What is the Order of the Arrow?

THE "ORDER OF THE ARROW" - SCOUTING'S HONOR SOCIETY
by Jim Howes

The Order of the Arrow is a recognized official program activity of the Boy
Scouts of America, intended to recognize those scouts who best exemplify the
scout virtues of cheerful service, camping, and leadership.

Founded in 1915, just seven years after the acclaimed English war hero Robert
Baden-Powell started scouting in Great Britain, the Order of the Arrow is the
uniquely American "honor society of scouting". The "OA's" origin and
development are tightly intertwined, like a well-made square knot, with scouting
itself in the United States. Its history is a remarkable saga of a good-hearted
visionary's effect on many generations of youth.

The new scout movement was enjoying halcyon days in an America still at peace
in 1915, while young men in Europe were dying by the thousands in a war more
terrible than any before in history. Boys in the U.S. seemed to be donning scout
uniforms everywhere as membership grew rapidly from coast to coast. Prominent
businessmen, civic and religious groups, and politicians, including Congressmen
and the President, vied to match the enthusiasm of boys surging into scout camps
across the nation, eager to be part of the great wave of scouting which had
reached American shores in the years before World War I.

As E. Urner Goodman, then a 25 year old scoutmaster, walked along Chestnut
Street in downtown Philadelphia, PA, in May, 1915, he heard newsboys hawking
the Philadelphia "Inquirer's" headlines, blaring the sinking of the Cunard oceanliner
"Lusitania" hit by a U-boat's torpedoes within view of the Irish coast. Urner was
busy with plans that would also have far reaching effects, for he had agreed to
take the job of Camp Director at the Philadelphia scout council's camp perched
on idyllic Treasure Island in the Delaware River. What he had in mind was to
leave a lasting imprint on thousands of American youth in the twentieth century.

Urner's thoughts in 1915 were focused on development of methods to teach the
scouts attending summer camp that skill proficiency in Scoutcraft was not enough;
rather, the principles embodied in the Scout Oath and Law should become
realities in the lives of Scouts. As a means of accomplishing this without preaching
and within a boy's interest and understanding, he decided to launch an innovative
program that summer based on peer recognition and the appeal of Indian lore.
Troops would choose, at the conclusion of camp, those boys from among their
number best exemplifying these traits, who would be honored as members of an
Indian "lodge". Boys so acknowledged in the eyes of their fellow scouts would
form a fraternal bond joined together in a richly symbolic brotherhood.

Assistant Camp Director Carroll A. Edson helped Urner research the lore and
language of the Delaware Indians who had inhabited Treasure Island, which they
combined with characters from James Fenimore Cooper's "Last of the
Mohicans", to develop dramatic induction ceremonies for the "Order of the
Arrow", as the fledgling honor society was dubbed. Even today, these rites make
a lasting impression on scouts who have been elected to the "Order of the
Arrow".

By 1921, the idea had spread to a score of scout councils in the northeast and the
first national meeting of the Order of the Arrow was held. Although the OA was
initially viewed with suspicion by some scouters as a secret society, if not an
affront to the egalitarian ideals of scouting, legendary Chief Scout Executive
James E. West permitted those councils desiring Order of the Arrow lodges to
establish them as an "experimental" program under a "National Lodge". Not until
1948 was E. Urner Goodman's innovation fully integrated into the Scouting
program.

Having observed its Diamond Anniversary in 1990, membership in the Order had
grown to 160,000 of the one million eligible Boy Scouts in the U. S., organized
into almost 400 lodges nationwide. Rare indeed is the council today that does not
have an Order of the Arrow lodge with its own Indian name and "totem", or
emblem.

It is evident that the Order of the Arrow has made a significant contribution to
Scouting, as we know it today in the United States. The OA's motto,
"Brotherhood of Cheerful Service", is more than just an empty slogan for many
Arrowmen, who constitute a valuable council resource for camp promotion,
improvement projects, and summer camp staff. The OA, at its best, continues to
be a powerful teaching tool for Scouting ideals.

The OA helps in retaining older boys in Scouting, who otherwise often tend to
lose interest upon reaching high school age. Notably, OA guidelines place great
importance on preserving Lodge leadership in the hands of its youth members,
headed by a Chief, Vice Chief(s), and an Executive Committee, all of whom must
be under age 21, who plan and implement Lodge activities, service projects,
ceremonies, publications, budgets, and conduct troop elections as arranged with
Scoutmasters. In larger councils, lodges are often sub-divided into "chapters",
with youth chapter officers and committeemen running chapter events. At the
Section, Regional, and National levels, Chiefs and Vice-Chiefs are typically
young men of college age, since Arrowmen are considered youth members until
age 21.

