I learned about masturbation from an old man in a loincloth when I was 16. He wore a black wig, and every inch of his body was painted red. He was trying hard to imitate an American Indian, but to me, he looked more like an accountant with a bad sunburn.
Beyond the trees that marked the clearing, the night was a black void. Around me were 30 other Boy Scouts from troops across Ohio and bordering states. We watched as the painted man took a deep breath, his droopy face illuminated by the rose-colored light of the ceremonial fire. Bleached skulls of dead animals stared down at us from tall pikes, waiting for the chief to continue his speech. Finally, he said, “Masturbation leads to curiosity.”
Camp Algonkin sits upon 90 acres of glacial hills near the town of Kensington, a short drive south of Canton, and is part of a larger reservation known as Seven Ranges. Drivers approach the camp slowly on the dry dirt road that leads from town, through sparsely populated Mennonite communities. Young men on buggies tie up traffic as they ride to the market. Women in sun-bleached bonnets hang monochromatic laundry out to dry in the yards beside the road.
Tradition resonates throughout Algonkin. It is in every wooden shack, every battered canoe, every pebble a scout’s shoe kicks up behind him. There is a certain way everything must be done at camp. For meals, young boys line up silently at the doors to the dining hall. They will not gain entry unless they can show they have learned to tie a slipknot or a lark’s head that day. Each troop holds morning inspections, and the cleanest site is awarded a bright blue feather. Sunday is a campfire, Monday a hike up Thunderbird Hill, and Wednesday is the vespers service at the chapel. They do these things because they have always done them. It is tradition.
Each Friday night, a flag is raised on a hill overlooking Lake Donahay. The simple white flag, with the black outline of a stick-figure man holding up a long piece of wood, is the symbol of Pipestone, a shrouded ceremony that is nearly 80 years old. It is the sign to all campers that they must prepare to cross the road into the labyrinth of trails, which will take them to wooded areas of the camp they’ve been warned to avoid.
There are five years of Pipestone for a scout to complete. Most campers have just turned 11 when they begin, and the first year is the best. The initiates are taken on a brisk hike across the dirt road in front of the camp at dusk. They can barely make out the shadows of trees as they are led along narrow, winding trails to a small clearing. Adult guides leave them there, alone, telling them only to wait. The fire in front of them dwindles to embers. A half-hour goes by. Suddenly, the fire explodes in a whoosh!, flames shooting into the air. Men dressed as Indians jump out of the woods and drag the kids to their feet.
The boys are arranged into a line, their arms folded tightly in front of their chests. If they move, if they make a sound, an Indian will fly down upon them for “correction.” The Indian may put his hands on a boy’s face to straighten his wandering eyes, or he may push a boy’s legs together if he is fidgeting. Then each Indian lights a long flare. The noise is deafening, the sound of a thousand sparklers. The light they cast is a cancerous red glow on their quiet bodies. The air smells of brimstone.
The Indians begin running the scouts through the woods. The race takes them farther and farther into previously forbidden areas. Finally they come to a second clearing. There is another fire here, and the flares are extinguished.
Around this fire are Indian elders, who are painted with symbols of the different years of Pipestone: A teepee, a flower, an arrowhead. The medicine man sits next to a pile of bones, which look too big to be from animals. Behind them sits the chief, whose feathered headdress reaches the ground. In the chief’s hand is a human skull.
One at a time, the boys are led to an Indian who holds a clamshell full of liquid. They are asked to swallow its contents without making a face. This is liquid Bytrex, the most bitter substance ever created; it’s used in antifreeze so that babies won’t drink it.
If they do not cringe, they go to the medicine man. He is holding a stone tablet, which the boys must read. It says:
Before these braves I promise to tell no other person of this ceremony.
An Indian keeps his word whether good or evil.
I go now to the Great Chief to learn the password of this First Degree.
The chief motions for the boy to join him. The scout is pushed to his knees and must look into the eyes of the skull, which sits in the chief’s lap. Inside is the password: Secrecy. The scout is then handed a piece of stone — pipestone — which he can wear on his uniform. But the chief warns the boys: If they ever speak of what happens inside the circle, that stone can be taken from them forever.
