My Ozarks Documentary Film Series

My Ozarks is a collection of short documentary films: intimate portraits of real people, places and experiences in the Ozarks. Our goal is to increase interest in the Ozarks and expand cultural and ecotourism to generate economic opportunities for artisans and entrepreneurs across the region.

Episode 6: Sasha

The sixth episode in the My Ozarks documentary film series introduces Sasha Daucus, a regional expert on Ozark wild herbs who discovered the Ozarks nearly 40 years ago while visiting the East Wind Intentional Community in Tecumseh, Missouri. What was intended to be a short stay while waiting for a job opportunity became a completely new path in her life. Sasha experiences great joy living in the beauty of the Ozarks and teaching others about herbal remedies and the healing power of nature.

The Film

A film by Jason Brasier and Quintin Huckaby, filmed on location in Mark Twain National Forest in Ripley and Oregon Counties in Missouri.

Note: This episode was filmed during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. We had to limit people involved and change the way we operate to ensure everyone’s safety. Thank you to Sasha, our friends at Mark Twain National Forest, and all involved for working with us to make this film happen.

Cupola Pond, Ripley County, Missouri 36.4731° N, 91.05226° W

The Back Story

Article by Sasha Daucus and Rickie Maples

SASHA DAUCUS

Sasha is an explorer and adventurer. She is an herbalist, a former midwife, and the current director of the Golden Light Center, a center for learning about the healing power of Nature. She is also a Master of the Avatar course, helping people recognize what is preventing them from seeing their own possibilities. She works with multiple teams seeking adaptive approaches to climate change, including nonprofit organizations Radical Joy for Hard Times, Deep Adaptation, and the Ozark Area Community Congress.

What began as a simple vacation trip to visit her “weird” sister at the East Wind Intentional Community in the early 1980’s had unexpected consequences. Sasha caught her first glimpse of the amazing beauty of the Ozarks and fell in love. 

The beauty of the Ozarks, as well as life at East Wind, stayed in her mind as she returned to Iowa to finish college and drew her back soon after. What was intended to be a short stay at East Wind while waiting for a job opportunity became a completely a new path in her life.

Sasha quickly became involved in all the activities of running the community of East Wind, including helping to set up a worker-owned factory.  After a few years, life took another turn.  While accompanying a close friend to prenatal appointments, Sasha met Mau Blossom, a practicing midwife.  Sasha and Mau made a lasting connection and, in 1984, Sasha joined Mau on her homestead near Doniphan in Ripley County, Missouri.  

Sasha and Mau raised a majority of their own food, worked on the homestead and operated their home birth midwifery business that covered a 300-mile radius in the Ozarks.  It was during this time that Sasha’s hobby interest in plants developed into a professional niche as a clinical herbalist.  As she deepened her knowledge of herbs, her appreciation and love of Mau and her home in the Ozarks grew. 

Mau’s sudden death left Sasha facing a decision of whether or not she would stay on the Ripley County homestead.  The depth of her connection to this place finally convinced Sasha that she should.  This was her home now.  After 24 years with Mau, Sasha found herself standing on her own continuing their vision of living a life of harmony and connection to the natural world.  This is a vision she continues to live by today.

A big part of this vision has been to share her love of the Ozarks with other people and invite them to see more of what is really here. She does this not only by teaching others about the wild herbs present here through herb walks and presentations, but also through storytelling. Many people don’t know exactly what or where the Ozarks are, so when Sasha introduces herself to a group she mentions she is from the Ozarks and opens herself up for questions.  She takes her audiences on a magical journey to discover what an extraordinary place the Ozarks truly are.

Sasha will be the first to admit that you may have to work hard and be willing to sacrifice some comforts to be successful in the Ozarks, due to the rugged nature of the place. But there is a strong pull of community and kinship.  It takes every person to make a region what it is.

THE PLACES FILMED IN THIS EPISODE

Cupola Pond, in Ripley County is a place that offers a mysterious and powerful step into the natural past of the Ozarks. It is accessed by county highways and dirt roads that lead through scrubby Ozarks woodlands. It isn’t easy to find without knowing your way. Once at the parking site to the Natural Area, a short walk leads to an ancient sink hole pond that has preserved the habitat from another era, long before humans occupied this land.  According to the Mark Twain National Forest, it is approximately 20,000 years old. As you top a small rise and begin your walk down to Cupola Pond, a vista opens up to visitors that is hard to believe. Massive Tupelo Gum Trees grow in the shallow waters of this habitat that was created when an underground cave collapsed and created an open pond called a sinkhole pond. Visitors will feel as though they’ve stepped through a portal into an unfamiliar world of exotic beauty. 

The Narrows in Oregon County is a natural area on the Eleven Point River that offers breath-taking views of the Ozarks and Blue Spring. A trail that runs from Highway 142 where it crosses the Eleven Point offers access to a viewing platform of Blue Spring. Then the trail drops down off the ridge and leads to an old mill site with another spring, and more incredible views of the Eleven Point River. A trail that is maintained year-round, runs along the Eleven Point and leads to campsites that are accessible for kayakers and boaters on the Eleven Point. The trail is appreciated by bird watchers and wild plant enthusiasts alike.

The unique natural history of the Ozarks makes it one of the places of highest natural diversity in the world. Several unusual features come together in a single place to create this. 

• The Ozarks have been above sea level longer than nearly any other place on Earth, thus providing a haven for life on land to continue without interruption.

• The Ozarks is where five continental ecosystems cross, creating a boundary zone of overlapping ecosystems with unusually high species diversity, called an ecotone.

• Ozarks holds an extraordinary number of microhabitats. Even when overall conditions change, as they do in life, the plants that have developed here over time can find a place to live and thrive.

For the person exploring the Ozarks, all these factors create a thrilling adventure in natural diversity. One of Sasha’s favorite books that explores the natural history of the Ozarks is Missouri Landscapes: a tour through time, by Jon L. Hawker.

There is much to be seen and experienced in and around Ripley County, Missouri, especially if the goal is to disconnect from the day-to-day and reconnect with nature.  Check out seetheozarks.com and doniphan.org for more information.

The Filmmakers

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