OAImages Blog

At the SC TOR, I bought a copy of the The Kekeenowin of the Wimachtendienk, by Terry Grove (groveagle@cfl.rr.com).   It is an history of the ceremonies of the Order of the Arrow from 1915 through 1948.  I have slowly started to read through the book and find it very interesting on several levels. 

Though the structure of the Order of the Arrow and its ceremonies are vastly different, the roots of what we know as the Order today can be plainly seen.   Any serious student of the ceremonies or OA historian should own a copy of this work.

In the book Terry Grove gives the text from the “Report of Committee on Ordeals and Ritual 1921″.   It was this committee that decided upon the name of Unami lodge.  There was also another problem to be deal with. During the Summer of 1920 interlopers had access to the Ritual.   This report piqued my curiosity on a few levels.

The committee reported:

At the last meeting the committee was requested to find a suitable name for the Lodge.  After canvassing the matter thoroughly, the name - Unami - was decided to be the most appropriate, meaning as it does in the Delaware language - Brotherly Love.

As it was understood that meddlesome outsiders had access to the Ritual and became more or less familiar with it, at Treasure Island during the summer of 1920, it was decided to revise both the ritual for ordeals and for the different degrees, so that knowledge thus illicitly obtained might be useless.

The committee, furthermore, at the suggestion of Sakima, have prepared a ritual for the opening of the Lodge. (sic) A ritual for the installation and consecration of Sakima, and one for the installation of each ofthe elective officers of the Lodge.

It is hoped that those will meet with the approval of the Lodge, since by their use the Lodge will have work provided for one or two extra meetings during the year.

The committee further recommends that a Lodge of Instruction be formed so that there will always be a reasonable chance of having present at the meetings and initiations a sufficient number of officers who know this ritual well enough not to have to read their parts.

They also recommend that Sakima, with the Senior and Junior Vice-Chiefs have charge of this Lodge of Instruction: that at the annual election the only candidate be balloted for will be the Junior Vice-Chief - the old Junior becoming Senior, and the Senior becoming Sakima by complementary vote, unless there is reason for their removal, either through lack of interest, or some other cause…

…Finally, they strongly urge that the rituals finally adopted shal be limited to three copies.  One in the hands of the Ritual Committee, one for Medeu, and one for Sakima.  All other copies should be destroyed…

Does any of this sound familiar to contemporary Arrowmen?   It should.   Very early on, the Order was concerned about:

• Safeguarding the ceremonies, keeping them from those with no need to know their content;
• Having ceremonialists and officers who have memorized their parts;
• Having sufficient brothers knowing the various parts so they could do the ceremonial work;
• TRAINING!

Some who know me will understand other reasons I found this report interesting.   That’s a discussion best left for private email.