The Treehouse: A Forest Garden School is located in Milwaukie, Oregon, on the border of Gladstone. This land is deeply connected to the Clackamas people, one of the 20 tribes of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde. They are the original stewards of this region, living in harmony with its abundant natural resources for millennia.

The landscape here was once a thriving intertribal hub, rich with pine, fir, cedar, and oak trees, and undergrowth like currant and salmonberry bushes. Long before colonization, Indigenous communities practiced Earth-based education rooted in ecological knowledge and reciprocal relationships with the land and water.

At The Treehouse, we honor this legacy. Since 2020, we’ve been restoring the land we steward—transforming a lawn into a biodiverse Forest Garden (food forest) as a living tribute to Indigenous ecological wisdom.

We encourage families to learn more about the tribes whose land we occupy:

• Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla,

• Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians,

• Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde
   

We are also working on creating: Honoring Our Roots: Tuition Assistance for Indigenous Families, as part of our commitment to equity, reconciliation and restitution. We believe every child deserves access to nature-based education that honors ancestral knowledge and fosters community. Reach out for information or check back soon for more details.