History of the Order of the Arrow

The Order of the Arrow (OA) was founded by Dr. E. Urner Goodman and Carroll A. Edson in 1915 at the Treasure Island Camp of the Philadelphia Council, Boy Scouts of America. It became an official program experiment in 1922 and was approved as part of the Scouting program in 1934.

In 1948 the OA, recognized as the BSA's national brotherhood of honor campers, became an official part of the national camping program of the Boy Scouts of America.

Nawakwa Lodge (the local lodge of the Heart of Virginia council) was originally named Pamunkey Lodge #3, which was granted a charter on November 25, 1919. The lodge bore the name of the Pamunkey tribe that inhabited the eastern regions of Virginia was a part of the powerful Powhatan Confederacy. Using the eagle as its totem, the Pamunkey Lodge continued intermittently until 1944.

In 1944, the lodge was reorganized and recharted as Nawakwa Lodge #3. In 1951, the raccoon was the totem chosen by the membership and appears on early issues of the lodge patches. The name Nawakwa is from the tongue of the Chipewa tribe. When translated it means, "in the middle of the forest", similar to the forester who finds the best timber in the center of the forest.

Since that time, the Order has become a vibrant force within the Scouting movement. Arrowmen at all levels are performing cheerful service within their units, their churches, schools, communities, councils and camps. Members of Nawaka Lodge perform several thousand manhours of service each year at the Robert E. Lee Scout Reservation, from building new facilities, to maintaining program areas and campsites. Many lodge memebers provide service at the section level, serving as officers and advisers to the Arrowmen in Virginia.

We also have members who participate at the National level, attending Philmont OA Treks, where they spend a week building and maintaining Philmont's trail system, or serving at National Scout Jamborees in various functional areas auch as OA Shows (Odyssey of the Law and Scoutopia) or the Arena Shows crew (opeing and closing shows). They also provide several hundred Service Corps members who are jacks-of-all-trades, doing everything from crowd control to VIP receptions. The OA provides TOAP - The Outdoor Adventure Place, and the Indian Village - a place to learn about Indian dancing, regalia and other aspects of Native American life.

Now known as Scouting's "National Honor Society", the Brotherhood of Cheerful Service has enjoyed eighty-six years of preoviding service to others, and will continue to do so for many years to come.

For more information about the Order, you can visit these links:

Eligibility for the Order of the Arrow

History of the Order of the Arrow

Summer Camp Pack Party Saturday

Depart for Camp 7:30am Sunday