History of our Lodge

An Order was Formed

In May 1915, a young man named E.Urner Goodman was selected to serve as Summer Camp Director of Treasure Island (near Philadelphia) and Carroll A. Edson was appointed Assistant Director in charge of the commissary. They decided to establish a society to recognize those Scouts who best exemplified the spirit of the Scout Oath and Law. Since the camp was located in the Delaware Valley, they based this society on the legend of the Delaware Indians or Lenni Lenape. On July 16, 1915, the very first Ordeal Ceremony was held. News of the organization spread to other Scout camps and many others were asking about it. As a result, lodges were established in New Jersey, Maryland, New York, and Illinois. The Order grew slowly during the period from 1915 to 1921 as World War I kept Scouts and leaders busy with many problems and projects. In 1921 a national convention was held and The National Lodge was formed. Following the convention, there was steady growth in lodges and membership. In 1922, the Order of the Arrow became an official program experiment of the Boy Scouts of America. In 1929 at another national convention, it was suggested that the Order become an official part of the Boy Scouts of America and a component part of its program. Therefore, in June 1934 at the National Council Meeting, the Order of the Arrow program was approved by the National Council. Then in May 1948, the Order was officially integrated into the Scouting movement.

The Order Comes to North Carolina

Finally, in 1933, the Order of the Arrow made it to North Carolina, affectionately known as the "Old North State". At that time, the General Greene Council headquartered in Greensboro was granted a charter for a Lodge known as Tali Tak Taki # 70 which used the heron as its totem. The council camp was then called Camp Greystone and herons tended to frequent the lake that was used at that time. Thus, Tali Tak Taki means "white heron on a grey stone". Later, in 1939, the Cherokee Council headquartered in Burlington received a charter for its lodge known as Tslagi # 163. The totem was a chieftain sitting on a horse and the literal meaning of Tslagi is "Cherokee". Next in 1941 was Uwharrie # 208 of the Uwharrie Council headquartered in High Point. The totem was a turtle.

Merger & Consolidation

In the early 90's, talks were underway to discuss the possibility of the merger of the General Greene Council with the Uwharrie Council. After much study, the decision was made that these two councils should indeed merge. In addition, this meant that Tali Tak Taki # 70 and Uwharrie# 208 would also have to merge together to form one lodge. Thus, a group was formed to decide how this should be done and what to name the new lodge. It was finally agreed that the new lodge would be named Keyauwee # 70 with the river otter as its totem. The council changed its name to the Old North State Council. Then in 1993, talks occurred to decide if Old North State Council and Cherokee Council should consolidate. It was initially rejected but later approved. Again the lodge was faced with creating another name. Since there were three lodge traditions and histories feeding into this merger, it was decided that the name should reflect the three lodges. So the name in Cherokee was born: Tsoiotsi Tsogalii which translated means "we three are friends". The red-tailed hawk was chosen as the totem.