Arrowheads

The arrowhead neckerchief patch represents the first patch issued by Tamegonit Lodge. Designed by Bob McNair in the early 1950s, the patch was first made available to lodge members at the council office in Kansas City, Kansas and at the Camp Naish administrative building.

The design of the patch includes a likeness of the totem pole located in Camp Naish’s South Camp campfire circle at the time of the patch’s design. Additionally, at the base of the totem pole is a rectangular shape that represents a split shingle used for signs around Camp Naish during the 1950s. Within the blue shape, there is the “TN” brand which represents Camp Naish. The combination of the “TN” brand and the similarity in shape between the property line and the state of Tennessee lead some to believe that this patch is actually associated with Tennessee in some way.

 

Issue Description Image
A1a 110 mm high; LBL details; BRN circles around eyes do not touch A1a
A1b 110 mm high; circles around eyes touch, pale blue details A1b
A1c 110 mm high; LBL details; BRN circles around eyes touch A1c
A1d WHT details in totem pole A1d
A2a 98 mm high; RED/BLU details in totem pole; RED eyes ; normal sized detail stitching 147A2a
A2b 98 mm high; RED/BLU details in totem pole; RED eyes ; thick detail stitching 147A2b
A3 95 mm high no BLU in totem pole; BRN eyes 147A3
The original arrowhead artwork was used for the lodge’s 75th anniversary ArrowPass patch in 2014.   The ArrowPass program allows members to pre-pay for lodge events at a discounted rate. 2014.AP
The original arrowhead artwork was used for the lodge’s NOAC delegation emblems in 2015. 2015.NOAC

Highly sought after by any collector of Tamegonit Lodge issues, these patches were originally intended to be sewn on a neckerchief. Directions for assembling a lodge neckerchief have been located for the more recent pie-shaped patch. Dated 1974, these instruct the arrowman to use a white material (no specific type specified) for the neckerchief, add a ¾” baby blue ribbon for Brotherhood membership and a ¼” red ribbon on top of the blue to indicate Vigil membership. In comparing arrowhead neckerchiefs and neckerchiefs with the pie-shaped patches, it is apparent that these directions were carried forward from the arrowhead days.  Other instances have been discovered in which a red neckerchief was used as the base instead of a white neckerchief.  No information is available regarding the use of these neckerchiefs.

A neckerchiefsred.ord_.jpgred.bro_.jpg

Arrowhead Neckerchief Slides

To complement the neckerchief, a neckerchief slide of the same design was also available to lodge members. Two standard neckerchief slides are known to exist, each made of layered wood construction and hand painted with four colors (white, blue, brown, red). The layered wood design provides relief to raise the totem pole and border above the background. One measures 2 9/16 inches in height and the other is 2 15/16 inches in height. The smaller wooden slide was made by Ed Bishop of Lawrence, Kansas. These were sold privately, not through Tamegonit Lodge or Camp Naish. According to Gene Tuley, who has communicated with Mr. Bishop, the slides were originally sold for $1.

Additionally, a plastic version of the slide exists. This slide has a plastic neckerchief holder on the back that is glued to the plastic arrowhead body. Mr. Bishop was also involved in creating these slides.

According to John Baldwin, a Camp Naish staff member during the 1950s-60s, blank arrowhead neckerchief slides were available for purchase at camp with instructions on how to carve the pattern. Handicraft lodge tools were available for these projects. Two examples of this type of slide are pictured below. One slide is larger than the layered wood construction types and is made of a single piece of wood with a wooden neckerchief holder.

Additional homemade versions are known to exist, two examples are shown. The scout shown in the picture below has yet another version of the slide, which appears to be larger than the examples shown.

147 slide large
2 15/16” Tall
147 slide small
2 9/16” Tall
A slide unpainted wood
2 9/16” Tall, unpainted
147_Wooden_NC_Slide
Homemade slide
147_slide
Homemade slide
plastic slide
Plastic
a_scout
Scout with arrowhead neckerchief slide