To be eligible for the Order of the Arrow you must be a First Class Scout and have attended summer camp. The Order of the Arrow is a national brotherhood of Scout campers. The boys in the troop are elected every year by their peers. The troop elects you for your camping ability and Scouting spirit. After the boy attends the Ordeal weekend they become members of a Lodge. Troop 23 belongs to ShuShu Gah Lodge #24 which represents scouts from Brooklyn.
Council.
To recognize those campers-Scouts and Scouters- who best exemplify the Scout Oath and Law in their daily lives and by such recognition cause other campers to conduct themselves in such a manner as to warrant recognition. To develop and maintain camping traditions and spirit. To crystallize the Scout habit of helpfulness into a life purpose of leadership in cheerful service to others.
The Order of the Arrow was founded on the principles of brotherhood, cheerfulness, and service.
In 1925, Brooklyn Council was among the first councils to organize an Order of the Arrow Lodge. The name chosen was Shu-Shu-Gah (the Blue Heron, from the Song of Hiawatha). The Lodge has grown through the years so that at present it ranks as one of the largest Order of the Arrow Lodges. The Lodge adopted orange and black as its feather colors, and red, white, and blue as the lodge colors. Shu-Shu-Gah held its first induction in Camp Kanohvet at the old Brooklyn Scout Camps on Kahnawake Lakes, located in what is now part of Harriman State Park. At that time there were four divisions in the Brooklyn Scout Camp: Hiawatha, Leeming, Cropsey, and Midwout. Tahlequah was the Brooklyn Headquarters Camp.
When Camp Brooklyn moved to Ten Mile River in 1928 the Lodge operated as a single unit serving the then-established ten camps in Brooklyn: Tahlequah was still the name of the Headquarters Camp and the other names were Sacut, Accaponac, Wapaga, Keiutale, Oseetah, Tanaweda, Kotohke, Kanohvet, and Ihpetonga. In 1929 the season ran from July first to September second with Stehahe, Kunatah, Connequot, and Kowanoak as additional camps to handle the expected 300 campers. In 1932 another camp, Apelachi was added.
In 1937 the Brooklyn Camps became Camp Brooklyn of the Ten Mile River Scout Reservation and had four divisions again. Sacut, Accaponac, Oseetah, and Ihpetonga were the chapters that served and inducted candidates in their respective divisions during the summer. Tahlequah serviced the Camp Brooklyn Headquarters until the building was destroyed by a fire in 1941. Up to that point in time, it had been the largest structure at T.M.R.
In 1938, behind Ihpetonga Village (Division IV) on Davis Lake, a home Troop formed the fifth chapter. It was named Waramaug, after Troop 123’s former camp at Lake Waramaug in Connecticut. When Troop 123 moved to Ten Mile River in 1936 they kept the name, which means “bottomless lake.”
Sacut and Accaponac were combined as Saccaponac Chapter in 1945 to service Kotohke (Division I). Oseeth Chapter serviced Camp Chappegat (Division III then became Division II). In 1946 Bischuwi Chapter was formed to service the new kosher camp, Camp Kunatah (Division III), and Ihpetonga Village (Division IV) was serviced by Ihpetonga Chapter. In addition, after the 1948 National Order of the Arrow Conference, the lodge was divided into chapters.
District Order of the Arrow Service Committees, one for each of the ten districts, was formed to give service to the district and the individual units. The districts at the time were Atlantic, Bath Beach, Bushwick-Arlington, Central, Eastern, Flatbush, Parkway, Sheepshead, Sunrise, and Stanford.
These chapters remained camp units until 1953 when district chapters were established following the new National Council policy. So, there were ten districts in Brooklyn and there were likewise ten chapters. They were: Waramaug for Atlantic District, Nakowa for Bath Beach, Lenhacki for Bushwick-Arlington, Abwenasi Tsungani for Central, Petapan for Eastern, Achewen Shingue for Flatbush, Uchtama for Parkway, Showandasse for Sheepshead, Wambuli for Stuyford, and Ktchquehellen for Sunrise. In 1956, two more chapters and districts were formed. They were Nah-Ne-Wah-Ye Chapter for Prospect District and Sakanenk for Kingsway District.
In 1970, Central District merged with Prospect to form Five Bridges District, while keeping the name Nah-Ne-Wah-Ye for the chapter. In June of 1979, the entire borough of Brooklyn was changed from having 11 districts to 6. Nakowa and Waramaug became Majawat for Nieuw Utrecht District; Showandasse, Ktchquehellen, and Sakanenk merged into Kotohke for Thunderbird District; Petapan and Lenhacki merged to form Tequiechen for Rainbow District; and Uchtama was absorbed by Achewen Shingue for Midwout District. Nah-Ne-Wah-Ye and Wambuli remained the same for Five Bridges and Stuyford Districts.
In 1986, Tequiechen was split into two chapters. Tequiechen served the Rainbow District, and Petapan was reformed to cover the new Dawn Star District. In 1987 Dawn Star was merged with Stuyford, however, Wambuli continued to serve the original Stuyford District while Petapan served the northern part of Stuyford District, formerly known as Dawn Star.
In December of 1988, Mark Belli was elected to the Position of Northeast Region Chief. This was the first time that a brother from Shu-Shu-Gah Lodge had ever served as a National Officer of the Order of the Arrow.
In 1990, The lodge served as the Host Lodge for the NE-3A Section Conclave. The conclave was held at Camp Keowa, Ten Mile River.
In 1994, to improve the effectiveness of the lodge’s operations, the chapter system was eliminated. This was the first time since 1937 that the lodge functioned as a single unit.
In 1995, Brooklyn’s district structure underwent even more change. The existing six districts were merged into two. The former Nieuw Utrecht, Stuyford, and Five Bridges Districts are currently known as Lenape Bay District. The former Midwest, Rainbow, and Thunderbird Districts are known as Breukelen Districts.
In 1997, Chapters were once again integrated into the Shu-Shu-Gah Lodge structure: Eluwak, Phoenix for Lenape Bay District, and Shawondasse for Breukelen District.
The Year 2000 marked the 75th Anniversary of the Founding of Shu-Shu-Gah Lodge. April 8, 2000, was designated as the celebration day. The Lodge gathered for a full day of fellowship and training which culminated with an Anniversary Banquet. The lodge introduced a 75th Anniversary Participation award and issued a special commemorative lodge flap which was only available at the Anniversary Dinner. The lodge also served as the Service lodge to the 2000 NE-3A Section Conclave, held at Camp Keowa, Ten Mile River.
In December of 2002, Ian Pinnavaia was elected at the OA National Planning Meeting to serve as the 2003 Northeast Region Chief. Ian was only the second member of Shu-Shu-Gah Lodge to serve as Region Chief.
In 2003, several new projects were taken on by the lodge. We held our first Winter Banquet in January of 2003. The Founder’s Awards Presentations were moved to the banquet and a new tradition was formed. Many guests from around the region were in attendance including former region chiefs and our current section officers. In February, the Chapter Achievement Award was renamed after a former chapter adviser, Len S. Charity who passed away suddenly that winter. The award was presented for the first time to the Phoenix chapter in May 2003.
At the 2004 BSA National Meeting in Chicago, IL., It was announced that two members of Shu-Shu-Gah Lodge, Ian M. Pinnavaia and Kenneth E. Hood, would become recipients of the OA Distinguished Service Award. This marked the first time in lodge history that a member of Shu-Shu-Gah Lodge would receive this award. In 2004 the chapter system again underwent more changes. To better serve the Lenape Bay District, Eluwak and Phoenix chapters were merged to form Majachsin Chapter. This left the Lodge with one chapter serving each District of the