Teaching Drum Outdoor School :: Communities Directory

Formed: 1987 Established: 1991

This page last updated:2/29/2012

Teaching Drum Outdoor School

Three Lakes, Wisconsin,

United States

We are a community dedicated to preserving and sharing the skills and ways of our tribal ancestors, honoring the Old Ways of clan living in balance with our relations. We use the vital tools of truth-speaking, awareness and attunement exercises, threaded through with the basics like honor, respect. The talking circle is our forum. The wild herbs are our healers. The Earth is our Mother. All the creatures of the land are our guides.

Our primitive camp, Nishnajida--a cluster of bark-and-thatch wigwams--lies five miles from our office center. There, we guide the yearlong Wilderness Guide Program where students from all over the world come to make their clothing from skins; fish and forage for food; make craft items like bows, bowls, spoons, baskets; learn how to track, lodge construction, lodge living, and maintenance. Most of all, students learn about themselves and how to genuinely live as a clan. Everyone in our community is involved with the maintenance of this program, as well as with our own personal projects, passions, and growth.

A second primitive camp, Mashkodens, is our living-learning center where experienced staff members live and Wilderness Guide Program graduates come for extended internships in native lifeway. Mashkodens serves as a doorway where people from all over can come to experience the Old Way as it is actually lived in our contemporary context, for one to three months at a time.

Walking in the footsteps of the natives who were here before us, our programs are semi-nomadic, with winter and summer lodges at our primitive camps and seasonal fishing, maple syrup boiling, hunting, and wild ricing at various locations. Those at our office/administrative center join in these seasonal activities.

At the office center we live in wood-stove heated cabins, use electricity, computers, cars, and telephones, but our approach is to live as simply and closely to the Earth Mother as possible. Many of us do not use indoor toilets, and we have limited bathing facilities, but we do have running water in a couple of our homes. We purchase local organic food, scavenge our wild meat, and forage for some of our summer fruits and greens, as well as much of our nuts.

Information about open positions, volunteer opportunities, internships, classes, and the Wilderness Guide Program are available from our website.

We are a pet-free, alcohol/tobacco/drug-free atmosphere.

Website: http://www.teachingdrum.org

Contact:

7124 Military Rd
Three Lakes, Wisconsin 54562-9333 United States
Phone: 715-546-2944

Links:

The Teaching Drum Outdoor School

Community location is placed at the center of the zip/postal code, city/state, or city/country (not based on street addresses)

Former/Other Names: Nishnajida, Mashkodens

This page last updated:2/29/2012

Visitors Accepted

Visitor Process: Please write us at our email address, or give us a call well in advance of your intended visit. We like to open a dialogue with potential visitors before they arrive. A half-day tour of our community and primitive camps is available, by advanced reservation, for $30.00.

Statement of Housing Non-discrimination:

Our community does not discriminate in regards to housing based on race/color, national origin, religion, sex/gender, family status (i.e. having children, not having children, or being pregnant), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, ancestry, source of income, age, creed, personal appearance, political affiliation, HIV infection, military/veteran status, unfavorable military discharge, gender identity or expression, receiving public assistance, or being the victim of domestic abuse.

Population Members(adults and children): 15 Non-member Residents: 1 (Visitors are frequent) Open to new members: Yes	Government Decision Making: By consensus (consensus via the talking circle) Identified Leader: No (Informal leadership via elders and long term members) Leadership Core Group: Yes (Informal leadership via elders and long term members)	Labor and Money Financial Style: Members have independent finances Labor Contribution: Expected (Including group projects that benefit the entire circle, as well as individual pursuits that benefit the entire circle.) Join Fee: No Regular Fees: No (Volunteers, unless asked here for a specific task, pay their food costs to stay here.)
Land and Buildings Rural (We're 5 miles from the nearest small town) Area: 120 acres (48.6 hectares) Land Owned By: Another form of Non-profit Number of Residences: 6	Food, etc. Percentage of Food Grown: none (Forage for food, buy locally and organically whenever possible) Share Community Meals: Nearly all dinners (And breakfast, too.) Dietary Choice or Restrictions: We all share a common diet (We eat a simple diet consisting of wild and organic (local if at all possible) fruits and vegetables, eggs, wild game and fish, wild animal fat, and nuts. We avoid sugar and processed starch, and have minimal complex carbohydrates (paleolithic diet principles).) Dietary Practice: Omnivorous Alcohol Use: Prohibited Tobacco Use: Prohibited	Social Factors Common Spiritual Practices: Yes (Old Ways, Reconnecting to the Self, Each Other, and the Earth) Which Spiritual Traditions(s): Native American :: Paganism/Earth Religions Educational Style(s): Other (In all of our "learning" we go with an "unschooling" approach. Right now, there are not children living at the community. When they are, our children are unschooled. We instead have a Children's Culture that provides a range of ways for them to learn.)

Become an Editor Current editor(s): tdrums2

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