Primal: Why We Long to Be Wild and Free

TV survival shows and survival schools are more popular than ever; Paleo diets are proving to be more than just a passing trend; and free-range parenting is gaining steady momentum. So in an age when living in a modern society often equates to comfort and ease, why is it that we are so interested in these primal aspects of being human when they are no longer really necessary? Why are we still so fascinated with making fire or stone tools in this social media-driven digital age? Why are we urging our children to run back out into the wild?

The answer to all of these questions—to why we seek out the natural world—stares us in the mirror every day: We long to fulfill our natural destiny as upright-walking hunter-gatherer-nomads. It’s who we are.

Primal explores the natural human desire—the primal desire—to fulfill our original design. From the telling of anecdotes and stories from author Nate Summer’s twenty years as a survival specialist to conversations with world-renown survival and human nature specialists to digging into the rewilding and free-range parenting trends, Nate explores how humans have—and continue to—pursue “survival” situations to fulfill their deep, soulful longings.

Nate Summers, M.Ac., has been a survival skills instructor for over 20 years with a background in anthropology, Asian studies, and natural medicine. He taught and directed at the Wilderness Awareness School for over 15 years where he helped to start both the Anake Outdoor School and the Anake Leadership Program. Nate's passions include ethnobotany, natural mentoring, hunter-gatherer childhoods, natural movement, herbal medicine, internal martial arts, and leadership. He helped found the Vashon Wilderness Program and Outdoor Connections, and has served as a naturalist for King County Parks and Seattle Parks and Rec.

Nate holds a Master's degree from NIAOM (Northwest Institute of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine), and B.A.s in both anthropology and Asian studies from the University of Illinois. He has served as faculty for the Desert Institute of Healing Arts, the Asian Institute of Medical Studies, and as adjunct faculty for Prescott College. Nate likes to fish, practice internal martial arts, go on adventures with his family, and gather wild foods and medicine.