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time. If you have any questions please use the form at

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Echoing leaps and bounds

From the shores of Grand Traverse to Grand Rapids

Nataepu Shohpe Lodge’s The Guardian’s Call

Fall Edition 2014

Like our page on Facebook— www.facebook.com/nslodge

Check us out at www.nslodge.org and www.michiganscouting.org

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WELCOME and CONTENTS

2-3. Fall Conclave and The Guardian’s Call

4. Unit Elections, and Winter Banquet

5. Recognition, and Recent Happenings

6. Ask the Chairman

7. Echoes from the Past—The Sash

8-11 Officer Introductions

12-13. What's on the Table - The Tachasin

14. Staying Connected

15. Our Lodge Advisor Steve Heitmeier

16. The New Chapter Map

Don’t miss out on a

Lodge Event!

Brothers,

Most of you should be receiving this news through an e-mail or through the website, if so, awesome! Thank you for helping us “Go Green”. Also, if you received this via printed copy, make sure to go to www.nslodge.org and sign-up for a e-mailed copy of this newsletter. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions on what to include

in the Fall Newsletter, let me know! Secretary@nslodge.org

From the shores of Grand Traverse to Grand Rapids

The Guardian’s Call

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Greetings brothers!

After a few months as lodge chief I can safely say that absolutely no one is prepared for a leadership role. Right from the get go you know it is more than you bargained for, and then the business just keep coming and coming. I think I have spent about a month on the phone and email system in the past week.

However, as lodge chief its my duty to ensure that everyone in the lodge is prepared for the responsibilities of running a lodge or chapter. This is no easy task but I know for a fact that without a elite leadership team our lodge is in for a world of hurt.

As such I would like to invite each and everyone of you to our lodge leadership development on November 8th. While the focus will be on leaders in the chapter and lodge, all members are welcome and en-couraged to attend, especially if you wish to be more active. I would like to see at least one person from each chapter at LLD.

Registration will begin at 9:00 till 10:00 at the Grand Rapids Scout office. There is no cost and lunch will be provided. After our training we will have a budget meeting (pending our lodge treasurer) and our EC meeting.

Some Trainings will include a unit elections training, a discussion on the cost of lodge events (and how to bring them down), and a training in running events.

I hope to see many of you at LLD. You may register by emailing me at lodgechief@nslodge.org. I look forward to the training and building our lodge together.

Yours in Brotherhood

Lodge Leadership Development

Check out the calendar s website

Providing Service to the Camp We Love

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Unit Elections and Winter Banquet

the masonic temple in grand rap-ids on January 24. the cost is still being hammered out in de-tail, but at this time we are look-ing to have it less than 20$, along with a possibility for a family fee. Our theme for this year will be “Seek the Fire at the Center” and I very much hope that all of you will attend. Banquet is our time to recognize those who have done amazing work in our lodge and scouting, as well as our time to get together and bond as broth-ers. We have some new ideas planned but I wouldn’t want to spoil the excitement. More detail will be sent out as we get them confirmed. Until then have a hap-py fall. Vigil Honor: Hello this Thomas King, this year’s Vigil Honor chairman. As some of you may know, we will be having a conclave at Gerber Scout camp on the weekend October of the 10th through 12th. I hope to see lots of people there. This is the last time Vigil candidates can go

Unit Elections:

As the new year is now upon us, it is time to get started on that func-tion of the lodge which supplies us with new members each year: unit elections. Scoutmasters, you can request dates for your unit elec-tions at http://nslodge.org/ue, and we will get them scheduled for you. More information on the complete unit elections process, including membership require-ments, can be found on this webpage as well. I’m looking for-ward to working with all of you this year and making sure that everyone who needs a unit elec-tion gets one.

