Guidelines for Trek Reinactments

[Buckeye]

LDS trek reenactments occasionally pop up as discussion topics on this board and other places in the bloggosphere (e.g., this thread from last summer) Common concerns I have seen raised include:

• Safety issues, particularly regarding dehydration and forced fasting;
• Historically inaccuracy, particularly with the 'women's pull';
• Overzealous theater, such as burying dolls in makeshift graves and having faux mobs waking sleeping youth at gunpoint.

I was recently informed of Church Guidelines for Trek. While the guidelines are copyrighted 2015, I was not aware of them previously, and I supposed many others were not either. The guidelines provide very helpful advice and address (at least minimally) the common complaints I have seen raised with treks. Some of the insightful counsel includes: 

• "Licensed health care professionals should be present for the entire trek. At least one physician or other skilled Youth gather for a devotional during their handcart trek reenactment. 7 Callings, Assignments, and Roles health care professional should participate in the trek. In addition, one nurse or emergency medical technician (EMT) is recommended for every 50 to 100 participants." 
• "Symbolizing the absence of the young men by calling them to serve in the Mormon Battalion is historically inaccurate and is therefore inappropriate. The march of the Mormon Battalion occurred 10 years before handcart travel began."
• "The wearing of white clothing to represent deceased persons or angels from the other side of the veil is not to be included as part of treks." 
• "Leaders ensure that any stories that are told and reenacted during the trek are historically accurate. For a collection of historically accurate pioneer stories, see treks.lds.org "
• "Chickens, turkeys, or other live animals should not be killed during treks. Fasting should not be incorporated as part of treks." 

[emeliza]

Wow, it is surprising that we need these guidelines.

 

I have often wondered about the medical staff for Girls Camp when it is stake wide. We don't have one, glad to know we should for trek which is more likely to have injuries.

[bluebell]

I can't believe that they had to make a 'don't kill things' rule.  

[rockpond]

12 minutes ago, Buckeye said:

LDS trek reenactments occasionally pop up as discussion topics on this board and other places in the bloggosphere (e.g., this thread from last summer) Common concerns I have seen raised include:...

As the parent of a child with a heart condition (who will be on a trek in a few years), I'm really glad to see this.  I understand that we want to create as real an experience as possible but some of the things that are done can pose life-threatening risk to certain kids.  I want my son to be able to participate but I don't want to put him in harm's way.

[Jeanne]

What is the purpose of the trek?  I have never really  understood this. 

[bsjkki]

I was aware of them and I hope they are followed. I appreciated the link for historically accurate stories to share because past general conference talks contain some that are now known not to be as accurate as previously thought. I don't think people were lying because they didn't know the stories were based more on tall tales and faith promoting rumor. The safety guidelines for food and proper nutrition were also a must. These guidelines address many of the issues surrounding trek and I hope these guidelines improve the experience and help avoid the horror stories and reign in the over zealous. Personally, I've only participated in a one day trek and found the experience underwhelming and our stake had a few kids get dehydrated and need emergency care. Personally, I tend to not feel the spirit when I'm physically miserable and have never understood the appeal. For others, I know this seems to be a very spiritual experience.

[Marmonboy]

To gain an appreciation of what our pioneer ancestors went through to build Zion, and the sacrifices they made. But in a safe way, not freezing to death in Wyoming, or dying of dysentary or whatever.

[Buckeye]

9 minutes ago, Jeanne said:

What is the purpose of the trek?  I have never really  understood this. 

I'm not sure where the initial idea came from, but per the guidelines, the purpose is to learn faith, obedience, charity, sacrifice and perseverance. The entire introduction is directed to explaining the "purpose." In a nutshell:

Quote

To help youth learn from the experiences of the handcart pioneers, stakes and wards may choose to plan handcart trek reenactments for youth conferences. Treks provide powerful opportunities to strengthen testimonies, build unity, do family history, and learn core gospel principles. Treks can also help youth learn about who they are and what they may become.

 

[Buckeye]

17 minutes ago, bluebell said:

I can't believe that they had to make a 'don't kill things' rule.  

It wouldn't be a rule if it hadn't happened somewhere. I'd love to know the story.

FWIW, my family played Scattagories last night. The letter was "E" and the topic was "crimes." 

• 16-year old son's answer: "Espionage"
• 14-year old son's answer: "Embezzlement"
• 12-year old son's answer: "Eating other people."

