Order of the Arrow
The Order of the Arrow is the honor society of Scouting America, composed of Scouts and Scouters who best exemplify the Scout Oath and Law in their daily lives as elected by their peers. It was founded as a camp fraternity by E. Urner Goodman, with the assistance of Carroll A. Edson, in 1915. Although it began without national approval, it was eventually admitted as an "Official Experiment" of Scouting America. In 1948, following an extensive review, it became a program of the organization.
Inducted members, known as Arrowmen or Brothers, are organized into local youth-led lodges that harbor fellowship, promote camping, and render service to scout councils and their communities. Each lodge corresponds to a council in the area. Lodges are further broken down into chapters, which correspond to districts within a council. Members wear identifying insignia on their uniforms, most notably the pocket flap that represents their individual lodge and the sash worn at official OA functions. The national organization sponsors several events, awards, and training functions in addition to lodge programming.
Scouting America maintains that the Order of the Arrow is not a secret organization. It instead utilizes the “attractiveness of the unknown” in its ceremonies to create a perception of mystery among non-members. There are three membership levels, each with its own ceremony: Ordeal, Brotherhood, and Vigil Honor. These ceremonies are recognition of a scout's leadership qualities, camping skills, and other Scouting ideals as exemplified by their elected peers. Additionally, "safeguarded” symbols and handshakes are used to impart a sense of community. Since the 1980s, concerned parents, Scout leaders, and religious leaders may review the ceremonies through a process set by the OA, and parents can refuse for their child to take part in the ceremony as membership is voluntary.
The Order of the Arrow has foundations influenced by Freemasonry and previously used imagery commonly associated with American Indian cultures for its self-invented ceremonies. Native Americans have criticized the OA's various symbols and "rituals" as cultural appropriation based on non-Native stereotypes of American Indians. Its Freemason ties have also been source of debate, in spite of its systematic removal of masonic terminology in the 1930s to avoid offending religious groups.
Origins
The Order of the Arrow was started as a Camp Fraternity by E. Urner Goodman, newly assigned Director of Treasure Island Scout Reservation on the Delaware River and assistant Camp Director Carroll A. Edson under the name of Wimachtendienk Wingolauchsik Witahemui. It was seen as a way to improve the summer camp experience and to encourage older Scouts to continue attending the summer camp. It was not part of Scouting America at the time. The name was based on the Lënape dialect.In 1921, the "known" lodges organized themselves under a Grand Lodge as inspired by the Freemasons. A new constitution was written and the ceremonies used in the early years were rewritten in 1921. Concern about fraternities excluding some youth was brought up the next year during the Second Biennial Conference of Scout Executives. One attendee, Dr. Tinney of Little Rock, AR stated,
Goodman had defended camp fraternities at the same conference and opposed a possible blanket ban on them. At the conclusion of the conference, the Order of the Arrow was adopted as an "Official Experiment" of Scouting America.
Throughout the 1930s, the Order of the Arrow went through a full review. The terminology used by the order was slowly replaced to sound less masonic and more Native American. This was a requirement from Scouting America who wished to not offend the religious groups that represented almost half of their charter organizations at the time and this needed to happen before the OA could be fully integrated into Scouting America.
By 1948, two-thirds of Scouting America's councils had OA lodges. That same year, it announced at the 1948 National Order of the Arrow Conference that the Order of the Arrow was integrated as an official part of Scouting America program.
Membership
Nearly 100,000 youth and adults are members of the Order of the Arrow as of 2023. Honorary membership was once bestowed in special circumstances, as with Franklin D. Roosevelt and Dwight D. Eisenhower, but this practice was officially discontinued in 1953.Elections
Registered members of Scouting America must meet a set of requirements before they are placed on the ballot for their unit's election. They must have camped for fifteen nights, be recommended by the unit leader and hold the rank of First Class or higher.Once the requirements are met, potential youth Arrowmen are placed on their unit's ballot. The election is then held, with all youth members of the troop voting in secret for scouts who they deem worthy of membership in the OA. Adults who meet the membership requirements must be nominated by the unit committee and approved by the lodge adult selection committee.