Yours in Brotherhood,

Charlie Rogers

Unit Elections Chairman

Winter Banquet: With the pleasant weather we have been having its may be a bit of a shock that we are talking about winter banquet. Winter has this tendency to sneak up on us, so its best to be proactive. Winter banquet this year will be at

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through their ceremony, so please attend. Also if you are a Vigil Hon-or member, your help would be appreciated for the weekend. We need the help of members who do not hold the Vigil Honor, as well. Now is the time to begin nomina-tions for Vigil Honor members for 2015. If you do not know the re-quirements, they must be a broth-erhood member for 2 years and to show great service to the lodge. If you want to nominate someone for the Vigil Honor please fill the form on the website (http://nslodge.org/documents) out and send it to: vigilhonor@nslodge.org or hand your form to me (Thomas King) at Conclave. The form is also available on the website(http://

nslodge.org/vigilnominations). Thank you brothers for giving service to the Lodge and I hope to see all of you at the upcoming conclave.

Arrowman of the Year award:

Every year in our lodge, at Winter

Banquet, we give out the Arrowman of

the Year award and Honor Arrowman of

the Year award. This award goes out to a

few outstanding arrowmen, who went

above and beyond of the call of duty, and

made significant contributions to the

lodge. Arrowman of the Year award

nomination forms will be out soon, so

keep an eye on the website!

Dance and Drum: Masonic Lodge 246 has

chartered the Rockford Crew! This crew

spends its meetings learning and partici-

pating in Native American Dancing and

Drumming!

If you are interested in joining this lodge-

sponsored Dance and Drum Venture Crew

please contact Brandon Sinclair as he is

the current crew President

The lodge has budgeted $1,400 to support

these crews over the next year. This will

help get them off the ground. The money

will primarily be going towards materials

to build a drum.

September 21st: There was a Lodge EC

meeting at Camp Gerber. During the meet-

ing we talked about The Chapter Structure

Proposal, Lodge By-Law changes, and the

chapter proposal (more info on page 12).

Founder’s Award: At Winter Banquet

Jarrod Blundy, and Steven Hall were

awarded the Founders award. The

Founder's Award recognizes Arrow-

men who have given outstanding

service to their lodge. The award is

reserved for an Arrowman who

demonstrates that he or she personi-

fies the spirit of selfless service.

Recognition and Recent Happenings

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The Handclasp

Q: I am Allowat Sakima in my chapter's Ordeal ceremony team, so I am the first brother to give the Ordeal members the handclasp, and its meaning. My problem is that, according to the current Ordeal Ceremony book, I am to give the new Ordeal members the "Lodge Handclasp." This is in direct contradiction to what I was taught and what I am told by my Chapter Advisor, who says there are different handclasps for Ordeal and Brotherhood. I have done considerable research into this, and believe that there is only one handclasp. Is this true?

A: There is only one Order of the Arrow Handclasp, there are not three different ones for the three different Honors.

The current printing of the Ceremony for the Ordeal (1999 revision) clearly describes the Order of the Arrow handclasp on page 17, and explains its meaning.

Because past ceremony book printings used differ-ent (and perhaps more confusing) language to describe the handclasp, and because the Boy Scout handclasp changed in 1972,

there was a period of time when many people mistakenly be-lieved that Ordeal members had a different handclasp than Brotherhood members. It is likely that your adviser and others received their instruction during this period, or received it from those who had.

In any case, it is only right that all of us make the effort to use the correct handclasp from now on. Part of our leadership in service is to set the proper example. You are correct to fol-low the description given in the current ceremony books.

If your adviser has additional questions, please encourage him or her to contact the lodge ad-viser or national office. Source: http://www.oa-bsa.org//pages/content/OB1

Ask the Chairman

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Evolution of the Sash 1910, One hundred years of the

Boy Scouts of America. 1912, One

hundred years of the Eagle Scouts.

As we approach 2015, the 100th

Anniversary of the Order of the

Arrow, it makes you wonder, how

far have we come since then? With

that in mind, let’s take a walk back

to 1916 to find out how the OA

obligation has changed over the

years.

Evolution of the sash-

It is not known when the first WWW Obligation was used. Because it is part of the First Degree/Honor ritual it is believed that it likely was used in some form as early as 1916. The first known version of the Obligation dates to 1921. It read:

I, (your name), do hereby promise on my honor as a Scout, that I will always and faithfully preserve unbroken the secret rites, mysteries, signs and sym-bols of the Order of the WIMACHTENDIENK WINGOLAUCHSIK, WITAHEMUI, which I have now received or may be taught at any future time. I will always regard the bonds of brotherhood in this Order as sacred and binding, and will seek to preserve a cheerful spirit even in the midst of irksome tasks and weighty responsibilities, and will en-deavor, so far as in my power lies, to be unselfish in service and devotion to the welfare of others. I will attend, so far as I am able, all regular and special meetings of the Order and do what I can to promote interest in them.

