The Otyokwa Lodge serves the scouts and scouters of the Chippewa Valley Council.
The Beginning of Otyokwa Lodge
From an interview former Lodge Chief Jay Jones had with Wayne McGowan
I was the lodge chief at Samoset (Tom Kita Chara Lodge when we were contacted by the Regional office in Chicago and asked if we would install a new lodge in the Eau Claire council. (This was an era in which the national council had officially adopted the Order of the Arrow as the camp honor society and was working hard to replace old individual camping honor societies--of which I am quite sure there was one in existence at Nawakwa--with the OA.
Our ritual team on which I was Allowat Sakima (by viortue of being lodge chief)drove over to Nawakwa with Elroy Birsch who was the Asst. Scout executive and camp director of Camp Tesomas. Someone from the Chippewa Valley professional staff who was an OA member had conducted the Ordeal starting the night before and ending about 3:00 Sat. afternoon. Since there were no ritual bowls at the camp, and since we wanted to hold the ceremony in a somewhat secluded place we organized it in a field just outside of camp. At 4:00 PM with the sun shining brightly and cows mooing in the background we donned Indian regalia and conducted the Ordeal induction ceremony. I believe there were about 20 scouts and adults inducted but I understand the list of the charter members has been lost. (The only person I know for sure that was inducted that day was Helge Grotte, at that time scoutmaster of the troop in Cornell, because we talked about it in later years.) We had an early supper at camp with the new members and drove back home that evening.
The mission of the Order of the Arrow is to fulfill its purpose as an integral part of the Boy Scouts of America through positive youth leadership under the guidance of selected capable adults.
