The Maine Primitive Network
Our community of skilled practitioners live their skills. We are understand that personal growth is essential. We also recognize that the gifts and perspectives we each bring may challenge us, but that challenge is what also furthers our own resilience and adaptability. It is the key to both self reliance and deep nature connection.
Michael Douglas (Senior Instructor/Founder)
Mike is a former Marine, Military Survival Instructor. Currently he is a Herbalist, Tracker, Maine Guide, Reality Television Advisor, Public Lecturer, and founder/head instructor of Maine Primitive. He has been a Skills practitioner since 1979 and professional skills instructor since 1983. Mike has mentored many individuals into finding their own voice as program facilitators and founders of schools over 35 years of mentoring.
Bill Marple (Tracking and Mentoring)
Bill has been a tracking instructor for the Marine Corps and has spent over a decade at the Tracker school as Head Instructor specializing in tracking. His talents and teaching ability bring him across the country. His depth of tracking is unparalleled as his his breadth of primitive skills knowledge. He brings to the craft a passion only matched by his professionalism. He and his family integrate the skills into their daily life as an inspiration to how ancestral craft and wisdom can enrich our modern existence.
Tom Eikenberg (Master Gardener and Foraging Elder)
Whether a master gardener or a client from around the world, Tom was the person you went to at Johnny's Seeds whenever there was a questions about a plant. Tending a forest for over fifty years, intentionally increasing its bounty with his knowledge of soils, plant needs, and the dynamics of plant communities through the seasons and decades. He provides insights and knowledge as a “student” of flora and fungi with a lifetime of hands-on knowledge.
Amy James-Oliveras- (Off Grid Living and Community Elder)
Amy has lived off grid honing her skills for months at a time for a period spanning over three years. She brings a lifetime of experience in community technologies, rocket stove construction and use, and is a solid practitioner of debris hut construction, friction fire, and many of the hands on skills required for long term outdoor living,
Mike and Amanda Dimauro (Sea Kayaking and Family Experiences)
Founders of Fox Walk Adventures, Mike and Amanda bring a collaborative experience of over ten years practicing and living primitive skills in a variety of environments. They built their timber frame home by hand with the timbers harvested from the land they live on. They integrate the skills and mentoring technologies into the programs they provide.
Jeremy Litchfield (Modern Story Teller and Fusion Mentor)
Jeremy is a serial entrepreneur and registered Maine Guide who weaves together the worlds of media, storytelling, purpose-driven business, and wilderness immersion. His work bridges the modern and the timeless—connecting digital innovation with deep human and ecological connection. At the heart of it all is a simple compass: helping people deepen their interconnectedness—to self, to others, and to the natural world.
Tabitha Gish (Caretaker)
Tabitha has lived outdoors honing skills for over a year. She brings the quiet and precise skills of a wooden boat builder and the tenacity of a roller derby competitor to the craft. Her hands on skills in shelter building, basketry, and tracking are an inspiration to newcomers and seasoned instructors alike. She can be found preparing seasonal food larders, upgrading existing long term shelters, or tending to the needs of the campus and community where needed as Caretaker.
Erik Ward (Community Coordinator)
Erik has spent over a decade honing his craft and providing photos and connection at Maine Primitive. He is known at the school and in the community as a supportive peer mentor, always ready with an open ear and willingness to listen and help whenever folks need an extra set of hands or presence to enrich their ongoing growth and learning.
Ronin Riley (Off-Site Programs Instructor)
Ronin has lived off grid in nature for over two years. He is a passionate skills practitioner and nomadic wild spirit with a desire to continually hone and further his craft and the craft of others. He provides short term and long term programs across the country.
Ray Reitze (Master Maine Guide and Wisdom Keeper)
Ray has lived off grid and has shared primitive skills for over fifty years. He has been featured in film and television for his gentle but powerful resilience. Ray is a master Maine Guide and founder of Earthways Guide Service.
Arthur Haines (Botanist and Primitive Skills Practitioner)
Arthur has lived off grid for over twenty years. His is the founder of Wilder Waters Community and author of “Ancestral Plants” as well as a number of other botanical and educational texts, many used by State and Local municipalities to identify and catalogue important species. Arthur has become a published authority on the benefits of interacting with wild plant communities as an extension of our healthy expression and the maintenance of a healthy environment.
Colby Smith and Hannah Sol Reah (Way of the Earth School - Wilderness Immersion six month experience)
Mentored Maine Primitive and Hawk Circle, both Colby and Hannah have spent decades living off grid in hand crafted shelters. They continue to hone their craft as they share the skills. Their strengths are many and they have built a village community of residential students through the years.