The 1931 ritual contains a slightly dif-ferent version of the Obligation. The most significant change was the term “as sacred and binding” to “as bind-ing”. This was to satisfy religious groups that objected to the concept of

sacred rituals for their congregants. It was also done as preparation for achieving the goal of becoming an official BSA pro-gram.

Other changes were the Arrowman no

longer states his name, the name Order of

the Arrow is stated before the actual name,

WWW, which was changed to only have

the first word in the name stated and the

last two words just the letter “W” presuma-

bly to be spoken, but not written. There

was also a minor change where “the bonds

of brotherhood in this order” becomes “the

bonds of brotherhood in the Order of the

Arrow”. The 1931 Obligation was said as

follows:

I, do hereby promise on my honor as a

Scout, that I will always and faithfully pre-

serve unbroken the secret rites, mysteries,

signs and symbols of the Order of the Ar-

row, WIMACHTENDIENK, W. ______,

W. ______, which I have now received or

may be taught at any future time. I will

always regard the bonds of brotherhood in

the Order of the Arrow as binding and will

seek to preserve a cheerful spirit even in

the midst of irksome tasks and weighty

responsibilities, and will endeavor, so far

as in my power lies, to be unselfish in ser-

vice and devotion to the welfare of others. I

will attend, so far as I am able, all regular

and special meetings of the Order and do

what I can to promote interest in them.

There is more to this article! To find the

rest of this article, go here: http://history.oa

-bsa.org/node/3122

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Brothers, My name is Mark Gutowski and for the last two years I have been the Chapter Chief of Wulu or Chapter 7. A little bit about me: I just finished my Junior year of high school at Traverse City West. I am part of Troop 27 of Long Lake and earn my Eagle Scout in 2012. I enjoy camping, spending time with my friends, and generally just having a good time. This year I have had the honor of being elected as the Vice Chief of Inductions. There are several chairmen that fall under the category of Inductions. Those chairman are: Unit Elec-tions, which oversees the Unit Election process. Ceremonies Management, which oversees all the regalia, and creating more regalia. Ceremonies Involvement oversees the people that are do-ing the ceremonies, assuring they know their lines and they have enough people. There is al-so the Vigil Honor chairman that oversees all things in regard to the Vigil Honor. Along with Ceremonies, there is Dance and Drum which oversees our Dance and Drum teams and helps create more of them. There is also the

Elangomat/Nimat chair, who oversees the Elangomat/Nimat program. If you see any of these positions and think that you would like to try one of them, please get in contact with me. I will leave my email at the end. This year my goal for my position is to improve our Elangomat/Nimat program. I would like to have a team of Elangomats and Nimats ready for any Lodge event, so that there is-n't a scramble to find people to do as that takes away from the experience for the candidates. I also would like to work with the Chapter Chiefs to improve not only our attendance at Lodge events, but to increase our Broth-erhood conversion rate by reaching out to you our brand new Ordeal members to attend these awesome events. That be-ing said, I hope to see you at Summer Conclave at Camp Greilick in August. Yours in WWW, Mark Gutowski VC of Inductions vcofindutions@nslodge.org

Officers

VC Of Inductions

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No Article was turned in

Officers

VC Of Program

Lodge Secretary

Greeting everyone,

This is Alex, your new Lodge Sec-

retary. I take the minutes at the

council meeting, put together the

lodge newsletters, and manage the

lodge website and email system. . It

is a priority here at Nataepu

Shohpe Lodge to keep our mem-

bers informed on everything that is

going on within the lodge. To do

this we use a variety of tools.

Our main outlet of information

and official documents is our web-

site (www.nslodge.org). There we

do posts on what is going on with-

in the lodge. Event information

and registration links can be found

on the website along with infor-

mation about the various events

Facebook is an easy to use

tool for you to use to keep in

touch with what the lodge has

been up too. Just like the page at

https://www.facebook.com/

nslodge and news will come

through your Facebook news feed.

