About Us

Who We Are

Nicholas and Kindreds’ connection to each other, the Earth, and traditional handmade craft has led them to being the makers and educators they are today. They each have a deep connection to the Natural World from their beginnings, and continue to receive much of their inspiration and passion from that realm. Whether following an animal trail in the springtime morning light or paddling a northern lake in the moonlight, they are uplifted and defined by their experiences in Nature.

Their days are filled with foraging, observing, parenting, tanning, teaching, gardening and tending, weaving, cooking, homeschooling, carving, preserving, hunting and fishing, stitching and beading, tracking, and woodcutting. These activities are in rhythm and connection with the circle of the seasons and also ground them in their human circles through sharing and teaching of these activities and selling handcrafts.

Their handcrafts are created with deep respect for the beings from which their materials are received. They harvest birch bark from areas in the north scheduled for cutting, bark-tan deer skins from their hunting and those given by others, and carve carefully selected, and reverently harvested, local wood of birch, cherry, walnut and maple trees. Their intention in all of their pieces is to honor the beings from which they came by bringing natural beauty, connection, and functionality into everyday life.

They live with their 2 youngest children, tucked into the wooded hills of the Kickapoo River watershed in the Driftless region of southwestern Wisconsin.

Our Educational Programs

For the past 15 years Kindred and Nicholas have together taught various programming in handcraft, outdoor skills, nature observation and connection, and wild edibles for adults and youth in the Driftless area. Their emphasis in the last five years has been on offering seasonal sets of programs for sharing nature connection, hand craft, and cooperative experience based learning in the wilds with young people. They enjoy the complementarity of working together while learning in nature with youth, supporting young peoples’ journeys of discovery, and celebrating human connection with the natural world.

LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR PROGRAMS

Meet Us

Nicholas WazeeGale

Nicholas has been an educator at the Kickapoo Valley Reserve, the Driftless Folk School, and indepencently for most of the last 20 years. He teaches tanning, wilderness skills, foraging, tracking and various handcrafts through these venues. He has also been leading summer and day camps at KVR for much of this time, which has included teaching canoe and camp skills and guiding more in-depth nature connection experiences. He is currently focused on tracking, mushroom foraging, and community organizing. He is a certified wilderness guide through a year-long outdoor living experience and holds a Level 4 Track and Sign Certificate, and a Specialist Cerification through Tracker Certification North America.

Kindred WazeeGale

For the past 25 years kindred has been immersed in a life of mothering, family, community, and remembering. In that time she has taught, mentored, and supported people of all ages in beadwork, leatherwork, weaving, wild edibles, and nature awareness, connection, and skills.

She believes deeply in the importance of encouraging, supporting, and celebrating young people in seeking comfort and healing in the natural world. As well as, growing confidence, bravery, and love, within our own selves and each other, through the sharing of handcrafts, skills, stories and experiences in circle with one another.

She enjoys spending her days growing, gathering, and cooking food for her family, nurturing her connection of her heart and her hands, frolicking in the wilds, and time with family.