When Wimachtendienk, W.W. started at Treasure Island they were a lone camp fraternity without a national charter. In 1921, the eleven active Wimachtendienk groups decided to have a meeting and form a national organization. The usage of the term “Grand Lodge” appears to have come from the Masonic fraternal system that also calls their national organization a The Grand Lodge. 

With the formation of the Grand Lodge, WWW became a national society. Just as in the college “Greek” system local fraternities have a national charter, the same was true for local OA lodges. Their national charter was with the Grand Lodge. The Grand Lodge was formed in 1921 at the First Grand Lodge Meeting in Philadelphia with the creation of the first Grand Lodge Constitution. E. Urner Goodman was elected the First Grand Chieftain of the Grand Lodge. The Grand Council was the name that referred to the executive officers of the Grand Lodge when they met,  typically at Scout Executive conferences. While it was not a rule, in practice throughout the 1920s and into the 1930s virtually all officers and over 90% of attendees at meetings of the Grand Lodge were Scout professionals.  Although the professionals were not acting in their vocational capacity, it clearly influenced the decisions and guidance of the early years of the Order.

The Grand Lodge has since evolved. For a short while its name was National Tribe and then the National Lodge. Later the National Lodge would dissolve when the National Order of the Arrow Committee formed.