The website is also a tool to use to contact your chapter. If you need to contact your chapter

or the lodge, you can contact them here: http://nslodge.org/contact. There is information on what

chapter you are a part of, if you do not know, here: http://nslodge.org/chaptermeetings.

Yours in Brotherhood,

Alex Hoffmann

Secretary

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Brothers,

My name is Nick Capell. I am the Vice Chief of Administration for this up-coming lodge year. I look forward to another GREAT year with Nataepu Shohpe Lodge.

First off, a little bit about me. I’m an Eagle Scout out of Troop 27 from Traverse City. I will be in my senior year of high school at Traverse City West Senior High School. I have been on Camp Staff at Camp Greilick in Traverse City for this summer and the last two summers, all of them as Office Manager. I went to Philmont Scout Ranch with my troop in 2012. I enjoy kayaking, camping, and hammocking. I love being outdoors. I have danced in various ceremonies, as well as having been a principle in a variety of Arrow of Light Ceremonies and have conduct-ed several Unit Elections over the past two years. I was the Unit Elections

Officers

Lodge Treasurer

VC Of Administration

Brothers,

For those of you who do not

know me, my name is Josh Lange, your

treasurer for this year. I am an Eagle

Scout from Troop 53 in Boyne Falls,

MI and Kabibanaka Chapter 5. What

excites me about this upcoming year,

other than it being the 100th anniversary

of the OA, is this year is another oppor-

tunity for Nataepu Shohpe Lodge to be

the best lodge it can be (and hopefully

the best at winning the coup!). As time

has passed, I have had the privilege in

witnessing our lodge go from two sepa-

rate identities to one unified group that

is stronger than ever. Each and every

day is a chance for us to improve what

we do, and it is incredible when it hap-

pens. I feel like there are some things,

however, that could be understood to

make our lodge even better.

You may wonder: “Why should

I pay my dues? What am I getting out

of it?” Well, the tangible things you get

out of your dues include a free Lodge

Leadership Development, filled with

trainings including everything from

making a drum to being an elangomat.

Also, you receive this newsletter, as

well as three others. Something you

may not think about is there has to be a

way to keep the lodge website up and

running (nslodge.org). Your dues mean

much more than what you can see or

touch. Paying your dues means being a

member of the Order of the Arrow. If

you do not pay your dues, you are tech-

nically not registered with the OA, so

you should not be wearing your sash/

flap (We won’t come down on you

for it). Finally, the money that we

use for donations, scholarships, and

in general helping the community,

does not grow on trees. We need

your dues to help the lodge run to its

capacity and carry out the traditions

of service in the Order.

Yours in Brotherhood,

Josh Lange

Treasurer

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Chairman during the last year, and I have helped plan several lodge events.

I only want to see this lodge succeed and prosper, so I intend to do whatever I can to help us do so. If you have any questions/comments/concerns, please feel free to contact me at any time; you can call me at 231-360-0313, or email me at either my lodge email or at nacapell120@gmail.com. Once again, I look forward to working with the awe-some members of our awesome lodge!

Yours in Brotherhood,

Nick Capell

Vice Chief of Administration

Officers

Lodge Chief

Greetings Arrowmen, My name is Stephen King and I will be your Lodge Chief in the 2014-2015 season. The job of Lodge Chief is an immense multifaceted job, but ultimately my focus will be on bringing the lodge together and building brotherhood. We have a large lodge, and at first glance this may seem to be a weakness. Large distances to travel, different identities, and the simple fact that more people mean more conflicting ideas. However, I think we turn

what at first glance seems to be a weakness, into a strength. We have a large set of opinions, and while its not easy to consolidate them, being able to do it gives us far more po-tential than a much smaller lodge would. The lodge is not just my ide-as, nor the ideas of an executive committee. The lodge is the sum-mation of each and every one of its members. I don't pretend doing this will be easy, but I do expect that I will get some help from you the general membership. I know there are many of you out there, active and inactive, young and old, who have their opinions on how the lodge should be run. I want to hear all of them. Even more I want eve-ryone interested to step up in lodge and chapter leadership. I can't promise it will be easy, but I can promise that ,so long as you are willing to put an the work and listen to advice, you will be able to have some control over the future of the lodge. This year I will be working at Betty Ford Adventureland, and will make an effort to appear at Gerber when I don't have work du-ties. If you wish to have a role in the lodge, or simply want to talk OA ,please come and talk to me. Yours in brotherhood, Stephen King

