somewhere clean for a while. You might consider bringing one and leaving it in the car. Then you can decide if you want to hike it in or not. A lightweight baby floor chair might be a simpler idea, or perhaps a Moses basket? When I brought my first born to his first gathering at about seven months old, I put a blanket in a cardboard box I got from a kitchen! Having walls is nice for a new crawler. A good ground-blanket made out of something with a water resistant bottom layer is nice to have. After realizing the cardboard box was nice to have but not the best choice, the next time I brought a kid’s pop-up backyard play tent. They pack down tiny and can be used to lay the baby down to sleep if you are out wandering away from your camp and want to take a break, or give him/her some shade to rest in. We also napped our eldest in that for a couple years. It was handy, and kept us from having to go and sit quietly outside our own tent for 3 hours every single day. We used two to nap our twins separately during the afternoon, because if they napped together, they would just play in the tent and not sleep.

NECESSITIES: You should have water bottles you can carry around for your family. You can fill them up at any kitchen. Look for a giant cooler on the kitchen counter with a spigot facing out toward the public walk-up area. Bring sun block, wide brimmed children’s hats, bug spray and sun glasses. We are bringing those new 200 hour LED flashlights for our littlest boys who will of course want to have one of their own when they see ours. They can accidentally leave it on for hours and it won’t use up the batteries. Sandals that can get wet or water shoes are great for playing in the stream. When the twins were three years old, and liked to wander, we brought masking tape and stuck some on the backs of their shirts saying “IF FOUND PLEASE RETURN TO INFO” where we were camped! When the kids got older we made sure each kid had his own daypack to keep track of his things.

TENT SLEEPING: Also bring warm sleeping bags. It gets down to 40 at night. We always bring thermal underwear to sleep in, both for us and for them. When our son was a baby, and we worried about the safety of sleeping bags, we slept him in a down-filled, winter outdoor snow suit, wearing a hat, with a regular blanket over him. That way I wasn't worried about losing him down inside the sleeping bag or about him scooting out into the cold at night. Beware of using any kind of gas heater inside your tent as the fumes inside a closed tent can be deadly.

NURSING BABIES: Another idea I has which turned out to be SUCH A GOOD IDEA, was my homemade nursing shirts. While still at home, I got a couple long-sleeved thermal shirts at the thrift store. I cut vertical slits in the front for nursing, and when I was at the Gathering I would wear these shirts underneath my regular shirt. The benefit is that on cold days, and ESPECIALLY on cold nights, I could lift my outer shirt to nurse without having to expose the sides of my torso to chill air. It was SO much warmer, and easier to doze when nursing in the middle of the night half our of a sleeping bag! These shirts might not be so necessary for eastern Gatherings, but most western Gatherings can get pretty cold at night.

COMMUNICATION FOR OLDER KIDS: As our kids got older, and wanted to go off and explore on their own, we went out and got a good set of FRS radios, one for each of us, and some extra batteries. These are fairly long range radios. For the kids we put them on lanyards and hung them around their necks, and sometimes they put them in their daypacks (although they sometimes would miss our calls if they did this). A belt loop holster would be a good choice as well. This way, if they want to stay out longer, or ask a question, they can reach you and it gives them some more freedom, and the parents some freedom as well! (Also, they are good for letting the other party know that pizza is just coming out of the Ovens and that you should hurry on over!)

LASTLY: Have a blast! It’s a great way to immerse your kids in wild nature! -Info Karen- (Mom to three exuberant boys) Please comment below with any questions or great ideas or parent-hacks of your own! Please comment below with any questions or great ideas or parent-hacks of your own!

There is also a Kidz Rap available on-line.

The Mini Manual

The Rainbow Gathering Mini Manual is a cooperative project sometimes subtitled: Suggested Wisdom Culled from Years of Experience and/or Trail & Error.

If you ever picked up a Rainbow Guide at a gathering, then you've probably read the Mini Manual. It tends to evolve over time, but if you've not read it, I suggest you give it whirl. There's a good copy up at http://www.bliss-fire.com/MiniManual.htm in html format and a PDF version available.  If you could print out 25 copies double sided on recycled paper to distribute to people at the gathering, you will be doing a huge service to the family by helping people learn the collective ways to keep each other and the land safe and  healthy.

If there are points in the mini manual that you feel are especially important, grabbing old sheets and painting that section with legible lettering and pretty art work really helps get the message out to people. (see beautiful image on left)

Let's make sure everyone at the gathering knows this information. You can print it, you can rap it, you can paint it, you can sing it.  Just get it out there.

