In 1915, at Treasure Island Scout Reservation on the Delaware River E. Urner Goodman and Carroll A. Edson started an honor society, Wimachtendienk ("Brotherhood" in the Lenape language), to recognize Scouts who best implemented the Scout Oath and Scout Law as examples to follow.[1][2] This organization is today known as the Order of the Arrow.[3]

Six years later and 200 miles (320 km) away at Camp Roosevelt a group that called itself the Clan of the Mystic Oak formed in 1921, with the nearly identical goals of “further Scouting, advance the interests of Camp Roosevelt, and to promote fellowship among its members.”[4] While the Clan of the Mystic Oak was specific to Camp Roosevelt in Chesapeake Beach, Maryland, the Order of the Arrow spread across the country as it formed new lodges. Lodges are the smallest unit of the order and each is chartered to a local scout council. The National Capital Area Council chartered what is now called the Amangamek-Wipit lodge on March 12, 1952.[5]: 14  At the time of the first banquet on December 29, 1952 Amangamek-Wipit had 89 members.[6]: 2–1  That growth was enough to convince the Clan of the Mystic Oak members to dissolve the clan and join the order [7] at a meeting on September 24, 1952.[4]

When chartered in 1952 the Amangamek-Wipit lodge had no name.[6]: 2–1  With scouts at Camp Roosevelt finding numerous shark teeth along the Chesapeake since 1914 the lodge decided to incorporate that history into their totem by placing an arrow on the Washington monument on a shark's tooth at a meeting in June 1953.[6]: 2–1  Following the advice of a Smithsonian Institution language expert that there was no word for shark, and Amanquemack translated to large fish, the lodge adopted the name Amanquemack at that same meeting.[6]: 2–1  In 1952 the members voted to change the lodge name to Amangamek-Wipit after learning that Amangamek was the correct word for large fish and Wipit was the correct word for tooth.[5]: 14 

As a charter member of Area 3c the lodge hosted the 1956 area 3c Pow Wow at Camp Roosevelt.[5]: 14 

  1. ^ Order of the Arrow Handbook. Boy Scouts of America. 1977. ISBN 0-8395-5000-6.
  2. ^ "Extended History of the Order of the Arrow". Quelqueshoe Lodge 166. Archived from the original on November 19, 2008. Retrieved February 7, 2009.
  3. ^ "Extended History of the Order of the Arrow". Quelqueshoe Lodge 166. Archived from the original on November 19, 2008. Retrieved February 7, 2009.
  4. ^ a b Eby, David; Myers, Paul (1994). "Clan of the Mystic Oak". U. S. Scouting Service Project. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  5. ^ a b c Nicely, Brocky (Apr 1981). "SE-1 Manual of Lodges" (PDF). Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  6. ^ a b c d Lodge Operating Procedures. National Capital Area Council. Feb 20, 2012.
  7. ^ members would say “join the brotherhood”