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On the table – The Takachsin No matter where you go in the world you will run head first into controversy and conflict. This is inherent to human nature, a testament to who we are. Many people will read this and be discouraged- who want to deal with conflict and clashing viewpoints? However, the problem lies not in the existence of conflict, but in how we deal with it. Discussing clashing ideas is inherent to life, and that discussion can be argued to be positive in how it opens our minds to new ideas. The only real issue is not the issues themselves, but how we deal with them.

The purpose of this column is to discuss a controversial, pressing issue in the lodge. This is done for several reasons, all of which to deal with the conflict that inevitably arises from discourse. First, it brings the idea to the forefront and encourages discussion among the membership. Second, it brings an air of transparency to the subject, so no one feels as if the issue is being forced or hidden from them. Finally it provides a method to explain in detail what each member can do to help steer the issue towards the path that they believe is best.

Today’s issue is one that lies close to our hearts- several inches away. The Takachsin is one of our lodges strongest traditions, a major part in what sets us apart from the others. As such any changes made to it need to be taken after a great deal of planning and forethought.

For those unaware of the history of the Takachsin I will give a brief overview. The Program was instituted in 2003 under lodge chief Ryan Kriesch in legacy lodge Natcha Tindey. The program itself was based on a similar program brought in from our last supreme chief of the fire Michael Sulgrove. Over time the program was tweaked but kept mostly the same. During the transition be-tween Natcha Tindey and Indian Drum the program was kept but the totem was modified for the new lodge.

Herein lies the problem that is being addressed today, the transition was quite rough and left a lot to be desired. First and least controversial of the issues is the Takachsin booklet. The Takachsin book is at times vague and inaccurate. For example, some beads can only be earned at Gerber Scout Reservation while our lodge has other camps where service is just as important. At the Sep-tember EC meeting we discussed the book- and doing our best to keep the in-tent the same, made some changes to keep it in line with the lodge. The vote on its official inclusion will happen at the Fall conclave EC meeting.

The problem lies not just in the book, however. During the transition, the new totem had to be chosen quickly and ,from my personal experience, it isn’t very popular or elegant. Various complaints have been made about our current to-tem, ranging from silly things like its appearance as a birthday cake, to more serious complaints such as possible symbolism of a drum being burned.

Some of theses problems have been addressed. New totems have been printed in a smaller shape to help make them more elegant and to reduce the weight complaint. However a serious question needs to be asked- whether or not the drum and fire is the totem we want to represent our lodge. The following para-

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graphs are my personal opinions on the subject, what we actually do is up the consensus of the EC and the desire of members such as yourself.

Personally I believe the 100th year gives us a great opportunity to tidy up the program. No one is excited about our current totem, and in that many people cling to the old Natcha Tindy totem. If we can make a totem that people want to wear, then it will spread like wild fire. In addition our current totem doesn’t do much to provide a actual lodge identity- at best its just a mash up of two old lodges.

My personal idea is to release a new totem for the 100th year anniversary that may be used instead of the fire. The people who have a fire totem may contin-ue to use it if they would like to, forcing people to buy new things is not something I wish to do. We would then stop printing the old totems. This idea also opens us to the creation of modified totems for special occasions.

As for the actual totem, a lot of research and discussion needs to be done. Ide-as I’ve heard include a turtle, a war club, and a lighthouse ,but that is by no means comprehensive. The only thing limiting us is the symbol’s meaning to native tribes, something that would need some research.

Regardless of what we ultimately do, the end goal should be the same- have something you can proudly wear as a representative of our lodge. In the past some people have worn their Takachsin out of uniform, at non scouting func-tions because they thought it was just that cool and important. That's the exact kind of feeling I would like to bring to our lodge.

If you are interested in helping and joining this debate please email me or ap-proach me in person. Talk it over with the people in your chapter, your troop, and those who have good ideas. The more input we get, the better we can make the symbol of our lodge, and the brighter we can shine.

