Recently a series of major contributions have been made to the Chief Seattle Council to build re-build the longhouse at Camp Pigott.  This wonderful news came almost seven years to the day that the old longhouse was taken down. With these contributions the council believes that it is possible the structure will be built starting in 2010, but only if we finish raising the needed funds. We are now over 80% to our goal of $500,000. We need a decisive wave of support that will make the new longhouse a reality. We now have less than $100,000 to raise! That is an achievable goal, but we need your help!

There are several things you can do at this time!

This year T'Kope will continue its dedication to provide quality OA staff to Camp Sheppard's Winter Camp. Participating in your chapter's service weekend at Sheppard is a great way to boost chapter fellowship, earn community service hours, and gain a keener understanding of the workings of the BSA camping program. At your weekend you can expect to be fed, housed and partied out in return for supervising the tube runs, preparing and serving food in the kitchen, sanding the trails and spreading WWW throughout camp. Each chapter is assigned one or more weekends for this service. Check the lodge calendar to see when your chapter's weekends are or ask your Chapter Chief!

Yours in Service, Evan S. - Lodge Service Vice Chief

Attention to all Ordeal Members, if it has been over ten months since your Ordeal you are now eligible for Brotherhood. This means that you have served your troop and are now ready to attain further knowledge in our brotherhood of cheerful service. If you contact your Chapter Inductions Vice Chief they will help you on the trail to Brotherhood. Also if you know somebody who is eligible for Brotherhood please encourage them to go through, this will help to earn Quality Lodge. There is a Brotherhood Ceremony at all Lodge functions, the next of which would be the April Ordeal at Camp Brinkley (April 9-10)

In Brotherhood,
Ryan M.
Lodge Inductions Vice Chief

In case you have not heard, the unit election season is upon us. A unit election is when OA members go out to all of the troops and elect candidates for the Order of the Arrow. This is a great opportunity for you to serve your fellow scouts. All of the chapters have or are putting together unit election teams to go around to all the troops in your district if you are able to help with any unit elections you should contact your Chapter’s Inductions Vice Chief or your Chapter Chief.

Thank you,
Ryan M.
Lodge Inductions Vice Chief

It is with great pleasure to announce to you the beginning of the search for the 2010 T'Kope Kwiskwis Vigil Honor Class. This process over the next few months will allow you, the members of the lodge, to nominate eligible candidates for consideration by our committee.

From the Guide for Officers &Advisers: The Vigil Honor is a high mark of distinction and recognition reserved for those Arrowmen who, by reason of exceptional service, personal effort, and unselfish interest, have made distinguished contributions beyond the immediate responsibilities of their position or office to one or more of the following: the T'Kope Kwiskwis Lodge, the Order of the Arrow, Scouting, or our Council's Camps. Under no circumstances should tenure in Scouting or the Order of the Arrow be considered as reason enough for a Vigil Honor recommendation.

The year ended with some exciting news, the last of the standing chapter totem poles was identified. The tall slender pole stands down the hill from the longhouse site and has been without a name for many years as its oral traditions faded. Longtime lodge member Tom Bingaman stepped forward and identified the pole as belonging to the Tillikum Chuck chapter. Tillikum Chuck means Water People. This chapter broke away from the Hyas Eena Chapter and served the Renton, Maple Valley and Tahoma School districts in the 1970s'. Later it was reabsorbed into the Hyas Eena Chapter and the history of the pole began to fade.

Since the opening of the E. Packard Longhouse, Chapters were encouraged to carve and raise their own totem poles. Over the past 40 years some have been lost, some survive and new ones have been raised. There are currently eight Chapter totem poles at the longhouse site.

The Tillikum Chuck pole is toped by an eagle holding two salmon in its talons. The great bird is catching the salmon from the bounty of the Cedar River, which is also the name of the district that Tillikum Chuck served. The Eagle is feeding the salmon to Frog, who represents man to some Pacific Northwest 1^st peoples groups. The bottom figure is that of Beaver, the symbol of Hyas Eena, from which Tillikum Chuck split.

Today the area covered by Tillikum Chuck is serviced by Hyas Eena and Wau Wau Talapus.

We want to give a special thanks to Tom Bingaman for stepping forward with this information and allowing the lodge to better understand its own history.

Even though all the poles have now been identified we are still looking for people to step forward with old photos of the longhouse site and its poles to put on the website. We want to make sure our history and traditions are preserved and then shared so that future generations of arrowmen can enjoy and understand them.

