Teaching Lodge at Indian Community School

The purpose of the Milwaukee Lakefront Teaching Lodge is to is to share indigenous teachings about how to protect and honor our waterways that connect us to the spirits of our ancestors and to future generations.

In 2012, a traditional woodland teaching lodge was constructed on the shores of Lake Michigan. For four days, elders gathered to share their indigenous teachings about the water, natural resources and life.

The lodge was the vision of Josephine Mandamin, a revered grandmother, water walker and teacher of the Anishinabe people. While walking along the western shores of Lake Michigan, Grandmother Josephine had a profound vision of the little boy water drum sounding along the shores of Lake Michigan. As the sound faded, she saw a vision of a teaching lodge on the peninsula of Lakeshore State Park along Milwaukee’s lakefront.