Is American Indian lore related to non-US Scouting? What is the relationship between the Ancient Circle of the Arrow (ACA) program and Indian lore? Here is the obscure and complicated truth.
Is American Indian lore related to non-US Scouting? What is the relationship between the Ancient Circle of the Arrow (ACA) program and Indian lore? Here is the obscure and complicated truth.
Major Frederick Russell Burnham DSO (May 11, 1861 – September 1, 1947) was an American scout and world-traveling adventurer. He is known for his service to the British South Africa Company and to the British Army in colonial Africa, and for teaching woodcraft to Robert Baden-Powell in Rhodesia. Burnham helped inspire the founding of the international Scouting Movement. [Quote from Wikipedia]
Burnham learned outdoor skills in the US Far West where he was born and raised. Due to his father’s death, he was on his own at age 12. He studied under Indian scouts and mountain men. He was a cowboy, mine guard, prospector, hunter, guide, hired gun, scout, and Indian tracker.
When the West became too tame for him, he went to Africa and joined the British Army as a military scout. He became close friends with Baden-Powell and proved his outdoor skills and valor. They started working on the idea of special training for military scouts which evolved into the World Scouting Movement.
The terms “Second Class Scout” and “First Class Scout” were first proposed in a letter he sent to B-P concerning the training of military scouts.
So unknown to most Scouts and Scout leaders today, American Indian skills are a foundation of Scout skills, not just in the US, but throughout world Scouting.
Most only know of Earnest Thompson Seton who brought American Indian skills and lore to Scouting in America. What they don’t know is that he collaborated with Baden- Powel on a 1910 version of the Scout handbook for the US. In other words, Seton’s Native American lore and Scout skills, as well as Burnham’s, were passed to British and world-wide Scouting.
The Ancient Circle of the Arrow (ACA) has ceremonies with stories that your Scouts can relate to. Scout-like conduct by others they can echo. True stories from the past, or obviously hypothetical ones. No false claims of association with Indian tribes or brotherhoods.
In fact, no mention of Native American culture at all! Since most Scout associations have no American Indian culture, our ceremonies were crafted to create a sense of the primitive, including ancient archery, without reference to the primitive archery practices of any particular part of the world.
But is the use of Indian Lore in your Scout association’s ACA forbidden? Fundamentally, it is your program, not ours. We Stewards will help and make suggestions, but ultimately you craft your own program and you must take responsibility for your creation. So it is not forbidden.
As detailed above, ALL world Scouting has some Native American roots.
We notice that a few non-American Scout associations are using American Indian images. We see no issue. If those images are an important part of your Scout association’s culture, why not? In which case, you might want to use such dress for the officers in your ACA ceremonies. Conversely, if you have some other identifiable native culture of your own region, you should strongly consider using it instead.