Our Home
Tucked under tall pines and nestled in sheltering firs, the Teaching Drum Outdoor School lies in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, adjacent to the Headwaters Wilderness. Plentiful lakes, streams, and bogs, along with the forests and meadows carpeting a varied glacially carved landscape, give us our playground and growing-learning opportunities. The diversity and abundance of our animal, plant and elemental relations nourishes both soul and body. (For more on the ecosystem, go to the Northwoods section.)
Nishnajida (Ojibwe for Camp Where the Old Ways Return) is the home of our yearlong Wilderness Guide Program. Six miles from the main campus and support community we call Nadmadewining, Nishnajida lies on the shores of pristine Woodbury Lake. The camp can be reached by canoe, by forest trails, or by road to within a mile of the camp. Near to the camp, a women's lodge is found on the 80 acre preserve, along with a ceremonial site where all three circles come together every full moon. Men's and women's healing circles meet there as well. Learn more about this living classroom.
Mashkodens (Ojibwe for Little Prairie) is home to the Wild Moon Immersion program. A half-mile walk from Nadmadewening (see below) down a deer trail that snakes through lush forest and winds around beaver ponds teeming with life, you'll come upon a native scouting camp. On a small rise at the edge of a sweet fern prairie and a water lily-adorned pond lies a cluster of thatch and birchbark wigwams, earth lodges, an arbor, and a lean-to. Originally established as a place for graduates of the Wilderness Guide Program to come for renewal and advanced training, Mashkodens is now open to others who would like to learn from the example of those actually living the native lifeway. Learn more about this living classroom.
Nadmadewening (Ojibwe for Support Camp) is our main campus where the school, writing, and editing offices, Old Way Wares Bookstore, workshop, guest cabin, and staff residences are located. All buildings are natural wood and log, and all but one are wood heated. With computers and copy machines in one room and wild rice, tanned hides, and fish traps in the next, Nadmadewening is rooted in both the modern and ancient worlds. Being a short drive from town and only steps away from wilderness and wigwams, even its location straddles both realities.
With the recent planting of native trees, herbs, and wildflowers, the construction of a pond, and the eradication of alien invasive plants, the campus lawn has been transformed into a mini nature preserve, certified by the National Wildlife Federation and the Windstar Wildlife Institute.
The staff circle at Nadmadewening uses many of the same methods for awakening, learning skills, and healing as in our wilderness-based programs. Learn more about Nadmadewening.