Fire by Friction: The Bow Drill Method
Description:
Come and learn the ancient art of fire by friction and ignite the fire 
within you. This workshop is a tutorial in bow drill fire making and the importance of learning how to create fire.
While on this quest for fire you will;
- Learn basic knife safety
- Learn several carving techniques
- Carve and construct your own bow drill kit
- Learn the proper techniques for starting a friction fire
- Learn proper material identification and selection,
- Learn proper fire structures, and tinder collection.
- Experience creating fire for the very first time just as your ancestors did.
When: 10AM-4PM November 8, 2026, 10 am-4pm
Registration Fee: $40-$80 Sliding Scale (pay what you're comfortable)
Location: Ancestral Knowledge Museum & Research Center - Riverdale/Lanham
Age: 10 &older
Materials, tools and technical bow drill tips included. We will share stories of why fire making is culturally important and is needed in wilderness programs.
Please bring a sharp knife (if you have one), notebook and pen, lunch, and water bottle. (we will have knives available for use and sale, if your knife is dull we will sharpen it for $5)
Bill Kaczor - Executive Director/Co-founder 2007-Present
Bill is the Executive Director and a co-founder of Ancestral Knowledge. Bill has worked and studied intensively with the masters in the fields of; youth mentoring, naturalist studies, primitive technology and tracking. He has been teaching children and adults in these subjects since 1998 — Bill was a lead instructor at Children of the Earth Foundations- Coyote Tracks summer camps for 5 years, and two years as the assistant director. He has instructed students at the University of Maryland, Georgetown University, Rivercane & Falling Leaves Rendezvous, Mid-Atlantic Primitive Skills Gathering (MAPS Meet), Bill can often be found instructing at Tom Brown Jr.’s Tracker School teaching primitive traps, bow making, flint knapping, pottery and hide tanning. In 1999 after 11 years, Bill chose to leave his skateboard/snowboard business and dedicate his life to helping people connect with the Earth through ancient skills. Shortly afterwards, Bill designed and was granted an after school and summer program for the 21st Century Learning Community in Public School District 150 of Peoria, Illinois. This program was successful in that it led the children to a respect for nature, respect for themselves and others, self-discipline and adventure. Bill is a specialist in bow making, stone tool technologies, hide tanning, fire by friction and hunting and experienced in many more skills.
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