Scouting Background
Daniel J. Reilly III

Dan was on staff at the Greater Cleveland Council Camp at Chagrin Falls, Ohio in 1938 and 1939. In 1938 Dan earned the Eagle Scout Award and it was presented to him on January 13, 1939. Dan became interested in Indian Lore because of the Order of the Arrow. In 1952 Dan was inducted into the Order of the Arrow as an adult (Cleveland did not have the OA when he was on staff in the late 1930s). In 1953, the Moqua Chapter of Owasippe Lodge (then the largest chapter in the country) split into district units. Dan was part of the new Burr Oak District and therefore a charter member of the new Wipunquoak Chapter of the Owasippe Lodge. Dan states that Wipunquoak means “White Oak” (they could not find Burr Oak in the Lenni Lenape Dictionary). Since Buffalo was in Seneca (Iroquois) country, Dan got his first (Iroquois) beaded moccasins at the age of 6 months and still has them. The first pictures of Dan in Indian costume are at the age of three or four. In 1952 Dan was inducted into the Order of the Arrow as an adult (Cleveland did not have the OA when he was on staff in the late 1930’s). In 1953, the Moqua Chapter of Owasippe Lodge (then the largest chapter in the country) split into district units. Dan was part of the new Burr Oak District and therefore a charter member of the new Wipunquoak Chapter of the Owasippe Lodge. Dan states that Wipunquoak means “White Oak” (they could not find Burr Oak in the Lenni Lenape Dictionary). As a new chapter, they found themselves with no costumes and no ritual team. Another member of the new chapter,

Bill Clemmons, had been on the Moqua team and he had a costume. He then recruited several others including Jim Mess, Bob St. Aubin, and Dan, to start building costumes, doing beadwork, and learning ritual team parts (in those days adults had most of those positions). Dan had a lot of help from his wife Marion (Akaga), who had been an active Campfire Girl, with many beaded costume parts (she still accompanies Dan in costume on some of his occasional native dress appearances). Dan accessed books on beadwork and Native American clothing, and through reading his interest spread in all directions. This tied in with his interest in Nature--Mitakuye Oyasin--All my Relations--all things are related. Dan earned the Brotherhood Honor in 1953 and was presented with the Vigil Honor in 1961. His Vigil name is “Wetochwink Chweli,” which means “father of many” (he has nine children). From 1987 to 1994 Dan worked as a volunteer in the Webber Resource Center, a Native American public access library and information center at the Field Museum of Chicago. He compiled a directory to all of the then-available Native American halls and display cases, both North and South American. Today he has many books on American Indian lore, more than most bookstores and libraries do. He has been active with Troop 788 in Blue Island, Illinois (the oldest continually active troop in Chicago Area Council), since 1951 and served as Scoutmaster for many years. Having been taking part in leader training courses since 1937, Dan received the Scouters Training Award in the mid-1950s and then the Scoutmaster’s Key and later graduated from the Chicago Area Council Scoutmaster’s Fellowship program (a forerunner of Wood Badge). He received the Silver Beaver and the St. George Awards in 1960 and subsequently the Bronze Pelican and District Award of Merit. In 1965 he took Wood Badge at Philmont. More than 20 years later he was talking with Russ Reimer at Lowden and discovered that he too had taken Wood Badge at Philmont and rode back on the same train as Dan!

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Page 1 - Dan Reilly Main Page Page 2 - Personal Background Page 3 - Scouting Background

Page 4 - Arrival at Lowden Page 5 - Camp Lowden Page 6 - Favorite Camp Lowden Memories

Page 7 - The Reilly Mirror Page 8 - What Others Say About Dan Page 9 - Dan Today

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