Main Supply 101 by Overboard (Guest Post)

Thanks to Overboard for writing this great rap based on his years of experience in Main Supply.


Here's a piece that I wrote up about the workings of Main Supply. Some things here are not SET IN STONE, just the way that we've chosen to do it in recent years:

Main Supply is our communal food collection and distribution system, open to any kitchen that maintains basic sanitation (appropriate hand wash, dish station, toilet facilities, compost and grey water and food storage and preparation techniques), serves their food openly and freely to any that ask (at their chosen meal times), and is willing to communicate reasonably and civically with the Main Supply focalizers and other kitchens. Kitchens should plan to provide the bulk of their own supplies but through cooperative economics, we can supplement that very efficiently. Sending someone knowledgeable with your kitchen's supply/meal plans to our biweekly Kitchen Councils (rarely more than 20 minutes) and serving Dinner Circle each night are highly recommended but not required.

As kitchens get set up and come within a day or two of being ready to serve, they will be added to the list of kitchens receiving shares of the next biweekly shopping trip. By mutual agreement, kitchens are assigned 1, 2 or 3 shares of food, based on their capacity and production. That number can, and often does, change from one shopping trip to the next. At the peak of the gathering we're usually shopping for 24-30 kitchens totaling 40-60 shares. With each shopping trip we also shop for 2-5 shares more than what we are expecting, to allow some overages and providing for 1-2 new kitchens that pop up on the shopping day.

Of the total purchases, approximately 2/3 is spent on fresh wholesale produce. We always find at least two different produce distributors in the area and check both price lists every day, buying some items from one and some from the other. Some years we even have access to a regional terminal market where 8-30 different companies have walk in refrigerated warehouses. We can competitively shop all of them, for each type of vegetable. We also contact these distributors before the gathering to arrange for them to order some items that are a more economical grade of vegetable, though maybe not as pretty. Also we have them set aside all of their seconds and products that are too old to sell but still edible. Most are happy to do that for us.

The other 1/3 is spent on other foods like dry goods and perishable products. We buy these from a variety of sources, including wholesale restaurant supply stores, occasionally, grocery stores running extremely good sales, large ethnic food markets and salvage food stores. These are stores that buy up and resell foods from stores that went out of business, mislabeled products, overstocks, dented or damaged products or occasionally good food that has passed an arbitrary sell by date. These often supply us with unbelievable deals, sometimes selling us full pallets of food for $100 or less. I spend the whole year leading up to the gathering hunting for the best possible prices in the state or region where we are gathering.

When things go smoothly, we try to have kitchen councils on Sundays and Wednesdays, do the shopping on Mondays and Thursdays and then distribute food on Tuesday and Friday mornings.

With each supply run we spend approximately 3/4 of the money on 20-25 staple items that almost every kitchen uses, like cabbage, potatoes, carrots, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, etc. For dry goods we usually buy lots of flour, rice, pasta, baking mixes and beans and let kitchens choose, say, 3 of those per share (20-50lb bags). This keeps kitchens from getting overloaded with things they don't need or use.

When we buy staples that a certain kitchen doesn't use, like garlic and onions, eggs or dairy, we always allow them to take a little more of something else, to make up for it. Kitchens are also encouraged to trade supplies with each other, to fit their needs and wants.

The other 25% of the budget is spent on smaller quantities of a larger variety of ingredients. Things like ginger, string beans, sugar, pancake mix, oatmeal, peanut butter or even a little bit of economical donut filling on occasion! These items are then made into piles of roughly equal worth (not necessarily what we PAID) of around $10-20. Then when kitchens come to pick up supply, they are allowed to pick a certain number of piles based on their size. This allows kitchens to have more choice in their food, brings more variety to the woods and encourages kitchens to come early and send someone who knows the needs and wants of their kitchen.

Along with the Magic Hat money, some Main Supply focalizers (including myself) welcome kitchens to send along additional funds, to purchase things above and beyond what Main Supply can provide. Receipts will always be provided. Sorry, but we cannot handle EBT/Food Stamp cards. No more than one credit or debit card per kitchen, per run, please. We ask that lists are kept to no more than a few special items that we wouldn't normally buy, per trip. We also need to receive the money and list by the close of dinner circle, on the day before we shop. If kitchens pay for extra supplies, they can *usually* pick them up as soon as the bus returns instead of waiting until the next morning. Unlike with Magic Hat money, with private funds, I personally (though not every focalizer) will honor requests for meat, coffee, tobacco or papers. I will not shop for your alcohol though.

