Our Mission is to offer programs that guide youth, teens and families to a more connected and balanced relationship with Mother Earth through caretaking and Earth Living Skills.
4EEE offers a range of programs from introduction to mastery of Earth Skills such as tracking, wilderness survival and nature awareness through learning of the 4 Elements of Survival: Shelter, Water, Fire and Food.
“Nature is not simply a resource that we control as a product; it is a relationship we must cultivate as caretakers of Mother Earth.”
-Rick Berry, Founder 4 Elements Earth Education
Our “curriculum” and experienced instructors give youth, teens and families a foundation to be competent in the natural world which inspires courage and confidence to explore and discover one’s life purpose or path. Through our programs, a re-thinking of our relationship with nature begins to occur.
This, in turn, creates a sense of belonging that flourishes amongst the participants and develops a feeling of a “village” community, where the people and the land come into harmony together.
Our Locations:
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California
Home of Fox Walkers Youth day programs based at Burton Educational Preserve
+ Offering youth summer programs, teen adventures and family camps
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Philadelphia
Home of Coyote Tracks Youth day programs run in local urban parks and recreation areas
+ Offering youth summer programs and family opportunities
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New Jersey
Offering family camps and teen adventures at the Primitive Camp in the Pine Barrens and surrounding areas
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South Texas
Exciting new addition, offering family programs at Red Sun Ranch on the Gulf Coast plains near Alice.
+ Offering special events, field trips and workshops
Fred “Coyote” Downie
“When we are working for the People, we can’t complain because the Children are Watching”.
— Wisdom from Fred “Coyote” Downie, Ceremonial Elder, Round Valley Indian Reservation CA
We cannot complain because the children are listening, their eyes and ears are towards us, until they are not. We must walk the way we desire them to walk. For if we fail them, when their eyes and ears no longer face us-they will walk away from the things most sacred.
— Jennifer Villarreal, Southern Lipan Apache
Tribal Relations and Accountability to our Indigenous Values:
4 Elements Earth Education was born out of the Children of the Earth Foundation and the Foundational Teachings of The Tracker School through Tom Brown Jr. These teachings were passed down from Grandfather Stalking Wolf, of the Southern Lipan Apache Lineage, to Tom.
4EEE is grateful for our partnership with the Southern Lipan, through Juan Villarreal, for over 17 years and the establishment of the Red Sun Ranch in South Texas.
4EEE is thankful to Gary Morris who passed down Yurok and Hoopa ways of living and thinking through Calvin Rube and Georgina Matildon.
4EEE is ever grateful for the acceptance and 15 year partnership with the Siakumne Tribe and Chairman Don Ryberg, with whom we have re-created a living, cultural center, Pata Panaka Village.
Red Sun Ranch, South Texas
Make a Donation.
As a 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit with a mission to offer programs that guide youth, teens and families to a more connected and balanced relationship with Mother Earth through caretaking and Earth Living Skills.
Donations to our scholarship fund have enabled us to provide $260,000 in scholarships to children and families over the last 3 years.
Thank you for your contribution, together we can continue to make huge impacts in our communities.
Indigenous Peoples Days Event
The Siakumne Tribe, 4EEE and its supporters invite members of the public to embrace their own respective cultures and the mosaic of cultures represented at IPD.
We are all indigenous.
A free, volunteer driven, donation based annual event at Pata Panaka Village in Nevada City, CA
Family Camp in the Pine Barrens
Recalling the Old Ways, sitting around the campfire with friends and family, sharing stories, gratitude, and laughter!
Tracker School in the Pine Barrens
The Tracker School was founded in 1978 by Tom Brown Jr, based on the teachings of Grandfather Stalking Wolf, the Apache elder from whom Tom learned his skills when he was just seven years old. 4EEE’s programs are based on these foundations and the lineage of these teachings.