Yours in Brotherhood,

Stephen King

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.

There are multiple ways for you, as an Arrowman to stay, “in the loop”. One of which can be by signing up for an e-mail of this newsletter. That would be done online at :

www.nslodge.org

Another would be through the internet! Each chapter has a facebook page. The title of their groups are below with their link underneath. We also have a lodge facebook page with the link below (it is updated the most).

Nataepu Shohpe Lodge

https://www.facebook.com/nslodge

Palenach Sipo Chapter One: Nataepu Shohpe OA

https://www.facebook.com/groups/palenachsipo.nslodge/

Nataepu Shohpe Lodge OA: Chapter 2

https://www.facebook.com/groups/122786387790347/

Chapter 3 Nataepu Shohpe Lodge

https://www.facebook.com/groups/400624396676621/

Chapter 4 Nataepu Shohpe Lodge

https://www.facebook.com/groups/458714297483679/

Kabibanaka Chapter - Nataepu Shohpe Lodge

https://www.facebook.com/groups/223116887716527/

Wa-Wa-esh-ki Chapter

https://www.facebook.com/groups/318166531545869/

OA– Nataepu Shohpe Lodge 251 - Wulowachtawoapin Chapter

https://www.facebook.com/groups/WuluwachtawoapinIDL152/

Wundchenneau Chapter Eight: Nataepu Shohpe OA

https://www.facebook.com/groups/wundchenneauOA/

Or, you can attend a lodge event/meeting or a chapter event/meeting! Check out the calen-dar on www.nslodge.org for details! Also, all registration is done online through the Michigan Crossroads Council site:

http://www.michiganscouting.org/PresidentFord/OA/

Staying Connected

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Hello Brothers!

We have arrived at both an ending and a beginning—the end of a lodge year—which

has been full of events, fellowship and service to others! The ending is the last full

lodge event of 2014—the Fall Conclave, which will be held October 10 –12th at Ger-

ber Scout Reservation—I hope all of you can attend. The beginning is we have a new

Lodge EC— I know we can count on both your help and support for our lodge leader-

ship.

Speaking of support, our lodge is providing service to the Outing for Scouting Octo-

ber 17-19 —and we need MORE Arrowmen to step up and serve in the OA Service

Core that will provide logistical support to the thousand plus attendees for this week-

end—please sign up for this at:

http://www.michiganscouting.org/Event.aspx?id=4936

Another beginning will be our annual Unit Elections starting up by the end of the

year—we need to have you involved to help bring new members into our order!

Please see your chapter chief to get involved in your chapter’s election teams!

Earlier in this newsletter there was information about Vigil Honor and Arrowman of

the Year nominations. I hope you can easily think of an Arrowman who has done

something extraordinary, someone who goes the extra mile to be a brother to all—in

short, the examples that we look to as leaders in our Lodge—if so, help us recognize

them by nominating them for the Arrowman of the Year. Is there a Brotherhood

member that is always giving extra, always there to help you, their unit or the lodge?

Nominate them for the Vigil Honor! We depend on your nominations to recognize

both of these honors—so please help us by recognizing your fellow brothers!

Nominations for these awards and Honor are taken and voted on by the youth of our

lodge—if you wish to be a part of the committee that makes the final choices for these

please contact either the Vigil Nominations Chair or the Recognitions Chairman to

make your desire known.

Lastly, 2015 is the 100th Anniversary of the Order of the Arrow—and while there are

great events like NOAC to celebrate this, our lodge needs to celebrate this as well—

one of the ways of doing this is to earn the Arrowman Service Award (ASA). The

purpose of the Arrowman Service Award (ASA) is to encourage Arrowmen to recom-

mit themselves to the ideals of the Order, increase their level of service to their local

unit and council, and participate in the 100th anniversary celebration of the OA. To

find out more about the ASA, check our website or go to http://www.oa-bsa.org/

pages/content/centennial-update-2014-07-3.

YIB—Steve Heitmeier

Our Lodge Advisor Steve Heitmeier

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To get an interactive map go to:

www.nslodge.org/chaptermeetings