Tipisa Lodge

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Tipisa Lodge #326 is a Lodge of the Order of the Arrow associated with Central Florida Council of the Boy Scouts of America. It is descended from the Tipisa Honor Camper Society, and is the only lodge of that organization to retain the Tipisa name.

[edit] History

The Tipisa Honor Camper Society was born in 1930 at Camp Kanesatake in southeast Michigan. Camp Kanesatake was built in 1926 and was the Wolverine Council camp until it was sold in 1981. Tipisa is believed to have been created by George Crossland (Wolverine's first executive) and Byron Vedder, the camp Indian Lore staff member in the 1920's and 30's. The land on which Kanesatake sat was steeped in Indian history. It was a meeting place for Chief Tecumseh during the War of 1812, had Indian burial grounds on it and had the ruins of an old Indian smoke tower buried in the center of the camp. Kanesatake means "Camp on a hill". The camp was located near the intersection of two of the oldest Indian roads in the midwest.

It was originally announced in a 1930 Michigan newspaper article that the "Order of the Arrow" was being organized at Camp Kanesatake. When camp opened it was not the OA but Tipisa that was organized. Some council exec's were not thrilled with having to pay dues to have the OA program. Considering the Great Depression was in full force it would seem that George Crossland decided to come up with his own program similar to the OA without the dues requirement. I have been told more than once that Ku-Ni-Eh was organized in Cincinnati in 1923 for the same reason, the OA dues requirement. Whether or not it is true I don't know. I do know the OA was supposed to organize in 1930 at Camp Kanesatake and Tipisa was created instead and proved to be a popular program in the three states where it existed for many years.

In Michigan two boys were chosen per week of camp and underwent an ordeal of twenty four hours of silence, hard work and had to find food in the wild. The boys were awakened at midnight and told to remain silent. They met at the Indian mound where a secret ceremony was performed then they were taken to an isolated area on Washington Lake where they spent the night alone then continued their ordeal throughout the following day. If they were successful they were inducted into Tipisa during the council fire. A council fire heavily stressed Indian lore and ceremony, a campfire was song and skits. The council fire was the highlight of the camp session. The widespread use of council fires throughout scouting can be traced directly to Ernest Thompson Seton and his Woodcrafters program. Each successful candidate was given a real eagle feather to wear at council fires as well as a felt arrowhead shaped camp award patch to put a small red tipi felt segment on (which was only for members of TIPISA). During their initiation ceremony at the council fire they wrote their given names on a piece of bark and then threw it in the blazing fire then were given new Indian names as members of TIPISA. Every living member of Tipisa that I have found remembers their Indian name to this day, quite a testamonial to how impressed they were with the Tipisa induction.

The Tipisa initiation ceremony was taken DIRECTLY from Ernest Thompson Seton's "Woodcrafters" program. The ceremony involved four torches being lit with each one representing one of the four primary virtues of the American Indian; Love, Truth, Wisdom and Beauty. Each of these four "hills of life" had three subdivisions. They were Love- kind, helpful, joyful; Truth- brave, fair, honest; Beauty- clean, strong, vigilant; Fortitude- respectful, reverent, responsible.^[1]

When George Crossland left the Wolverine Council in 1932 he transferred to the Meshingomesia Council in central Indiana and started a second TIPISA there at their camp at Goose Lake. His replacement at Wolverine, Harold Pace, stayed until 1938 when he transferred to the Central Florida Council in Orlando, Florida. Mr. Pace started the third TIPISA there at Camp Wewa in about 1938-39. Their OA lodge retained the name "TIPISA" when it was converted from a society to OA lodge #326 in 1946 and has the name to this day. The Indiana society was converted to the Me-she-kin-no-quah OA lodge #269 in 1944. Me-she-kin-no-quah was the principal Indian Chief defeated at the Battle of Fallen Timbers by General "Mad" Anthony Wayne. Me-she-kin-no-quah means "little turtle". The original society in Michigan was converted to the Tecumseh OA Lodge #332 in 1946. Each society issued their members a society patch. The original Florida society patch was a near twin to the Michigan society patch. The Florida group issued a second society patch that also served as their first OA Lodge patch. It was a 2" round felt patch. The Indiana society was the only one of the three to issue its members a patch that actually had the word "Ti-pi-sa" embroidered on it. The Indiana patch was a 3 1/2" diameter felt on felt patch. All three of the societies had the red tipi on all of their patches. It was the one common denominator. All three societies had their members wear the membership patch on their merit badge sash down in the point of the sash over the hip. Florida's second patch might have been an exception to this. For complete information on TIPISA, read the Winter 1997 issue of the Scouting Collectors Quarterly which is the official publication of the National Scouting Collectors Society. Tipisa is a Sioux Indian word that means "Red Tipi". A 1930 Michigan newspaper account of its creation referred to it as "TIPISA, The Order of the Red Lodge".

Tipisa weekends are always held at Camp La-No-Che.

[edit] External links

• Tipisa 326 Official Website

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Historical Information provided by: David L. Eby and Dr. Terry Grove. Dr. Grove is a current adult member of the Tipisa Lodge.