The purpose of the Order of the Arrow is fourfold: Many believe that the OA helps in retaining older boys in Scouting who otherwise tend to lose interest upon reaching high school age. Notably, OA guidelines place great importance on preserving Lodge leadership in the hands of its boy members, headed by a Chief, Vice Chief(s), and an Executive Committee, all of whom must be under age 21. These youth plan and implement Lodge activities, service projects, ceremonies, publications, budgets, and conduct troop elections as arranged with the Scoutmaster. Adults are crucial to the OA program's success as advisors and as resources (e.g., transportation, service project skills, etc.). 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. Selection for membership in scouting's honor society is
thus predominantly voted by non-members. The local Order of the Arrow lodge is granted a charter from the National
Council, BSA, upon annual application by the local council. The OA lodge
helps the local council provide a quality Scouting program through recognition of Scouting spirit and performance, youth leadership development, service and enhanced membership tenure.
An Order of the Arrow section consists of local lodges within a geographic
area of the region. Once every year, representatives of lodges in the section come together for a conclave to share in fellowship, skills and training. All of the elected section chiefs form the conference committee for a national Order of the Arrow event, which is held under the guidance of the national Order of the Arrow Committee.
The region chief is the youth leader of the region elected by the section
chiefs for a term of office specified by the National Order of the Arrow
committee, which coincides with the term of national chief and vice-chief.
This election is held in conjunction with called meetings of the section
chiefs to elect the national chief and vice-chief, as well as to plan a
national Order of the Arrow event. The National OA Chief & Vice Chief are Arrowmen selected by the section chiefs, who form the National Order of the Arrow Conference committee. They serve as members of the National Order of the Arrow Committee, providing the opinion of youth on national OA policy. They also serve as the presiding officers for the national OA event. Their term of office is specified by the National Committee. They are advised in their responsibilities by the National Chairman and National Director of the Order of the Arrow. Founder Dr. E. Urner Goodman made his final Order of the Arrow National Conference appearance in 1979 at Colorado State University, only 6 mos. 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. 'Tho 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.
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. Today, the OA has more than 170,000 members located in lodges affiliated with approximately 336 BSA local councils. Founded in 1915, just seven years after British General Sir Robert Baden-Powell invented scouting in the United Kingdom, 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, for this popular youth organization.
As E. Urner Goodman, then a 25 year old scoutmaster, walked along Broad
Street in downtown Philadelphia in late Spring, 1915, he no doubt heard
the newsboys hawking the Philadelphia Inquirer's headlines,
reporting the sinking of the Cunard oceanliner Lusitania hit
by a U-boat's torpedoes within sight 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 council's scout camp,
perched on idyllic Treasure Island in the Delaware River. What he had in
mind was to leave a lasting imprint on the lives of thousands of American
youth.
Although he would eventually attain a doctorate in education and become
National Program Director of the BSA, Urner's thoughts in 1915 were focused
on development of methods to teach boys 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, peer
recognition and the appeal of Indian lore would be utilized. Hence, he devised a program where 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. Those elected would be acknowledged as having displayed, in the eyes of their fellow scouts, a spirit of unselfish service and 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. Initially
viewed with suspicion by many scouters as a secret society if not an affront
to the egalitarian ideals of scouting, support was slow in coming from national headquarters. For many years, the OA was considered to be an experimental program only. Not until 1948 was E. Urner Goodman's innovation fully integrated into the Scouting program.
Having observed its Diamond Anniversary in 1990, 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 staffing. The OA, at its best, continues to be
a teaching tool for Scouting ideals.
To be inducted into the Order of the Arrow, a Scout must:
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. 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 a select few of the Lodge's membership may be elevated each year to 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.
The Lodge
The Section
The Region
The Nation
The regional Order of the Arrow chairman is an adult appointed by the
regional director. The professional adviser for the region is a staff member
assigned to the position by the regional director.
The National Chairman of the Order of the Arrow is appointed by the chairman of the National Boy Scout Committee. The professional adviser is the National Director of the Order of the Arrow, a member of the national Boy Scout Division staff.
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.
Content obtained from http://usscouts.org/honorsociety/oahistory.html
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