Today there are Woodcraft-based organizations worldwide. Several provided overviews of their programs at the first virtual International Woodcraft Gathering held in June 2024. Although this was the first virtual event connecting Woodcrafters worldwide, the first international gathering was hosted in 1996 by Liga Lesni Moudrosti (Woodcraft League of Czechia) and held at Walden Camp in the Moravia mountains in Czechia. The year was chosen to honor E. T. Seton’s first visit to Czechoslovakia in 1936.
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At that meeting, the Blue Sky World Woodcraft Declaration was developed and signed by Woodcrafters from four countries: Canada, Czechia, United Kingdom, and United States.
- Blue Sky! WorldWoodcraft is based upon an idea first expressed by Ernest Thompson Seton in 1902, which formed the basis for the International Woodcraft Movement founded by E. T. Seton and Ernest Westlake in 1916.
- Our objective is to create opportunities for the development of the individual, regardless of age, through the four Ways—physical, mental, spiritual, and service to others.
- By living in harmony with nature, we strive to learn from and understand nature’s ways and use this understanding to help us in the modern world.
- Although our practices may vary from nation to nation, our common heritage and international links enable us to share ideals worldwide.
- All like-minded people are welcome to join us in our activities regardless of political or spiritual beliefs.
A Brief History of the Woodcraft Movement
By Dee Seton Barber with quotes from Ernest Thompson Seton (2/4/1992)
My father said,
“The Woodcraft idea has possessed me all my life. In 1875 when I was a boy of fourteen, I founded in Toronto a ‘Robin Hood Club’ whose object was to practice outdoor life, combining the Woodcraft of Robin Hood and of Leather-stocking. Among other things, its Rangers were to use only bows as weapons and abstain from the use of matches in fire lighting. The club did not last long, but the dream never left me, and from time to time I made attempts to realize it.”
“In the ‘Two Little Savages,’ I give some of these attempts. The cabin in the ravine north of Toronto and the teepee in the woods of Sanger with Sam and Guy were personal experiences, and most of the little adventures recorded were actual happenings.”
“In 1896, after years of roving life on the Plains and in far countries, I settled down near New York, and about 1897 began again with my dream. In furtherance of this, I published in the Ladies’ Home Journal (1902), a series of chapters on the Woodcraft idea and organization. The first article appeared in May, though of course written the previous autumn. The result was the Blue Heron Tribe of Woodcraft Indians in New York State.”
“On the first of July, at Summit, New Jersey, I founded the first tribe that I personally led.”
“During the 13 years following 1902 the Woodcraft Headquarters was at Greenwich, Connecticut. [In 1906, during a visit to England I was put in touch with Baden-Powell and began a dialogue, exchange of letters, and ideas that led to the founding of the Boy Scouts.] In 1910, I was head of a committee that organized the Boy Scout work in New York. Its aims and activities were nearly the same as those of the Woodcraft Indians, and I continued head of both, hoping to unite them as one body, being Chief Scout of the Boy Scouts of America. In 1915, I realized that this was impossible; their methods were too widely apart. The Woodcraft alone provided a plan of recreations for both sexes and all ages. The Boy Scouts no longer needed me, therefore I resigned from that group to devote all attention to the Woodcraft.”
“In 1917, all the tribes were incorporated as the Woodcraft League of America.”
In 1930, Seton moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he continued leadership camps for Woodcraft and members of other organizations, as well as teachers interested in his approach to education. The “Seton Institute” continued until 1941, when the travel restrictions of World War II forced its closure. Seton died in 1946, and the leadership of the program went with him.
- At the time of this writing in 1992, Woodcraft continued to exist in small groups in the United States, Czechia, and the United Kingdom, and an effort was underway to re-establish it in Canada.
- Now, in 2026, we are learning more about Woodcraft organizations that were started in Europe since the 1920s, thanks to research being conducted by Liga lesní moudrosti. New information will be posted here as it becomes available.
