• Vision

    Vision

    The Order of the Arrow......is not an end unto itself, but is for a higher purpose. Individuals are inducted into the Order of the Arrow “not so much for what you have done, but for what you are expected to do.” Taking that Obligation of the Order requires a promise, on one’s honor, “to be unselfish in service and devotion to the welfare of others.” Read More
  • Membership

    Membership

    Becoming Inducted into the OAScouts are elected to the Order by their fellow unit members. The induction ceremony, called the Ordeal, is the first step toward full membership. During the experience, candidates maintain silence, receive small amounts of food, and give service. The completion of the tasks taught lessons about brotherhood, cheerfulness, and service – the three principles of the Order of the Arrow. Read More
  • Nawakwa

    Nawakwa

    Lodge #3Each local Boy Scout council is encouraged to have an Order of the Arrow lodge. The OA lodge helps the local council provide a quality Scouting program through recognition of Scouting spirit and performance, development of youth leadership and service, promotion of Scout camping and outdoor programs, and enhancement of membership tenure. Read More
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Upcoming Events


Date: June 2-4 (Camp T. Brady Saunders)


Date: April 28-30

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About the OA

  • Organization
  • Eligibility
  • Purpose of the OA

Lodge

Each local Boy Scout council is encouraged to have an Order of the Arrow lodge. Each lodge is granted a charter from the National Council, BSA, upon annual application. The OA lodge helps the local council provide a quality Scouting program through recognition of Scouting spirit and performance, development of youth leadership and service, promotion of Scout camping and outdoor programs, and enhancement of membership tenure.

Sections

An Order of the Arrow section consists of 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. A section is lead by three youth officers, the Section Chief, Section Vice-Chief, and Section Secretary, who are advised by an adult Section Adviser and professional Section Staff Adviser. All of the elected section chiefs are invited 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.

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Membership: For information on who is eligible and the requirements to join the Order of the Arrow. Please see the Guide to Unit Elections and Pages 18-19 of the Guide for Officers and Advisers.

 

Induction

The induction ceremony, called the Ordeal, is the first step toward full membership. During the experience, candidates maintain silence, receive small amounts of food, work on camp improvement projects, and are required to sleep alone, apart from other campers. The entire experience is designed to teach significant values.

For the details on the induction process please see the Guide to Inductions.

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The Order of the Arrow was created to serve as a useful purpose: to cause the Scout Oath and Law to spring into action in all parts of the nation. To this day, we are dedicated to this high purpose. The Order is a thing of the individual rather than a thing of the masses; the ideals of brotherhood, cheerfulness, and service spring to life in each of us. The Order is a thing of the outdoors; from life in the wilds comes a precious ingredient that our country needs to survive-self-reliance. One of the Order’s greatest achievements is, and will continue to be, the strengthening of the Scouting movement as an outdoor experience.

 The Order of the Arrow was founded during the summer of 1915 at Treasure Island, the Philadelphia Council Scout camp. The camp was located on a 50-acre wooded island located on the Delaware River between New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and historical records show that it was an early camping ground for the Lenni Lanape, or Delaware, Indians. During that summer, E. Urner Goodman was selected to serve as camp director, and Carroll A. Edison was appointed assistant director. Together, these men decided that they wanted to create an honor society as a definite form of recognition for those Scouts in their camp who best exemplified the spirit of the Scout Oath and Law in their daily lives. Since the Delaware Valley was rich in Indian tradition, it seemed only natural to base this society, this brotherhood of honor campers, on the legends and traditions of the Delaware Indians. Thus the foundation was laid for the Order of the Arrow.

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Lodge History

Nawakwa Lodge #3, originally named Pamunkey Lodge #3, 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 rechartered 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 Chippewa tribe. When translated it means, "in the middle of the forest", similar to where the forester finds the best timber.

The lodge totem was changed to the cardinal in 1957, and is still in use today and appears on many lodge neckerchiefs and emblems. In the early years Nawakwa Lodge performed service projects at the council camps of Shawandawse and Wakoda. In recent history the lodge has provided much service to the current council camps, Camp T. Brady Saunders and Cub & Webelos Adventure Camp, as well as to Eagle Point and Albright Scout Reservation, two council-maintained short-term camping facilities. In addition to service, the lodge has donated over seventy acres of land adjacent to Camp T. Brady Saunders and has provided extensive resources toward expanded camping areas targeted toward Cub Scout activities.

The lodge's first newsletter, The Tom-Tom, was first issued on November 30,1951. The Tom-Tom is still issued on a regular basis to all members and has won several area, section, and national awards since its early start.

In 1951, Nawakwa Lodge bestowed its first Vigil Honor awards on Colonel Joseph Koch and Jim Barber. Both of these Arrowmen contributed tremendously to Scouting in and around the Richmond area and to the development of Nawakwa Lodge.

During Nawakwa's 50th Anniversary year, 1969, they hosted the largest gathering of Arrowmen in the history of Area III-C, at the Area 2 Pow-Wow. Approximately 1200 Arrowmen attended the huge affair held at the Virginia State Fairgrounds in Richmond.

Nawakwa Lodge continues to support the Heart of Virginia Council #602 of Richmond, Virginia, the council's main camps at the Heart of Virginia Scout Reservation in Goochland County, and the youth of the council through service projects and new-unit mentoring. With its multi-time national champion ceremonial team, Nawakwa Lodge and the national office produced a ceremonies training film that is beyond comparison. The Lodge Ceremonial Team also played a major role in producing a video about the Order, which was designed to introduce the Order to those who don't understand why they were inducted into the Order.