There is a tremendous amount of activity this winter at Camp Pigott as we work to complete 24 construction projects prior to the opening of the 2010 summer camp season. The resulting new facilities will help us provide an outstanding summer camp experience while also adding several key features that will be available for year round use. We are excited about these upgrades and additions and can’t wait until summer when Scouts can enjoy all that Camp Pigott has to offer.

ArrowCorps 502 update

On Friday the 13^th of November, Arrowcorps 502 leadership met with Kevin Bacher, Volunteer Coordinator for Mt. Rainier National Park. This was a critical step in the development of the ArrowCorps 502 program. Discussion topics ranged from partnerships with other youth conservation groups to training and possible service areas. We look forward to working in the future with Mr. Bacher. He is a great resource for the project and expressed an enthusiasm to make this project a reality.

After the meeting, the core four team traveled to Fall Rally, anxious to converse the details with the Lodge. Great enthusiasm has been seen from within the lodge, everyone wants to be a part of what is sure to be the largest service project T’kope KwisKwis has ever undertaken. Currently the Core Four group is looking for capable, qualified leaders from within the lodge to plan and perform service of epic proportions. Be sure to check out the ArrowCorps 502 link on the lodge website for more information.

Other service news:

-The Camp Parsons arboretum shelters are currently in the stages of planning. The two shelters to be constructed will provide a haven for Parsons to educate Scouts and school groups in the arboretum.

On Wednesday October 21st 2009 at the monthly lodge business meeting, the council's Director of Support Services Scott Findlay announced that a series of major donations had been made to the Chief Seattle Council to build re-build the longhouse at Camp Pigott. This wonderful news came almost seven years to the day that the old longhouse was taken down. With these donations the council believes that it is possible the structure will be built starting in late spring 2010.

The longhouse committee has a goal of $500,000 to construct the new building. We are now over 80% to that goal. Now we need a final wave of support that will make the new longhouse a reality. The momentum is there now is the time to act! Now is the time to build the longhouse!

The new building will be a year round heated facility so that scouts can enjoy the building even in the irksome weather of the Pacific Northwest. The heat will also serve to extend the life of the structure, keeping the permanent dampness away from the precious wood.

The new building will be up to all state and county codes, yet maintain its important rustic appearance. In satisfying these new requirements we acknowledge the importance of safety and public and professional standards; however this does come with extra costs. The new longhouse will also hold more people. The old structure had a capacity of 144; the new one will be able to welcome over 300 arrowmen. Together we are restoring the past and rebuilding for the future. Become a part of the new traditions by making a cash or in-kind donation today. By giving today you have the piece of mind knowing that future generations of arrowmen might share in this unique experience.

To those supporters who have shown their deep commitment to the longhouse and have generously given their time and financial support this time is indeed exciting! The lodge appreciates your contributions, but now we ask to redouble your efforts to get us across the finish line.

Now is the time to rebuild the longhouse.

Remember the ones who chose you need you...

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Here's something new (to some of you)! Coming later this year we'll be having FALL RALLY!!! The Fall Rally will be taking the place of Inductions Weekend, November 13-15. You're probably wondering the difference of Fall Rally and Inductions Weekend, and no, it isn't just the name. Fall Rally will be a Fellowship/Conclave-esk/Training Weekend.

Register Here

We look forward to seeing you there!  For more information, or to get involved in helping plan this event, contact the Activities Vice Chief at activities@tkopekwiskwis.org.

A Chapter totem pole that is in good condition and still stands at the longhouse site remained unidentified until this past weekend. Several people had inklings of the origin of the pole but none were very confident of their information. Using the Lodge website, T'Kope Kwiskwis put a general call out there for T'Kope alumni to step forward and help provide some of the missing history of the Lodge, the Longhouse and its totem poles. Several totem poles were unidentified, that is until last weekend when former Lodge Chief Rod Field identified one of the poles.

The beautiful pole is crowned by an Orca over a man holding a copper. The bottom crest is a beaver. Mr. Field said the pole was raised during his tenure as Chapter Chief of the Kwahnice Chapter in 1972-73. Kwahnice was later merged into Tenas Chakchak, which serves the West Seattle, Burien and Des Moines areas.

Now that the Kwahnice pole has been named only one standing pole remains to be identified. Please see the related article under the longhouse tab to help reconstruct the lodge's history. Thank you to Mr. Field in already helping the lodge in our quest.