We're going to have problems with that one ...

[bluebell]

Just now, Buckeye said:

It wouldn't be a rule if it hadn't happened somewhere. I'd love to know the story.

FWIW, my family played Scattagories last night. The letter was "E" and the topic was "crimes." 

• 16-year old son's answer: "Espionage"
• 14-year old son's answer: "Embezzlement"
• 12-year old son's answer: "Eating other people."

We're going to have problems with that one ...

On my mission we would always joke about how the person who caused the rule should have to have their picture next to it. I agree, it would be interesting to hear the details of how killing the turkeys and chickens went bad. 

[bsjkki]

I especially appreciate this note included in the Women's Pull section.  Symbolizing the absence of the young men by calling them to serve in the Mormon Battalion is historically inaccurate and is therefore inappropriate. The march of the Mormon Battalion occurred 10 years before handcart travel began. 

[bluebell]

4 minutes ago, bsjkki said:

I especially appreciate this note included in the Women's Pull section.  Symbolizing the absence of the young men by calling them to serve in the Mormon Battalion is historically inaccurate and is therefore inappropriate. The march of the Mormon Battalion occurred 10 years before handcart travel began. 

I agree.  If a group wants to do a women's pull (and I think a lot do because so many who have participated have thought it was the best part of the whole trek) they can symbolize their absence by death, since many men died.

They don't have to conflate the two different experiences.

[HappyJackWagon]

44 minutes ago, Buckeye said:

LDS trek reenactments occasionally pop up as discussion topics on this board and other places in the bloggosphere (e.g., this thread from last summer) Common concerns I have seen raised include:

• Safety issues, particularly regarding dehydration and forced fasting;
• Historically inaccuracy, particularly with the 'women's pull';
• Overzealous theater, such as burying dolls in makeshift graves and having faux mobs waking sleeping youth at gunpoint.

I was recently informed of Church Guidelines for Trek. While the guidelines are copyrighted 2015, I was not aware of them previously, and I supposed many others were not either. The guidelines provide very helpful advice and address (at least minimally) the common complaints I have seen raised with treks. Some of the insightful counsel includes: 

• "Licensed health care professionals should be present for the entire trek. At least one physician or other skilled Youth gather for a devotional during their handcart trek reenactment. 7 Callings, Assignments, and Roles health care professional should participate in the trek. In addition, one nurse or emergency medical technician (EMT) is recommended for every 50 to 100 participants." 
• "Symbolizing the absence of the young men by calling them to serve in the Mormon Battalion is historically inaccurate and is therefore inappropriate. The march of the Mormon Battalion occurred 10 years before handcart travel began."
• "The wearing of white clothing to represent deceased persons or angels from the other side of the veil is not to be included as part of treks." 
• "Leaders ensure that any stories that are told and reenacted during the trek are historically accurate. For a collection of historically accurate pioneer stories, see treks.lds.org "
• "Chickens, turkeys, or other live animals should not be killed during treks. Fasting should not be incorporated as part of treks." 

We've pretty much done all of these things on local treks. We even killed chickens because...well, they were for dinner.

I find it a bit ironic that the church is calling for historical accuracy. They have not set a strong example for historical accuracy in the past, but I guess this is an improvement.

[Jeanne]

15 minutes ago, Buckeye said:

I'm not sure where the initial idea came from, but per the guidelines, the purpose is to learn faith, obedience, charity, sacrifice and perseverance. The entire introduction is directed to explaining the "purpose." In a nutshell:

 

Thank you.  It is just that if it is supposed to see how pioneers really trekked..the rules would be out.  I like it that the kids are being watched over..but pioneers didn't have emt's ad a turkey or two would feed them.  I am jesting..I imagine there is a strengthening and better understanding of the past on this trek.  Is it a requirement or is it voluntary?  Thanks so much for the info.  When I was young it was just girl''s camp.

[Duncan]

One thing actually two things about Trek, a) Don't bury pretend dead babies!!! to me that's something out of a Rob Zombie movie and, b) I don't want two sacrament meeting talks about Trek, I don't care what you ate, what you wore, who you're pretended to be, what the RCMP officers asked you what you're doing, how you fixed a wheel, how some kids thought they were going on a Replica Star Ship Enterprise and got mad because fellow Canadian William Shatner wasn't there- don't want to know it, don't want to hear about it!!!! Please and Thank you!