In total we usually do between 5 and 8 total supply runs, starting 2-4 days after we first arrive on site (immediately following Spring Council).

Kitchens are also welcome to come up to Main Supply at any time, to see if other supplies are available. Generally any foods dropped by anyone at Main Supply, between supply runs, is considered first come, first serve. Main Supply will also be regularly stocked with an assortment of spices and baking ingredients. Please do not take more for your kitchen then you expect to use up in a few days. It is highly encouraged that kitchens regularly check their supplies and send any clean foods, that they will not use, back to Main Supply for redistribution.

Please do not drop supplies at Main Supply, expecting them to be delivered to a specific kitchen. They will likely be given to the first kitchen that asks. If you are bringing food that needs to go to a specific kitchen, you will need to bring them there yourself, find someone to carry them, or have someone wait with the supplies while you find someone to carry them. We CAN NOT be responsible for delivering your supplies OR guarding them indefinitely. Anyone sitting at Main Supply should not be assumed to be an "official worker". Involved Main Supply workers will likely only be at Main Supply on the standard distribution days.

We'd love to hear from kitchen focalizers *before* the gathering. Join this Facebook group for more info.

For Oregon Residents (or what to expect from the gathering)

What exactly IS the Rainbow Gathering?



The bottom video includes interviews with townsfolk and merchants of stores and lodges near past Rainbow Gatherings. They were asked for their honest opinion of how the event went, the effects it had on their business, and what advice they would give to people in towns near future Gatherings.

What is it like when the Forest Service tries to shut us down?

In my humble opinion, the gatherings from 1999 to 2008 were the height of the conflicts between the United States Forest Service (USFS) and those who chose to gather and pray for world peace and the positive evolution of the planet on the 4th day of July.  For brief recounts of those years, click here.

I believe that the Forest Service was trying to discourage family from coming home with harassment, legal maneuvers, sending people to prison, issuing untold number of B.S. tickets (see blog sidebar), and doing their best to either stop the gatherings altogether or to convert them into a version of Burning Man -- i.e. an event that charges admission and has porta potties, paid staff, etc. (no disrespect to Burning Man).

Many people who still gather today, attended some or all of the worst years. Now don't get me wrong, there were some amazingly beautiful moments during those years - the 4th in Michigan when we didn't know what would happen, but we all silently crossed the bridge to the west bank while being smudged by the bridge fairy and in our peace and prayer, defied the Forest Service to make us leave. The dragonfly who landed on the clasped hands of me and another sister during the om.  That morning still brings tears to my eyes. This family was incredibly strong and powerful in our silence and prayer.


However, for those of you who did not gather during the worst years, I would like to share my thoughts and ideas of what the gathering was like, what I feel I and others could have done better.  I also offer this personal reflection as what I think we as a family could do better in the future if,  under the new administration, the USFS is forced to or decides to change their strategy.  As an FYI, as of last year in Vermont, the USFS strategy is that although we are an illegal event, they will treat it as a recreation event and limit their interference.  (Yes I hear those of you who were in Vermont last year groaning -- but that was limited interference compared to the height of the conflicts). 

One tactic some people took was to try to avoid being a "group" with the argument that if we are not a "group," the group use regs do not apply to us.  The results was that we stopped having councils and we stopped using the words council, counsel and circle to explain what we do. We also stopped trying to reach a consensus for much of anything based on the argument that if a council can reach consensus, then we have a governing body that can sign a permit. We were trying to prove we were less organized then we were.

IMHO, the fallout from that is that we slowly drifted away from being a family and being more like small groups of people who gather at the beach to watch fireworks on the 4th of July.  Both things are great but very, very different.

Without cooperation between all of us when we gather, we lose the big picture, fail to deal with problems collectively, and loose our focus. Now council/counsel/circle is not the only way cooperation happens, but it is the way that is most opening to all bellies at the gathering.  For example, if no council is called to discuss parking, then people park where ever, many people's cars get towed, and then when it gets really bad, a few people off to the side are forced into dealing with the situation. While counciling may take longer and have its own challenges, it is the process that insures that all voices are heard, we are doing what is best for the gathering (not a handful of people), and it allows less experienced gatherers to learn from more experienced gatherers. By the way, it also allows less experienced gatherers to share new and potentially better ideas with everyone. Fresh eyes can see opportunities tired eyes don't see.

We and by we, I also mean "I," spent too much time focusing on the USFS and not enough time taking care of our own house. What I mean by this is that were were endless calls, discussions, ideas spent trying to figure out how to get the Group Use Regs struck down, modified to accommodate a unsigned operating plan, and/or grant the gathering an "alternative means" to comply with the regulation (per the regulations themselves). We had circles with the USFS at gatherings, side conversations, discussions at kangaroo courts, and conference calls with the USFS.