They say that because they have always said it. Secrecy is another tradition at Camp Algonkin. Stories of ceremonial nudity, physical abuse, sexual advances, even suspicious death are expected to remain in the dark woods forever.
Pipestone was created at Camp Tuscazoar in 1926 by Scout Executive George Deaver, with help from other members of the Canton community. Their goal was to encourage boys to return to camp as they got older. It moved to Algonkin when the camp opened in 1987. Jack Johnson is currently the man in charge of Buckeye Council, the Canton branch of the Boy Scouts of America. Algonkin activities are under his jurisdiction. “The focus of honoring these boys has remained true,” he says. “The basic ceremony has remained unchanged.”
Over the phone, he seems nervous when talking about the ceremony. He knows that once you’ve gone through the program, you are sworn not to reveal its details. “If you’ve gone through Pipestone, you know we’re not attempting to spread the word,” Johnson says. “I think it’s important we retain what Pipestone is about. We try to keep some confidentiality. Eleven- and 12-year-old boys enjoy that. But we’re not a secret society.”
It certainly acts like one.
The Indians — ages 15 to 50 — are allowed to “correct” the boys if they step out of line. In the not-too-distant past, things have gotten pretty rough. “It was certainly more physical in the early ’90s,” says Chip Bleakney, a pipestone holder and camp staff member for several years, beginning in 1995. “I saw some stuff that I thought was out of line. They really could have gotten their asses sued. Why would you want to hit an 11-year-old boy? It is abuse. I think it’s part of the reason the secrecy thing was put in place. To cover it up. And it works.”
It works so well that adults care more about obeying the chiefs than admitting lapses in safety. While sitting in on a ceremony that took place on June 9 — those who have completed all five years of Pipestone may return for ceremonies — I watched a young boy collapse in the circle from an apparent reaction to sulfuric smoke from the flares. Two Indians dragged him out of the circle and back up the paths toward camp. Later, I called the boy’s father to get his reaction. Surprisingly, the kid’s old man was also an active member. “We really shouldn’t be talking about this,” he said, citing the old rule. “I can take away your stone.”
Ned Lauver, program director at Camp Algonkin and a pipestone holder, had a similar reaction when I called him. “Be careful,” he warned. “If you break that first password, you may not ever be able to set foot in the ISH again.”
The “ISH,” or Indian Shower House, is a small, secluded facility located up a service road, across from camp. Only those who have completed all five years of Pipestone may enter. Each Friday night in the summer, 100 to 200 men and boys — some as young as 15 — visit the ISH to get dressed for the night’s ceremonies. They are the volunteers who will scare the shit out of about 2,500 Boy Scouts over the course of the season.
Until at least the late ’90s, Friday night at the ISH would begin with a spaghetti feast. Men would strip naked and sit outside the building eating pasta. Then they would cover their bodies with masonry paint, helping each other out with those hard-to-reach places, before donning loincloths. When women began earning pipestone, this changed a bit. Now, there is a partition, so that you can’t see into the shower. A secret is better kept behind high walls.
“I was approached by someone in the shower,” says a pipestone holder and ex-staff member of Algonkin, who does not want to be identified. It happened at the end of the night, at about 2 a.m., when everyone was rinsing off paint. “All this red crap was falling off their bodies. It’s hard to tell who’s who. He used an innuendo. He said, ‘Do you need help getting some of the paint out of your ass?’ I quickly said no. I was 17.” He reported the incident to a staff member, who then alerted Buckeye Council, but no charges were leveled. “The thing is, I can’t identify him. I don’t want to ruin someone’s life.”
“Sexual abuse could easily, easily happen, and there’s no way to stop that from happening in some situations,” says Bleakney, also recalling the practices at the ISH.
“Are we technically in violation of national policy? I can’t argue that,” concedes Johnson, referring to the shower arrangement. He maintains that there’s no cause for alarm, though. “There is never a time when there’s a boy alone with one adult.”
