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Lodges of Tekakwitha and Ondessonk to Celebrate Their Founding in 1957

Story by LIZ QUIRIN
Messenger editor

 

The steady beat of the drums could be heard as campers walked in silence down the path, past sentries standing behind smudge pots lighting the way.

This would be one of the last lodge ceremonies of the summer when the lives of the North American martyrs were told in story and through dance at the ceremonial circle.

This fall — Oct. 19-21 — the lodges will celebrate their 50th anniversaries at camp.

The lodges — Tekakwitha and Ondessonk — were formed in 1957 when Camp St. Philip first opened to serve young people from St. Philip Parish in East St. Louis and other surrounding parishes. At that time, the camp was located in Grafton, Ill., and Waterloo.

Two years later, the diocese purchased property and the camp would be relocated near Ozark as Camp Ondessonk.

The lodges were formed at the beginning, and continue to this day, as service organizations, Dan King, Ondessonk’s assistant executive director, said.

The boys’ lodge — Ondessonk — and the camp itself, took its name from the Huron and Iroquois tribes’ word for “bird of prey.”

Looking into the history of the lodges, King said the original lodge ceremonies inducting new members was loosely based on the Boy Scouts’ Order of the Arrow ceremony.

The early and present-day ceremonies introduce campers to the lives of St. Isaac Jogues and others who accompanied him as he brought the Gospel to Native Americans.

Each lodge elects a leader — chief and princess — who handle the weekly ceremonies at camp but also organize service projects and do fund raising for the camp throughout the year.

Nikki Enderle, 21, of St. Joseph Parish in Freeburg is presently the princess for the Lodge of Tekakwitha.

Enderle, a senior at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, like everyone who has a connection at camp, cares deeply for the people she has met at camp, for the traditions of the lodge and for the way camp can and has impacted the lives of thousands of people.

“It’s the feeling of an extra closeness to God, surrounded by nature,” that draws Enderle back to camp year after year.

Being in the lodge holds a special place in Enderle’s heart. “It gives me the opportunity to interact with the community at camp” and play a special role in the lodge ceremonies when new people are called forth and inducted into the lodge.

Besides the ceremonies, in which many lodge members participate, belonging to what King describes as an “honor society” for camp, encourages service work for camp and in the larger communities in which lodge members live.

Most lodge members remember the night they were inducted. King said he was a camper, 12 years old when he became a lodge member.

“I was elated,” he said. “It was a really important moment for me.”

Lodge ceremonies begin with stories in the main area of camp — Le Coeur — between the chapel and the old dining hall. Here, they listen to stories of the martyrs before heading to the ceremonial circle, held in a small box canyon near Goupil, the same place it has always been held.

More stories, Native American dances, and then fire-tipped arrows when the names of those to be inducted are called.

Those inducted are either nominated by campers and staff or have completed a service project before their arrival at camp.

The lodges “give kids a chance to understand the importance of giving of themselves — their time and their effort,” Tim Eiserle, camp director, said. Campers learn “at a young age the importance of service to others.”

Inducted this year, Jessica Dickerson of St. Mary’s in Mt. Vernon, worked with younger campers, making them feel part of the community, according to information from staff.

To Jessica, 13, becoming a lodge member “is an honor. I was nervous because I didn’t know what would happen.”

Jessica, like so many other camp alumnae, began as a camper and hopes to continue as a counselor in training (CIT) and then a counselor.

Camp has an impact on almost everyone that spends any time there. Many campers followed the same path Jessica hopes to take from camper to counselor.

This year’s head counselor, Lucia Hodges, took that same path, and her daughter, now married to the program director, lives at the camp.

Hodges spoke to campers before the lodge ceremony began, explaining the significance of the ceremony and asking for silence and respect. No one spoke after that, and 193 girls turned their attention to the Herald of the Tribes who rode into Le Coeur to begin the ceremony.

The reunion to celebrate 50 years of the lodges, will also include a lodge ceremony.

The Ondessonk staff hopes that anyone who has ever been a member of the lodge will return for this special anniversary.

Being part of the lodge is “a great way to help young people realize the importance of volunteerism to the community to church and to camp,” King said. “Therein lies the value of camp.”

For more information about the lodge reunion, go to www.ondessonk.com or email Dan King at asstdir@shawneelink.net.