Camp Ondessonk

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Camp Ondessonk is a Roman Catholic Summer Camp located in the Shawnee National Forest of Southern Illinois. Camp Ondessonk offers programs serving many different groups throughout the year. During the fall, winter, and spring, outdoor education programs are offered to school and youth groups, as well as challenge and high ropes courses, conference and retreat facilities, and a variety of special interest weekends and Open Houses. During the summer, programs are offered to boys and girls that teach skills such as canoeing, archery, riflery, handicrafts, and horseback riding. Different sessions are offered over the summer, such as minicamp for the younger children, which lasts three days; separate Boys and Girls seasons, with each session lasting a week; a Co-ed season, with sessions lasting two weeks.

During their session, campers are placed into one of ten units. The units of Lalande, Garnier, Lalemant, Goupil, Daniel, and Amantacha are virtually three-sided, A-frame shelters on stilts, with catwalks running between each individual shelter. Each of these individual shelter houses eight campers. These units are referred to as treehouses. The unit of Raganeau is also considered a treehouse, but it's structure is different. Rather than being A-frame, it's individual shelters are more like sheds. Each shed is again divided, so four campers are housed in each half-shed. The unit of Brebeuf is considered a cabin unit, with the same structure as the A-frame treehouse units, only on the ground. The unit of Chabanel is the cave unit. Rather than having individual shelters, campers are divided into their own area of the overhang, with a tarp roof for pretection. The unit of Tekakwitha is the lodge unit. It is divided into two smaller four-sided cabins, and one larger one. Each of the cabins have screened windows and a screen door. During the Co-ed season, the ten units are divided as follows: Lalande, Goupil, Chabanel, Lalemant, and Garnier are girls' units; and Daniel, Brebeuf, Tekakwitha, Raganeau, and Amantacha are boys' units. Also during Co-ed season, each unit has a brother or sister unit. The pairs are as follows: Lalande-Tekakwitha, Goupil-Amantacha, Chabanel-Brebeuf, Lalemant-Daniel, and Garnier-Raganeau.

At Camp Ondessonk, instead of clapping or cheering, everyone joins in saying "heepwah." The word's origins are not specifically known, but it is believed to be a Huron term meaning "all is good."