First Insignia

For years and years generations of Arrowmen have swapped and collected OA badges. Over 2,000 new pieces of OA insignia are issued every single year. However, in the beginning it was not patches, it was pins, some as small as a dime that were issued as insignia. Wimachtendienk was started as a fraternity and fraternities frequently use pins, starting with a pledge pin.

Article III – Insignia, in the 1916 Constitution of Wimachtendienk reads,

The tortoise shall be the general insignia of the Order; for the First Degree the insignia shall be the arrow superimposed on the back of the tortoise; for the Second Degree the insignia shall be the triangle superimposed on the back of the tortoise. The pin of the Order shall bear the above insignia; the pledge pin shall be the arrow.

Examples are known of these three pins. They are the original OA insignia which eventually evolved into the OA patches we use today.

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First Totem

A requirement from the beginning has been that each lodge shall have a totem. Totems would later become a required element for insignia. While today’s lodge sometimes issue patches without their lodge totem on them, it is not the standard practice and it was virtually unheard of pre-1970. At the first ceremony on July 16, 1915 both Goodman and Edson wore tortoise shaped totems on their ceremonial robes. The 1916 Wimachtendienk Constitution specified the tortoise as their totem.

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Provisions for First Ordeal

During the Treasure Island camping season in 1915, there were no provisions for an ordeal of any type. Inductees were selected publicly in front of the camp and inducted into membership during the rituals each Friday evening.

Following the meeting at Camp Morrell in November 1915, work was done under the leadership of William Spaeth, chairman of the Ceremonies Committee, to develop and write the First Degree ceremony with an ordeal included. The work of the Ceremonies Committee was accepted in 1916 at the June meeting.

During the 1916 Treasure Island summer camp season candidates for the Order spent Thursday night sleeping alone under the open sky and then their ordeal was carried out during the day on Friday off island away from camp. The families on the mainland cooperated with the Treasure Island honor camping program and provided work possibilities for the nominees.

While there is not complete detail about the ordeal in 1916, there is a diary that belonged to Edward Frazier Evans that shared his experience.

On a hot night in July 1917, Edward Frazier Evans, was isolated from his fellow scouts and is instructed by the Chief of the Fire to spend the night under the open sky. It was a clear night and scout Evans rested well.

- The contents of Sealed Order 1 are unknown and may have related to the night spent under the stars.

- In the morning Evans opened a sealed envelope – Sealed Order of the ordeal number 2, a set of instructions developed by Horace Kern. Order number two instructs him, among other things, to eat only that food which has been provided to him, and nothing more.

- Sealed Order 3 directs Evans to perform a morning of service, as a good Scout.

- Sealed Order 4 provides for Edward’s lunch break, sets a new location and admonishes him to be faithful.

- Sealed Order 5 instructs Evans to continue his day of service and to be thoughtful and prepared.

- The Chief of the Fire Goodman in both his given and Indian name signs the final Sealed Order of the ordeal, Order 6. Evans reflected on his journey through the ordeal as a staff member acting as a guide brought him into the ceremonial ring. He encountered two black-robed figures – Goodman and Howard Seideman. They led him through three tests – one for Brotherhood, another for Service, and a third for Cheerfulness.

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"Service" Influences Formation

From 1914 – 1916 the Philadelphia Council led by Scout Executive Walter S. Cowing used “Service” as its watchword. In 1914 the council recognized deserving individuals with a special “Badge of Service” pin.

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Edson Influenced

In 1915 I joined the staff of the Philadelphia Council, the head of the Field Department being E. Urner Goodman, afterwards Scout Executive of Philadelphia, and then of Chicago, and now a department head at the National Office.

Urner was designated as Director, and I as Co-Director of Treasure Island, the Philadelphia Camp. I found they had an award called “Treasure Island Scout”, for which an emblem TIS, was presented. The award was based on a point system, similar to a troop contest, so many points for passing tests, identifying nature objects, etc., etc. It seemed to me there should be some recognition of the spirit of Scouting, as the TIS was of the mechanics.

It happened that about that time I attended a meeting where Ernest Thompson Seton was the speaker, and he gave a splendid presentation of the value he had found in using an idealization of the Indian, in his work with boys, and it seemed to me that that gave the answer to the problem I had been considering.

I accordingly suggested to Urner that we organize an Indian lodge as our highest camp award, selection to be based on the demonstration of living the Scout Oath and Law. He agreed.”

--- Excerpted from Col. Edson’s 1942 letter to Moqua Chapter for their 20^th Anniversary celebration

Edson was excited by his encounter with Ernest Thompson Seton and brought the idea back to Goodman and Treasure Island. The idea blossomed and became the Camp Honor Fraternity – Wimachtendienk.

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Woodcraft Indians

It would help bring together young people from various so-called stations, break down the barriers that society has foolishly placed upon them, and establish in their minds when they are young a finer kind of humanity, a real understanding that the important thing is the association of a human spirit.

--- from Ernest Thompson Seton about his development of the League of Woodcraft Indians

The League of Woodcraft Indians was an American youth program, established by Ernest Thompson Seton. It was later renamed the "Woodcraft League of America". The program was also utilized overseas, and many of these overseas programs still exist today.

In the United States, the first Woodcraft "Tribe" was established in 1902 at Cos Cob, Connecticut. Seton's property had been vandalized several times by a group of boys from the local school. Seton thought over his options and decided that sugar might be better than vinegar. So he invited the boys over to his property for a weekend. Surprised and a little apprehensive the boys came. Seton, the great storyteller that he was, regaled the boys stories about Native Americans and nature.

The result of his weekend was a group of boys who became interested in nature and Native American customs and traditions. The unique feature of his program was that the boys elected their own leaders: a "Chief," a "Second Chief", a "Keeper of the Tally" and a "Keeper of the Wampum."

Encouraged by the boys’ response and a dream of broadening his program to other communities, Seton wrote a series of seven articles for Ladies' Home Journal from May to November 1902 under the heading "Seton's Boys." Those articles later were published under the name Birch Bark Roll.

Looking for people interested in his outdoor organization. Seton traveled to England in 1906 to meet with Lord Robert Baden-Powell. He gave Baden-Powell a copy of the Birch Bark Roll. Seton and Baden-Powell bonded around the concept of a program for youth. In 1908, Seton received a letter from Baden-Powell stating that he was going ahead with his vision for Scouting, using as a base Seton’s program. Baden-Powell wrote Scouting for Boys and incorporated many of Seton’s ideas, honors and games into his book.

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