1968 Free For A Moment
Forest wisdom clubs ČTU (KLM)
Picture from p. 170 1. Registration of KLM under ČTU, 1969. ~z~ AW
Picture from p. 170 2. A bulletin of Tábornická unie, 1968. ~z~ JB
Picture from p. 170 3.–5. Covers of ČTU magazines that also wrote about woodcraft. ~z~ JB
Picture from p. 170 6. Inonoš at the Founding Council of LLM, 1968. ~a~ LZ, ~z~ AW
Picture from p. 171 7. A cover of the magazine Hlasatel no. 1/1968. ~z~ AW
Picture from p. 171 8. Musketaquidu camp, 1969. ~z~ RK
Picture from p. 171 9. An article about LLM in Mladý svět ("Young World") no. 26/1968. ~z~ JB
Picture from p. 171 10. Signatures of attendees of the Council at Křemešník from the Jack London Club's chronicle, 1968. ~z~ TM
Picture from p. 171 11. A handbook issued by ČTU, 1969. ~z~ AW
Picture from p. 171 12. A LLM badge with a needle, 1968. ~z~ AW
Picture from p. 171 13. The header of LLM's official writing paper, 1969. ~z~ AW
From spring 1968, woodcrafters were becoming active again. On March 23, LČSW's last Chief Miloslav Vavrda sent out letters to its former members. During the establishment meeting on 27 April 1968, the Preparatory Committee of LLM was elected (President: Miloslav Vavrda, members: Zdeněk Teichman, František Kupka, Ctirad Švehla, Milouš Stárek, Karel Doleček, Jan Kamenický, Bedřich Moldan, Viliam Valovič, Antonín Prokeš, František Chudáček, Ladislav Matějka, Jiří Novák, Ludmila Kozáková). New badges were made, and the Tribal Constitution, Birch Bark Roll and Degrees were printed. The bulletin Hlasatel ("Reporter") was being issued.
On 22 May 1968, the Ministry of Internal Affairs was asked for the official renewal of the organization LLM and was submitted a statute to approve. On 8 and 9 June, the Founding Council of LLM took place at Sluneční paseka under the hill Křemešník. The military intervention by five Warsaw Pact states in Czechoslovakia in August put a stop not only to the reformation process called the Prague Spring, but also spoiled the chances of getting the LLM officially approved. Woodcrafters would join ČTU (Česká tábornická unie, ČTU), Zálesák, TIS and other organizations that enabled them to continue their activities under the name Kluby lesní moudrosti ("Forest Wisdom Clubs").
Zálesák and woodcraft in the Brno region
Picture from p. 172 1. A cover of the magazine Zálesák with a woodcraft theme, no. 1/1968. ~z~ JB
Picture from p. 172 2. A camp diary, 1970. ~z~ HB
Picture from p. 172 3. KLM's shared camp on the river Lužnice, 1970. ~z~ RK
Picture from p. 172 4. A camp of Zálesák on Komáří louka, 1967. ~z~ HB
Anežka Svobodová – Inonoš founded the tribes Kmen Černého vlka ("Black Wolf Tribe") and Omaha in Brno. The woodrafters from Brno were under the patronage of the organization Zálesák ("The Forest Man", a body specialized in open air activities under Svazarm – an organization cooperating with the military) which would publish a high-quality magazine with the same name from the end of 1967. It informed about Seton and forest wisdom on a regular basis.
Woodcrafter tribes camped together on the river Lužnice near Suchdol between 13 July and 6 August 1970 under the leadership of the Chiefs Los, Jasan, Inonoš, Mahykan. It was the first woodcraft camp for the members of the Brno-based tribes Omaha and Černí vlci. The tribes' activities were quite varied, and their membership in Zálesák provided them with a clubhouse, too. Around 1973, the Brno woodcrafters joined Vysokohorské sporty (VHS Brno, "Mountain Sports") and did rock-climbing and tramping (backpacking in the wild) with more intensity. The original group got rearranged, and some tribes stopped existing.
Apart from Inonoš and her husband Vlk, there are the following names in the chronicles: Jan Buřival – Segwun, Aleš Kubíček – Unkas, Petr Černý – Vanata, Stanislav Pivoňka – Muwin, Eva Sklenářová – Odamin, Naďa Molíková, Elena Novotná, Jana Dimitriadisová, Luboš Sotolář – Čod, Josef Šustr – Jožan, Aťka Chmelařová.
