Tribe of Manatee

I found the mentioning of an early honor society in Executive board Minutes of the old Sunny Land Council, Florida. It was called the Tribe of Manatee and was founded in 1931 at Camp Flying Eagle by their executive, Charles Wilson. They were the first to use the property across the river (known as Jennings Island) when they used it for their initiation ceremony in 1932.

Scout Executive Charles Wilson came to the council in 1929 from Waycross, GA. It is unclear how long the group lasted. Wilson left the council in 1935. The Order of the Arrow came into existence in the council in 1942, when John L. Shutt, the District Executive for the Royal Palm (Ft. Myers) District sold the then Scout Executive, Fred L. Treat, on the idea. Shutt had been in OA in Tennessee. I suspect that after Wilson left, and the Council having gone through quite a bit of change, such as absorbing the former Royal Palm Council that the group might have fallen by the wayside and ended. This would have made it easier, in the absence of any other group, for the establishment of OA in 1942.

by Red Dog Maynard