Each day at Ecojustice Camp begins with an opening circle, and ends with a closing circle. During opening and closing circle, campers have fun, learn some basic concepts, and sing ecology songs together.
A typical opening circle goes like this:
Sing a few songs
Give an overview of the day
Read an ecojustice poem or tell an ecojustice story
Sing some more songs
A typical closing circle goes like this:
Sing a few songs
Trashman skit
Maybe talk about favorite parts of the day
Sing some more songs
The Trashman skits are put on by the counselors and junior counselors. The basic plot of the skit is the same every day except the final day. Trashman interrupts closing circle to throw trash around (crumpled up paper) and talk about how much he/she/they loves throwing trash. Ecojustice Avenger then appears and tells Trashman to reduce-reuse-recycle. Trashman flees, followed by Ecojustice Avenger.
Each day a different counselor or junior counselor takes on the role of Trashman and Ecojustice Avenger. Therefore, both characters have to be identified by distinctive costumes (e.g., this past summer Ecojustice Avenger wore a blue-green superhero cap and a hot pink hat with a ridiculously wide brim, while Trashman wore a beat-up old barn coat and a snap-brim fedora hat). After the counselors or junior counselors shed their costumes and return to closing circle, typically a camper will say, “Hey Trashman was really Dan!” which Dan then denies strenuously — while some other counselor or junior counselor wonders out loud whether perhaps any one of us could be Trashman, just as any one of us could be Ecojustice Avenger, depending on what we chose to do.
Finally, on the last day of camp, Ecojustice Avenger manages to convince Trashman to reform, and to no longer throw trash around. Except that campers know that most likely that reform won’t last very long, and Trashman will return once again next summer….
Stories for opening and closing circle
See Ecojustice Elders.
Camp song book
Here are some of the songs we sing at Ecojustice Camp opening and closing circles. Some of them are teaching songs; some are silly fun songs; some are songs about justice issues. We typically sing 25 songs over the course of a week of camp, and by the end of the week most of the campers will have memorized all the songs.
Adaptation Song
Original Ecojustice Camp song; sheet music available from the curriculum writer.
(c) Dan Harper
1. I’m a fox, I’m a fox, I am a Gray Fox,
Make my den in caves or trees or in among rocks,
I am good at climbing trees, and balancing on logs,
I’m a fox, I’m a fox, I am a Gray Fox.
Chorus:
Animals adapt to their environments
So they can meet all of life’s requirements.
What they eat, and where they live, and when they take a nap:
There are many ways that animals adapt.
2. I’m a falcon, I’m a falcon, I’m a Peregrine Falcon,
I’m the fastest animal, I hunt with my sharp talons,
I’m the one maintaining pigeon population balance,
I’m a falcon, I’m a falcon, I’m a Peregrine Falcon.
All God’s Critters
by Bill Staines
Annie Patterson and Peter Blood singing All God’s Critters.
Aragon Mill
by Si Kahn
Big Yellow Taxi
by Joni Mitchell
Rita Ora singing Big Yellow Taxi.
Blue Boat Home
by Peter Mayer
Peter Mayer singing Blue Boat Home. (We sing it in the key of C.)
Circle Game
by Joni Mitchell
Sweet Honey in the Rock singing Circle Game. We don’t sing it quite like this, but this is a great interpretation of the song.
Country Roads of Massachusetts
We created our own lyrics to the classic song “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” turning it into a song about where we live.
De Colores
Traditional song
José-Luis Orozo singing De Colores.
Every Living Thing
Original Ecojustice Camp song; sheet music available from the curriculum writer.
(c) Dan Harper
1. Red-tailed Hawks like to eat Short-tailed Shrews when they can,
Shrews hunt for earthworms, it’s on their menu plan,
Earthworms eat compost, and have since time began.
Chorus:
Every living thing needs another living thing to survive,
Every living thing needs another living thing to survive,
Living things depend on other living things to stay alive.
2. Foxes eat rabbits and other herbivores,
Rabbits eat grasses and fruits and lots of forbs,
Plants make their own food from sun and soil and chlorophyll.
Chorus
3. Fishers can safely hunt Porcupines, so they say,
But when they die, then it’s their turn to be prey,
Vultures and microbes eat dead things, and helping them decay.
Flaming Ukulele in the Sky
Our parody ecology words to the song by Pops Bayless.
1. I was an oilman, fooled lots of folks,
Said climate change was just a hoax,
But then a vision stopped all my lies—
A flaming ukulele in the sky.
Chorus:
That flaming ukulele in the sky, lord, lord,
That flaming ukulele in the sky,
It had four sweet golden strings, and the sound of angel wings,
That flaming ukulele in the sky.
2. I ran a CAFO,* locked up my pigs,
Made a pile of feces that was way too big,
But I went organic, I’ll tell you why,
Saw a flaming ukulele in the sky.
3. I manufactured cheap herbicides
Which killed both humans and birds besides,
But I stopped so I could testify
’Bout that flaming ukulele in the sky.
Garbage
by Bill Steele
Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes (Ecology version)
Original Ecojustice Camp parody verses
1. Peregrine Falcon verse:
Head, talons, wings, and beak, wings and beak….
And dark sideburns and head and cheek….
2. Gray Fox verse (thanks to Niki):
Head, black-striped tail, gray paws, tail and paws….
And eyes and ears and snout and claws….
3. Salmon verse:
Head, gills, and fins, and tail, fins and tail…
And eyes and ears and mouth and scales…
I Love the Mountains
Traditional
I love the mountains, I love the rolling hills,
I love the flowers, I love the daffodils,
I love the fireside when all the lights are low,
Boom-dee-ah-dah [4 times]
Joanna Turner singing this as a round. We sing the last line a little differently than she does.
Michael, Row Your Boat Ashore
Trad. African American
Chorus: Michael, row the boat ashore, hallelujah [2 times]
River Jordan is deep and wide, hallelujah,
Milk and honey on the other side, hallelujah.
Won’t you help to trim the sail, hallelujah,
Won’t you help to trim the sail, hallelujah.
Michael’s boat’s a music boat, hallelujah, [repeat]
Joe and Eddie singing Michael Row the Boat Ashore. They sing somewhat different words than we do.
Swimming to the Other Side
by Pat Humphries
Pat Humphries singing this song.
Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
possibly by Wallace and Minerva Willis, c. 1840
Chorus: Swing low, sweet chariot, coming for to carry me home [2 times]
1. I looked over Jordan, & what did I see, a band of angels coming after me
2. I’m sometimes up & sometimes down, but still my soul is freedom bound
3. If you get there before I do, tell all my friends I’m coming too
The immortal Fisk Jubilee Singers performing this song a hundred years ago.
Wallace and Minerva Willis were enslaved by a Choctaw who lived in Oklahoma. They taught this song to someone who then taught it to the Fisk Jubilee Singers, who made it famous. This song was probably an Underground Railroad song, so “Jordan” would have been the Red River in Oklahoma (or other rivers in other parts of the South), and “angels” would have been conductors on the Underground Railroad.
Water
by Bob Reid
Bob Reid & the U.N. Childen’s Choir singing “Water” at the United Nations.