[CA Steve]

10 minutes ago, HappyJackWagon said:

We've pretty much done all of these things on local treks. We even killed chickens because...well, they were for dinner.

I find it a bit ironic that the church is calling for historical accuracy. They have not set a strong example for historical accuracy in the past, but I guess this is an improvement.

Well if historical accuracy is the aim of the reenactments regarding out pioneer ancestors, it should be a wagon reenactment, not a handcart, since only a very small percentage came by handcart. If memory serves only about 3000 out of some 60-70,000 came by handcart. 

[HappyJackWagon]

24 minutes ago, CA Steve said:

Well if historical accuracy is the aim of the reenactments regarding out pioneer ancestors, it should be a wagon reenactment, not a handcart, since only a very small percentage came by handcart. If memory serves only about 3000 out of some 60-70,000 came by handcart. 

Yeah- We've never actually done handcarts. When we did our treks we used a wagon and mostly just walked.

[bsjkki]

1 hour ago, Duncan said:

One thing actually two things about Trek, a) Don't bury pretend dead babies!!! to me that's something out of a Rob Zombie movie and, b) I don't want two sacrament meeting talks about Trek, I don't care what you ate, what you wore, who you're pretended to be, what the RCMP officers asked you what you're doing, how you fixed a wheel, how some kids thought they were going on a Replica Star Ship Enterprise and got mad because fellow Canadian William Shatner wasn't there- don't want to know it, don't want to hear about it!!!! Please and Thank you!

I liked this for my husband who hates Sacrament meetings after trek, girls camp and scout camp. My new Bishop doesn't do this and I am so grateful.

[notHagoth7]

2 hours ago, bluebell said:

...it would be interesting to hear the details of how killing the turkeys and chickens went bad. 

It went bad[ly] for the turkeys and chickens.

Edited February 27, 2017 by notHagoth7

[cinepro]

 

2 hours ago, CA Steve said:

Well if historical accuracy is the aim of the reenactments regarding out pioneer ancestors, it should be a wagon reenactment, not a handcart, since only a very small percentage came by handcart. If memory serves only about 3000 out of some 60-70,000 came by handcart. 

Even if it was just  5% of the pioneers, it's still "accurate" to have a handcart trek; I don't think it's ever claimed that the trek is a representation of the entire 30+ year pioneer experience.  It just gets tricky when different elements of the pioneer experience are incongruously mashed together (like having the "Mormon Battalion" service occur during the handcart period).

[cinepro]

FYI, here's a "women's pull".  Notice the text at the beginning and its claim that the pull "simulated conditions faced by Mormon women pioneers after the mustering of the Mormon Battalion by the U.S. Army".  The idea that the men would leave their women to pull handcarts to Utah is a little...insulting.

 

 

[cinepro]

Here's a simulated mob attack in the middle of the night...

 

[CA Steve]

22 minutes ago, cinepro said:

 

Even if it was just  5% of the pioneers, it's still "accurate" to have a handcart trek; I don't think it's ever claimed that the trek is a representation of the entire 30+ year pioneer experience.  It just gets tricky when different elements of the pioneer experience are incongruously mashed together (like having the "Mormon Battalion" service occur during the handcart period).

By that same reasoning instead of a "Ma & Pa" assigned to each group there should be several Ma's assigned to each "Pa".

 

 

[JLHPROF]

Maybe we're just reenacting the wrong Trek...

[bsjkki]

In December, I taught in RS and this quote by Howard W. Hunter is wise counsel. 

"Let me offer a word of caution on this subject. I think if we are not careful as professional teachers working in the classroom every day, we may begin to try to counterfeit the true influence of the Spirit of the Lord by unworthy and manipulative means. I get concerned when it appears that strong emotion or free-flowing tears are equated with the presence of the Spirit. Certainly the Spirit of the Lord can bring strong emotional feelings, including tears, but that outward manifestation ought not to be confused with the presence of the Spirit itself."

In the Teachings of the Presidents manual, the first two sentences are left out. In RS, we are not often professional teachers but the counsel to not try and counterfeit the spirit by unworthy and manipulative means is wise and blunt counsel. Trek can often devolve into this and I've seen this at girls camp too. I mentioned, in my lesson that we don't need to make a big production to invite the spirit or to testify and have the spirit present. Bigger is not always better.