The Lodge itself is made from the branches of birch trees and covered with sheets of birch bark (wigwas in Potawatomi/Ojibwe). This is the kind of structure that Great Lakes Indian peoples used for short periods of time while hunting, fishing, and other activities that took them from their home villages. They used the resources around them and wasted nothing.

The front door of the Lodge is made of tanned elk hide. In the lodge are deerskin floor coverings and an inviting "fire." Nearby are containers made of birch bark, stretched deer and beaver skins, pelts, basswood and bulrush grass mats. There is also a toboggan and snow shoes, both inventions of Native Americans. You are invited to explore the space on your own or with a school group or if you call ahead - we can make arrangements for storytelling, flute playing, drumming and sharing of experiences. The entire space makes for a welcoming and educational, as well as entertaining, space for those of all ages.

A Teaching Lodge is a place to discover, connect and experience. I hope you will join us and come into the Lodge of the Mitchell Museum of the American Indian.