Elections to the Order of the Arrow have occasionally been compared to popularity contests. The organization's chairman acknowledged in 2011 that elections were a challenge, and that steps had been taken for adult leaders to make a greater effort to convey the serious nature of OA membership to members of the troop. OA troop representatives who organize an election are asked to read the following statement to the unit:
Membership levels
There are three levels of membership in the Order of the Arrow:- Ordeal
- Brotherhood
- Vigil Honor
Organization
The Order of the Arrow places great emphasis on being a youth-led organization. Only youth under the age 21 are voting members and are eligible to hold elected offices. Professional and volunteer adults are appointed to non-voting advisory positions at the chapter, lodge, and section levels.Chapters and lodges
The smallest level of organization in the Order of the Arrow is the chapter. The chapter is usually corresponding to a district in the local council. The chapter is led by the elected youth chapter chief, chapter vice chiefs, secretary, and a volunteer adult is appointed as the adviser, the district executive is the professional adviser. The chapters often hold monthly or weekly meetings together. The next largest unit of the OA is the lodge, which is chartered by a local Scouting America council. The lodge chief is the elected youth leader, the lodge adviser is a Scouting America adult volunteer appointed by the Scout Executive, and the lodge staff adviser is the council Scout executive or his designated council professional Scouter. The lodge youth officers, consisting of the lodge chief, one or more vice chiefs, a secretary, and a treasurer are responsible for organizing and leading the various programs and activities of the lodge. Many lodges have standing committees responsible for ceremonies, service projects, publications, unit elections, camp promotions, and dance teams composed of youth members.Sections
Lodges are grouped into sections that are then grouped into regions. The section chief is the elected youth leader, a volunteer adult is appointed as the section adviser, and the area director is the professional adviser. In addition to the section chief, the section has two additional elected officers. The vice chief and secretary are elected immediately following the election of the section chief at the section's annual business meeting. All sections gather annually at a section conclave held in the late spring or early fall. It is the main duty of the section officers to lead the planning of this weekend with the help of the lodge chiefs in the section.Like Scouting America's areas, the Order of the Arrow was formerly organized into four regions, Central, Southern, Northeast, and Western; the boundaries of each OA region correspond with the boundaries of Scouting America's areas. As of 2021, following Scouting America's restructuring of these areas, the OA changed their region boundaries, now having only two. Each region has an elected region chief, a volunteer adult who is appointed as the region chairman to oversee its region Committee, and an appointed professional adviser, forming a 'Key Three' much like the lodge and chapter system described above. Each region chief is elected by a caucus of the section chiefs from the region at the national planning meeting. Region chief elections are held the day after the election of the national chief and vice chief. The members of the region committee consist of the region chief, the region chair, all national committee members from the region, and other appointed adult volunteers. Each region annually has a gathering of all section officers and advisers. As a region, they are trained in topics relevant to their jobs. Each region also provides opportunities for Order of the Arrow members to go through a National Leadership Seminar, a weekend training course.
National leadership
The national chief and the national vice chief are selected by a caucus of the section chiefs at the outset of the Order of the Arrow's national planning meeting. At the national level, the OA is headed by the National Order of the Arrow committee, of which the national chief and national vice chief are voting members. The national adult leadership includes the volunteer chairman and the director, a professional Scouter.Ceremonies and symbols
Various symbols are used to identify members of the Order of the Arrow. Members are issued a white sash embroidered with a red arrow upon completion of their Ordeal. Arrowmen who achieve Brotherhood and Vigil Honor receive slightly different sashes. Additionally, each lodge produces a pocket flap to be worn by its members. It is sewn permanently to the right-hand shirt pocket while the sash is only used in formal settings.There are four ceremonies following the election of a scout to the Order of the Arrow:
- Call-Out
- Induction
- Brotherhood
- Vigil Honor
Ceremonies also utilize the organization's song, commonly referred to by its first line of lyrics as "Firm Bound in Brotherhood", and titled "Order of the Arrow Official Song" and "The Order of the Arrow Song" in the printed music score of official OA publications. It was written in 1921 by OA founder E. Urner Goodman to the tune of the Russian hymn "God Save the Tsar!" composed by Alexei Lvov in 1833.