The Tecumtha center, Prague
Picture from p. 173 1. A drawing of Tecumtha's flag, 1968. ~z~ AW
Picture from p. 173 2. A cover of a rover handbook, 1969. ~z~ AW
Picture from p. 173 3. A meeting of Dakota and Netnokwa rovers, 1969. ~z~ ID
Picture from p. 173 4. A cover of the center's magazine, 1/1966. ~z~ AW
Picture from p. 173 5. Winter wandering around Brdy – a farewell to Emil Kučera, 1969. ~z~ ID
Scouting troops in Prague that were inclined to Seton's ideals established the center Tacumtha in 1968, led by Ivan Makásek – Hiawatha. It comprised of: the 3th troop Neskenon, the 77th rover tribe Šavané, the 85th O.S. Dakota, the 7th troop Dívky táborového ohně ("The Campfire Girls"), the rover tribe Netnokwa and the 10th troop Venedové. A hundred people altogether. The Founding Certificate reads:
"The center Tecumtha is hereby founded, arising from a solid basis of the Indian tradition of the old rover tribe Dakota. In our opinion, scouting and woodcraft should not be treated as separate movements. Or, at least, rovering and woodcraft which blend into one path within our tribes. We believe that namely for rovers, Seton's scale of eagle feathers is the best program, including the Zálesák-based titles of nobility. Seton's general idea is not harmful in the formation of their world views either. Mystical and romantic, the cult of fire is our main pillar as it helps create the spiritual side of human life and develop the emotional side. Common sense goes hand in hand with a perceptive soul. May it strenghten personalities with the decalogue of scouting."
Ivan Makásek - Hiawatha, Milouš Stárek - Mahykan
Picture from p. 174 I. Makásek, 1963. ~z~ ID
Picture from p. 174 Hiawatha at Brdy. ~z~ ID
Picture from p. 175 M. Stárek, 1990. ~z~ AW
Picture from p. 175 Mahykan accoladed by Bobr. ~z~ AW
Picture from p. 175 Milouš Stárek - Pirát, 1936. ~z~ AW
Picture from p. 176 A pastel drawing from Logan's woodcraft diary, 1974. ~z~ MKL
- Ivan Makásek - Hiawatha
- (* 3. května 1944)
A Czech naturalist, nature protector, journalist, writer, woodcrafter and scout.
In 1957–58 he was part of the troop Foglarovi Hoši od Bobří řeky ("Foglar's Boys from Beaver River"). Known by the nickname Malý Medvěd ("Small Bear") and the forest name Hiawatha. He founded and led the rover tribe Dakota and the scout-woodcrafter tribe Neskenon. He was also the founder and the first leader of the center Thecumtha Prague. He established Neskenon's magazines Nika and Wampum and managed them for two decades.
During his time, Neskenon "discovered" the game of lacrosse (1967) and enriched Czech underground scouting with it in the following years. In the spring of 1968, he contributed to the renewal of the scouting organization. After the camp Na Vydřím potoce ("On the Otter Creek") in Šumava he got married, but he led the camp for one more whole year including the 4th camp in the end of which he passed the leadership onto his friend Jiří Kafka – Owíga. He left, and soon after that – based on the 2nd Chief's will – he came back for some time as the Shaman and created a fire warden community within Neskenon; Midewiwin arised from it ten years later. In 1972 he came up with the project of camping in a teepee. Two years later he formed the protection group TARAXACUM to conceal the scout troops Neskenon and Pětka as well as the woodcrafters, scouts and tramps (wilderness backpackers) who supported these.
For ten years he worked as a professional nature protector, and later as an environmental journalist. He ended his professional career as an environmental consultant to the Prime Minister in 2005–06. Then he retired and took a trip to Canada. He visited Yukon and British Columbia. He wrote dozens of non-fiction books. His life philosophy that he used to practice in Neskenon was to implement the best of scouting, woodcraft and ecology both in tribes activities and in life. He has four children and many grandchildren. Both of his daughters as well as his wife were part of the scout-woodcrafter troop Sedmička ("Number Seven") within Dívky táborového ohně, and his sons were part of the tribe Neskenon.
- Milouš Stárek - Mahykan
- (* 26. prosince 1921, Milovice – † 8. února 2007, Praha)
A doctor, a long-standing chief of the League, the Chief of LLM in 1995–99. Before he got a forest name in the 1930s, he used the nickname Pirát in the tribe Ranné svitanie ("Morning Twilight") in Zvolen.
During the war he became a member of the tribe Dakota and of Kmen pražských woodcrafterů ("Prague Woodcrafters Tribe"). In 1943–45 he was sent to the German Reich as a labourer, where he escaped from before the war came to an end. During the Prague Uprising he fought on the barricades with a weapon in his hand; later he received a state decoration for bravery.
After the liberation, he led the tribe Sisseton as the Chief in the years 1945–51. He continued to do so illegally throughout the 1950s. His wife Hana was also a member of Kmen pražských woodcrafterů, both their children took part in Sisseton's illegal camps towards the end of the 1950s.
In 1968–71 he was the Chief of the tribe Lesní hoši ("Forest Boys") that functioned in ČTU as a Forest Wisdom Club. He also held a position among the chiefs of ČTU. During the Normalization period he was an instructor in Turistický oddíl Slavoj ("Tourist Troop Slavoj") and the rowing club Blesk ("Lightning").
After LLM's renewal in 1990, he became the Chief of the Wahpeton tribe; its members were mostly former members of LČSW.
In 1995–99 he became the Chief of LLM despite his advanced age. In 2001 he was declared the Honorary Chief of the League.
