Merchants of the Wild

Six Indigenous strangers are dropped into the woods with no food, supplies, or shelter. As they learn to patch birchbark canoes, the reality of the adventure affects Ebony.

A wet and cold first night affects Gabriella and the others. Elder Charlie teaches them the life-saving art of starting fire with flint, while Michela’s fears over their food supply grows.

Venturing on their first paddle in hopefully patched-up canoes, the Adventurers are eager to learn proper shelter construction from Knowledge Keeper Caleb Musgrave, or face another cold rainy night.

After an extremely long paddle on the open lake, Caleb and Brendan must deal with their canoe problems but are relieved to learn the art of net making on a secluded beach.

Food gone and net empty, the strain is telling on Gabriella as Elder Mary arrives with a gift and teaching that drives home the harsh reality of survival.

After eating ‘bush sushi’, the Adventurers paddle to a new camp with the hopes of better securing food, the struggling Gabriella must be intercepted by the medic on the open water.

Tempers flare as hunger, exhaustion, and no reprieve from one another pushes someone past the point of no return.

Michela struggles on the choppy lake, while Brendan and Caleb continue to take on water, as they make way to a new camp where Medicine Woman Pauline brings knowledge for their bodies and insights for spiritual awakening.

Moving to a processing camp the adventurers hope to maximize the areas resources, but with so little food and energy, success with their newest teaching could make or break them.

Tim discovers the valuable beaver pelts have gone missing in the night. With beaver jerky now their only source of food, Michela maybe takes on too much, committing herself to maintain their trap lines.

Low energy and missing home and family is straining nerves. Needing to move on they welcome a change of camp and a new lesson in deadfall traps, even as winter looms.

Everything comes to a head as heavy snow signals the nearing of the end of the journey. Their final days are filled with a mixture of melancholy, excitement, bow making, and reflection.

Knowledge Keeper Caleb Musgrave, who takes them back to see their journey, share what they went through, and give a powerful look at how it has changed the course of their lives, finally reunites the Adventurers for the first time.