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Who We Are...
The
Teaching Drum is a Native Lifeway school. We offer courses in outdoor
skills, conduct experiments in living archaeology and publish books on
Native Lifeway. We are also a Circle of People in the process of
returning to the Old Ways of Balance with all our relations - dedicated
to living simply, and as close to our Earth Mother as possible. The
school has two parts: the outdoor classroom, and the community and
administrative center.
The School's purpose is to be a bridge
between the modern and the ancient, to present the Old Ways wisdom and
ways of living in Balance and Respect so that they can be applied to
the healing of self and Earth. The School is to serve as an example of
how to live in harmony with the Earth Mother, Sky Father, and All the
Relations. We are not isolationist; rather we encourage connection with
all of life.
We are the only place we know of where, in this
day, you can spend an entire year in the Wilderness guided by an Elder
who knows the forest like his backyard and the plants and animals as
cherished friends.
How We Teach
We
have created a unique living-learning center where nearly lost ancient
skills can be learned as they were actually practiced: in a wilderness
setting. Students are not only using the wilderness as their classroom,
but also as their home, where they can experience and apply these
skills to their daily lives.
This kind of experiential learning
is important because the student can attain a more complete
understanding of a skill when it is applied to the daily challenges of
life and put into its correct context: a forest-dwelling community. For
example, a student could effectively learn anywhere how to tan a hide
in a few days, but wouldn't experience the preserving, washing, and
repairing needed to maintain it as a functional piece of clothing.
Even
though we believe that skills are important to learn, our primary
emphasis is on learning Awareness and Attunement. They are the craft;
skills are the tools. The craft must be known in order to effectively
and properly use the tools. Skills can be learned easily anywhere, and
are being adequately taught by many. Precious few schools are devoting
the time and dedication it takes to share the ways of Awareness and
Attunement.
Our focus is not stress-challenge (man against
nature) or "leadership" training, nor do we use Gore-Tex or
freeze-dried foods or camp stoves. This is one of those rare places
where you can dwell in communion with The Earth Mother - stay in an
authentic Native lodge, eat real food cooked on an open fire, and learn
how to accept, rather than take, The Mother's gifts.
No prior
outdoor experience is required. If there is any requirement it is to
come in honor, and with a thirst and an empty bowl.
Our Living Classroom
Nishnajida
(Algonquian for "Camp where the Old Way returns") is a re-creation of a
traditional Northern Forest camp, and is the heart of the Teaching
Drum. It consists of a small cluster of bark and thatch lodges under
Pine and Birch near the shores of a quiet lake, which sits on an eighty
acre preserve adjacent to the Headwaters Wilderness, a roadless expanse
of forest, bog, and beaver pond. We offer a yearlong Wilderness Guide
Program here, which is the main focus of the school. It offers a
complete immersion experience, where the Old Way and its crafts and
skills are lived as they are learned.
The Wilderness Guide
Program is based on Native Lifeway and spirituality; it is about the
Talking Circle and listening to the Ancestor’s voices. It is based on
each individual as a sacred and vital link in the Circle rather than as
a faceless supporter of a bureaucratic pyramid.
Community skills
learned and practiced range from foraging lodge materials, building and
repairing wigwams, carving a bowl and spoon, tanning buckskins,
foraging wild food, and cooking and heating with open fires. Individual
pursuits are also strongly encouraged, as the strength and richness of
the Circle comes from the strength and richness of each individual.
Camp Life
…is
emphatically primitive but not necessarily challenging. Meals are
simple one-pot affairs to keep with the surroundings and not detract
from our focus. We eat a very simple diet of mostly local organic fruit
and vegetables, and foraged greens and nuts, along with exclusively
wild meat & fish. Everyone participates in camp chores. We are a
Tobacco, Alcohol, Drug (incl. Caffeine), Firearms, Pet, and Garden-free
environment.
Our Name
The
Drum is the universal musical instrument. For Earth people it is the
symbolic center of their lives. The beat of our hearts and the pulse of
the Earth echo in the beat of the Drum.
Policy of Non-Discrimination
All
of the School's classes, educational materials, and other activities,
programs, rights and privileges are available to persons of any age,
sex, race, color, national and ethnic origin on an equal basis without
discrimination. |
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