Where Wilderness is the classroom, Ancient Voices are the teachers, knowing self and Balance is the quest…

TEACHING DRUM OUTDOOR SCHOOL is a 501 (c)3 non-profit, federally certified educational institution. Our mission is to offer wilderness immersion and personal development experiences where you can learn directly from Nature and discover what it means to be fully human. We have three sister organizations: Brother Wolf Foundation, Healing Nature Center, and Snow Wolf Publishing.

The Teaching Drum is home to the Wilderness Guide Program, Guardian-Warrior Training, and a range of professional development, personal discovery, and Nature awareness courses and workshops. The Wilderness Guide Program is the only year-long Nature immersion experience of its kind. The Guardian-Warrior Training is an 80-day intensive on learning the skills for healing the Earth. Our Program guides have a combined 85 years of experience in outdoor survival skills and personal development training. Their life’s mission is to help others passionately reconnect with Nature, discover their deepest selves, and live in balance with each other and all life.

Whether you are looking to learn wilderness skills, wanting to challenge yourself in one of our immersion programs, or are yearning to reconnect with Nature, our courses are designed to help you take the next step on your journey. Click here to learn more about Teaching Drum Outdoor School or scroll down to see our programs and courses.

Experience Life on Earth

The Wilderness Moon Immersion is a 1 to 3 moon immersion living with the Seekers of the Wilderness Guide Program on the shores of a remote lake in northern Wisconsin. They welcome you to join them as a fully participating clan member. Come learn what it is to be fully human and live by the instructions you carry from your ancestors.

Join Our Circle

Now accepting applications for the Executive Assistant, Managing Editor, and Carpenter positions. Here is an opportunity to work directly with our elder, Lety, our founder, Tamarack, and the rest of our wonderful staff in a rich community setting where you can make a real difference by helping to restore Balance to our troubled lives and turbulent world.

Current Programs and Courses

Wilderness Guide Program

Located in the heart of the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest of Northern Wisconsin, participants live day-to-day in a native-modeled encampment, practicing the essential qualitative skills of communication and cooperation, along with all the skills needed to build, maintain, and live in a Northwoods native camp.

The Wilderness Moon Immersion

Spend 30, 60, or 90 days living on the picturesque lakeshore camp called Nishnajida, which is Ojibwe for camp where the Old Way returns. You will live alongside the participants of the Wilderness Guide Program, surrounded by towering Pines and shimmering Birch, adjacent to the pristine Headwaters Wilderness. 

Guardian Trainings

You are invited to join in two Like a Shadow Trainings in the Guardian Way. Immersing yourself in the Life and Training of a Guardian Warrior, you gain a deep sense of self-knowing, along with the ability to perform and serve in ways that, until now, you may have only dreamed about.

Wolf Tracking

Here is relationship like you never imagined — with Wolves! By day, follow a pack on the hunt, on their territorial rounds, and on their mating reveries. In the evening, gather around in a circle to unravel the mysteries you discovered, and to hear stories of time spent living with a pack of Wolves.