I personally spent years walking with the USFS to insure that there was a witness to their harassment and  my family knew they were coming. These were the years when yelling Six-Up could get you arrested. These were the years when some or much of my family thought Shanti Sena meant law enforcement. These were the years when the conflict was at its worst.  Why did I spend so much time walking with the USFS?  Very few people were willing to do it then. 5 or 6 people were trying to cover 8 hours a day, with multiple groups of USFS law enforcement officers.  These were the years that if you tried to talk to a law enforcement officers, you might get taken to jail for "interfering with an officer."

Some of these years, digging shitters might get you a mandatory court appearance ticket so when the calls of "Six-Up" rang out, shitter diggers disappeared into the woods -- not a scenario that helps us all to stay healthy.  Some years, our medical folks where harassed when trying to help the health of our family: cars were held up when trying to take people to the hospital, medical personnel tents were searched, and charges were brought for a host of issues against family trying to help family.

Many of these years, the USFS came into the gathering at dinner time on the third of July looking to serve warrants on people who missed their court dates.  The years 2006 to 2008 were especially bad for this with the USFS engaging in escalating aggression and violence toward gathering participants.  These were scary years and there were times that I was so scared I was shaking. I was afraid of what the USFS was doing to us, and I was afraid of what gathering participants might do to the USFS. Thankfully this is a wonderful family. We have always acted better than the USFS although that doesn't mean we have always acted as good as we could have. We are the peacekeepers the world needs now.

These are all hard issues to deal with and they do demand a lot of attention. If I have to do it all over again, there are some things I would change and some I wouldn't.  I would still walk with the USFS as much as I can. It deescalates their behavior, tends to keep them on the trails instead of searching through people's campsites, and keeps my family from being arrested. But I would also make sure to spend more time participating in workshops, sitting in council/counsel/circle, and encouraging others to go about their business while ignoring the USFS as best they could.

I would encourage all of us to have councils/counsels/circles as much as possible. Even one council with 20 people changes the vibe of the area around them. I've been witness to this myself on more than one occasion.  While trying to find a permanent resolution with the USFS is important, sharing our knowledge on how to gather with each other is even more important.  If we forgot how to gather, then gatherings will stop.

I would encourage the USFS to sit in council with us. I would encourage the USFS to have their meeting with us in the Cooperations area (usually near INFO) so that all family are free to attend, listen in, ask questions, and share their ideas. However, as we do not control the USFS, I would strongly encourage that where ever the meetings with the USFS take place, the information is widely distributed and all people who can be peaceful with law enforcement attend.  Remember, they tried to shut us down by imprisoning people they thought were leaders. That's only possible when a handful of people step up. When a thousand people step up, that doesn't happen. Be one of the thousand!

Protect the meek among us. Many of our meeker family stopped coming home during the bad years because it was all too much for them. We need the meek as much as we need the brave.  Life is a balance and if we are going to create peace on earth, then we need what looks like peace to everyone, not just to some.

When I interact with the USFS, I would try to be kinder and gentler.  While dealing with the USFS is a fact of life when we gather on National Forest Land, we can set the tone for our interactions, we can educate each other, and we can take more responsibility for protecting the natural resources and not rely on the USFS to be the muscle behind us.

Doing our own media outreach is critical. Many media outlets don't have the time to come to the gathering, so having people who can be reached by telephone helps a lot. The more people who volunteer to share their personal perspective about the gathering, the better.  Doing outreach in the local towns is critical. The more people who volunteer to share their personal perspective about the gathering, the better.

During these years, the USFS tried to drive a wedge in the gathering between more hippy-like-gatherers and more dirty-kid-like gatherers. They stated in multiple town meetings that most of us were good, but the there was a criminal element among us that fit the description of dirty kids. We must always stand together and not allow anyone to blame problems on one set of gatherers.  Now I know that some people cause more drama at gatherings than others, but that just means they are more in need of healing than others.  We should focus our efforts on those who need healing -- what ever that means.

During the worst years of the conflict, we were slowly forgetting how to gather in a way that protects the land, maintains human health, and that allows other creatures to co-exist.  IMHO the most important thing I and hopefully others can do if the conflict resurfaces is to keep sharing our collective knowledge, keep gathering how we gather, refrain from becoming reactive to the USFS and always project love and kindness -- even to law enforcement.

As an early gatherer has said repeatedly, "peace wins."