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Dr. W. Barclay Stephens, the founder of Alameda Council, who suggested that the recognition of outstanding campers was a worthy and neccesary project to undertake.
During the summer of 1947 at Camp Stephens, the Council Camp near Pinecrest Lake, qualified candidates were tapped out for the Ordeal. Kaweah Lodge #379 of the Order of the Arrow held its first Ordeal on the shores of Pinecrest Lake at Camp McBride, where seven candidates were shown the true meaning of the Arrow and inducted into the order. The ceremony was conducted by a small band of scouts who had earlier undergone the Ordeal with another lodge.
From that warm July night until today, the members of Kaweah Lodge have always held true to the principals of the Ordeal and its ceremony, which leaves a lasting impression on their minds and a warm feeling in their hearts.
During the summer of 1960, distinguished guests, members of another lodge, visited Camp Stephens and bestowed the first Vigil Honor upon members of Kaweah Lodge. Since that first Vigil Ceremony, members of the Lodge hold the Vigil Honor in great esteem. Fewer members of the Lodge have received the Vigil Honor than those who have received the Council's Solo Hiker Recognition Award for faithful service to the Council's camping program or the Council's Silver Beaver Award for faithful service to scouting.
The Lodge chose its name from a great nation of American Indians who inhabited the southern portion of the Golden State. Today, Lake Kaweah, Kaweah River and the Kaweah Mountains in the Southern Sierra are monuments to those Native Americans and their nation's past. The name Kaweah is an English derivation of the Yokuts tribe name "Gawia", which means crow or ravens cry.
Kaweah Lodge chose as it totem, the Thunderbird, a sign of strength and power. The legend of the Thunderbird is known across all of North America. Native American legends speak of the Thunderbird with great fear and respect. To some it was a giant eagle while others envisioned a hawk. It is a creature of the sky and clouds, only seen and heard when dark storm clouds gather. It is a messenger and force of the Great Spirit. When it takes to the sky, the earth trembles from the thunder of its wings, from its eyes shoot bolts of lightning, and in its talons great whales could be snatched up from the sea. Nothing in nature could challenge this bird of thunder. We draw this mystical bird in the form the Native Americans have used for centuries.
In 1984, Kaweah Lodge hosted the largest conclave in Section W3A Conclave history aboard the nuclear aircraft carrier, CVN-70, USS Carl Vinson, stationed at the Alameda Naval Air Station. Over a thousand arrowmen attended this great event which witnessed many Lodges and arrowmen's tents on the deck of this mighty warship.
Kaweah Lodge received the Most Indian Lodge Award, that given to the lodge which most unselfishly served the section and its council during the year, in 1975, 1977, 1982, 1983, 1988, and 1989.
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