Adults are crucial to the OA's success as advisors and resources, such as
transportation, service project skills, and the like. Many adult scouters find
participation in the OA to be rewarding, as they help kindle anew the spirit of
brotherhood in scouting's honor society.

To be inducted into the Order of the Arrow, a Scout must:

• Be at least First Class rank;

• Have at least 15 nights of camping, including a 6-day long-term camp;

• Participate in the "Ordeal" and induction ceremony, after election by his Boy Scout troop or Varsity unit.

Each Scout troop may schedule an Order of the Arrow election once annually. In
many Councils, these elections are held at summer camp, in line with the traditions
of the OA's founding. This is not mandatory, however. All registered active youth
troop members have a vote, both current Arrowmen and non-Arrowmen.
Membership selection is thus predominantly by non-members.

While Explorer posts cannot have OA elections, a boy in an Explorer post who
has dual registration with a Scout troop (or Varsity unit) is, of course, eligible for
election by his troop or Varsity unit.

Adult scouters may be proposed for membership in the Order of the Arrow by
unit or district committees or the Lodge. Once selected, they, too, undergo the
"Ordeal" and participate in the induction ceremonies.

To alleviate lingering concerns in some quarters regarding the ceremonial aspects
of the Order of the Arrow, the BSA has officially stated:

"The induction is not a hazing or an initiation ceremony. The Order is not a
secret Scout organization, and its ceremonies are open to any parent, Scout leader, or
religious leader. There is an element of mystery in the ceremonies for the sake of its
effect on the candidates. For this reason, ceremonies are not put on in public. The
ceremonies...are not objectionable to any religious group."

Following 10 months as an "Ordeal" member, the Arrowman may participate in
the "Brotherhood" ceremony, which signifies the sealing of his membership and an
additional emphasis on OA ideals and purposes.

After an additional 2 years have elapsed, exceptional OA leaders may be
recognized by conferring of the "Vigil Honor". Generally speaking, only two
percent of the Lodge membership may be selected each year for this highest of
Lodge honors. A special ceremony, devised by Dr. Goodman in 1915 and
closely based on ancient Indian traditions, culminates this experience.

All Order of the Arrow members are reminded that their primary duty always
remains to their own troop, which elected them in the first place as a result of their
cheerful service to their fellow unit members. OA Lodge activities are intended to
SUPPLEMENT, and not REPLACE, troop activities. Probably the single most
often-heard complaint directed towards the OA program is that of Arrowmen
who have forgotten this cardinal principle.

OA Lodges meet with other lodges in their sections each year and attend a
nationwide gathering held on the campus of a major university every 2 years.
These National Conferences, as they are called, feature individual and Lodge
competitions in ceremonies, Indian dancing and costumes, and sports, along with
seminars and gala arena shows. More than 6,000 Arrowmen attend, which for
many is an exciting highlight of the scouting experience on a par with a National
Jamboree.

For over a half century after founding the Order of the Arrow, E. Urner
Goodman continued to be a towering figure in American scouting, attaining a
doctorate in education and becoming National Program Director of the BSA for
many years, all the while steadfastly devoted to the OA. He enjoyed meeting
Arrowmen at his Order of the Arrow "lodge" home in Vermont and continued to
attend events held by Unami Lodge #1 in Philadelphia for the rest of his life.

Dr. Goodman's keynote speeches were a traditional and inspiring highlight of OA
National Conferences, until his final appearance in 1979 at Colorado State
University, just six months before his death at 89. He was hailed by the 4000
Arrowmen present with a thunderous standing ovation. He spoke movingly of his
creation of the OA as a "Thing of the Spirit" in that place ... so distant in time... on
the misty shores of the Delaware River. He bade us farewell, there in the
shadows of the snow-capped Rockies, with a memorable peroration to keep the
OA's flame of fellowship glowing brightly in our hearts. Though a frail, elderly
man stood before us, stooped with age, yet the spirit borne within would truly live
on in our hearts, firm bound eternally in youthful brotherhood, wherever men
strive to love and serve one another.

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