THE HISTORY OF THE INALI LODGE

Lodge #38 went through many changes in its early existence. The reasons are not known for sure, but remember, the Order of the Arrow was not very well organized in its early years.

Lodge #38 SHAUBENA received its first charter from the National Lodge on June 5, 1928. The Scout Executive at that time was Mr. H.I. Steinrauf. Shaubena was believed to be the name of a local Indian Chieftan and the name of a camp located near Lake Bracken, south of Galesburg, IL. This name was used until
November 23, 1931.

Lodge #45 Pokawachne was chartered in August 1929 to Kewanee Area Council. The name in Lenapen language means “A creek between two hills.” When Kewanee Area Council became Indian Creek Council in 1935, I believe the Lodge name changed also to Lodge # 45 Indian Creek. This name was used until the merger of Indian Creek Council 131 and Wigwam Council 125 in late 1939.

Lodge #45 INDIAN CREEK was used from April 24, 1935, until November 23, 1939. The name was used because there was a camp located just south of the junction of U. S. Highway #34 and Illinois #78 on the east side of the road; the place of the last induction of candidates was held here. Indian Creek Camp was
the camp for Kewanee and Indian Creek Councils.

Lodge #38 changed its name on November 23, 1931 to Lenapen Wil, which in the Lenapen language means “Indian Head,” that was used until late 1934 when the Council became Wigwam Council.

Lodge #38 SHAUBENA was the name used from October 31, 1934, until January 1, 1941. This was the name of the lodge from June 5, 1928, until November 23, 1931.

Lodge #38 INALI existed from January 1, 1941 until July 1, 1994. Inali in the Cherokee language means “Black Fox”. The totem for the lodge was a black fox; however, the first patches of Inali Lodge were felt and then twill and were shaped like covered wagons. It wasn’t until the 1960s that the Black Fox appeared on any of the emblems. The first patch that Inali issued was a felt covered wagon
X(-1) and came out in 1949. It was worn as a temporary patch. This patch was made at Gale Ward in Galesburg, IL and at the time sold for 10 cents. Try to get one for that price now!

I (Charlie Tanner) have a copy of the Constitution and By-Laws for Inali Lodge adopted in 1946, the original belonging to Larry Adams. Some of the notes of interest I will include in this history.

By 1946, the council name was Prairie Council. There were only three major lodge officers. Lodge Chief, Lodge Scribe and Lodge Treasurer. Provision was in the by-laws to allow chapter if deemed necessary. The charter was due December 31 with annual dues of $5.00 for the first 100 members and $2.00 for each additional 100 members. The dues were $1.00 annually, payable on or before September 1. The lodge had four permanent committees: Ceremonial, Encampment, Honors and Educational.

There was no limit to the number of Ordeal Candidates nominated so long as each was taken on his merits and his work measured up to the standards set by the lodge. The Brotherhood Honor could be conferred only upon those Ordeal Honor members who were recommended by the Honors Committee of the Inali Lodge, which was charged with nomination all candidates for Brotherhood Honor.

In the early to mid -1960s Inali Lodge was divided into two chapters, Ahneeshenahbe whose Chapter Adviser was Charlie McMahon and Low Desera. I do not know for certain how long the lodge had chapters, but have talked with several members who have said that by the mid -1960s there were no chapters. From 1954 to late 1960’s, all conclaves were held at Camp Pearl near Tennessee, IL just south of

Colchester, IL. The last conclave at Camp Pearl was held in 1969. Summer camp operations were moved to the new Prairie Council Camp (former Skylark Retreat.) near Gilson, IL in 1970 as was the Order of the Arrow events. The camp was not named Fellheimer the first year it was open. It wasn’t named Fellheimer Scout Reservation until 1971 when the council received a generous gift from the Lulu Fellheimer Estate of Macomb, IL.

The first conclave at Camp Fellheimer was spent predominately making the OA Ceremonial Circle which at the time was mostly hedge, multi- flora-rose and trees. If one was to look closely and know what to look for, you could see where the dynamite was used to remove the tree stumps. The ceremonial lectern was constructed by Mark Wilson as his Eagle Scout Service Project (a Scout was allowed to do his Eagle Service Project at a Scout camp at that time). A couple of years after Mark constructed the lectern around 1978, Ian Halley, Stuart Halley and Chris Sullivan worked on it to improve it for two weeks after Summer Camp and before Conclave.

Over the years, we have had three Scouts in our Lodge who have gone to become officers on the Section or National levels: Bruce Black was Section Chief in 1986-1987; Ben Hoy was Section Vice Chief in 1987-1988. Kyle Tanner was Section vice Chief in 1990 and 1991; Section Chief in 1992 and 1993 and went on to become National vice Chief in 1994.

After the council merger in 1993 between the Prairie Council and the Illowa Council, we remained as two separate lodges, for the remainder of that year as Chief Scout Executive Ben Love said too many good Council mergers were being ruined by the OA issue. Ben retired December 31, 1993 and Jerre Radcliffe became the new Chief Scout Executive. He stated one council one lodge per national OA guidelines. We started holding merger talks early in 1994. Some of the merger team members were Doug Leon, Corey Proctor, Jason Pigg, John Herzog, and Charlie Tanner. After several meetings, an agreement was reached and we became a new, much larger lodge on July 1, 1994. Combining Inali Lodge #38 and Muc-Kis-Sou Lodge #170 into a new and better lodge-Konepaka Ketiwa Lodge #38 which in the language of the Sac-Fox means “Soaring Eagle” according to research done by Matt Tarnow. I might note that the Lodge Chief for Inali Lodge #38 was Jason Pigg from Bushnell, IL July 1993 until July 1, 1994. The last Lodge Adviser was John Herzog from Galesburg, IL.

In the pages above is a complete history of Inali Lodge from beginning to the merger. I could not have completed this without the knowledge and help of several people. I would like to acknowledge a few of them at this time: Forrey Clay, Frank Ward, Larry Adams, Tom Reagor, Charles McMahon, Don Tomsic and myself Charlie Tanner. I am sure that I may have left out a few very valuable sources of information and you will have to excuese me for that. I hope you find this very informative because as you can see, the lodge had long and rich history.