Asked about the 17-year-old who complained of being propositioned, Johnson says, “I am absolutely, unequivocally unaware of that. There is nothing we take more seriously than youth protection.”
If that were true, the Pipestone sweatlodge would never have been built. The sweatlodge was constructed in the early ’90s by a Pipestone elder named Jim Mills and a few of his adult friends. According to Mills, it was built with permission from Buckeye Council. It sat behind the ISH about a quarter of a mile, close to where the forest began again, and was little more than a tent draped over a semicircle of wood and stone. A large rock in the center could be heated and used to create steam. Boys who befriended Mills during the ordeal of Pipestone were invited to the sweatlodge on Saturday mornings, once everyone else had left for the day.
Usually, it was a group of three to five boys in their late teens, who would accompany Mills to the sweatlodge and strip off their clothes before stepping in. There, they would relax in the heat and ash for the better part of an hour. Afterwards, Mills (still naked) would stand on the back of his paneled van (complete with bunk beds), and hold out a makeshift shower under which the boys could rinse off. The last boy through would switch places with him, holding the water bag as Mills rinsed himself off in the open air.
Matt Bocian was introduced to Mills’s strange initiations when he was a young scout at nearby Camp Tuscazoar. “I remember several instances of tying members of his troop up to a tree and spraying shaving cream on their private parts. Including me,” says Bocian. “Everyone had to take a turn. He would take pictures and humiliate you in front of everyone.”
He also remembers the van Mills used to drive to Pipestone. Bocian had a chance to see it from the inside during a Buckeye Council pig roast. “He pushed me into the van. I remember him trying to undress me. I remember coming to and trying to fight him.” What happened after that is “kinda fuzzy.” He does remember being outside the van sometime later. His mother found him hiding in the woods.
The Bocian family contacted Jack Johnson, but no charges were filed against Mills or the camp, because Matt didn’t want to talk. Mills denies that the incident took place. He left the scouting program at the behest of Buckeye Council, but Johnson maintains that neither Bocian nor the sweatlodge led to his departure. (Mills declined further comment.)
Buckeye Council does not require background checks for Pipestone volunteers if they come from outside the council. And the majority do. Instead of weeding out potential adult pedophiles, the Pipestone chiefs would rather talk to 14-year-olds about the dangers of becoming a homo.
The fourth-year Pipestone speech is so important that the Chief of Pipestone himself, Greg Swinehart, delivers it. This is the speech that once included, “Masturbation leads to curiosity.” That word has been removed, but the theme remains that of the birds and the bees. Or, rather, the bees and the bees.
“Beware of homosexual encounters,” Swinehart tells a group of fourth-year candidates on July 9. “Homosexuals are immature. They are stuck in childhood forever. Leave your close friendships with the same sex behind.”
Camp Algonkin is the only camp in the nation to offer Pipestone, and because of this, it remains the most popular summer destination for Northeast Ohio Boy Scout troops. However, it is not entirely unique.
There is the Ordeal of the Ku-ni-eh, which originated in 1922 at Camp Friedlander, Cincinnati’s most popular Boy Scout camp. Before hazing became criminal, candidates of Ku-ni-eh had arrow shapes scratched into their arms with needles. New recruits were blindfolded and roped together, and hiked until dawn. The Tribe of Gimogash, founded in Toledo, is almost as old as scouting itself, beginning in 1914. During the ceremony, three one-gallon cans were buried in the ground between the fire and the chiefs. One can was filled with hot ashes, one with water, and one with dirt. The candidate would dip his hands in each one. Ku-ni-eh and Gimogash exist today only as offshoots of another program, and the more painful activities have been abandoned.
Still very much active — and winning the prize for most elusive — is the Tribe of Mic-O-Say, based in Missouri. Boys going through this ceremony supposedly work for an entire day in silence, receiving a minimal amount of food (a Scout official admits that there is “light fasting”).
An anonymous caller telephoned while I researched Mic-O-Say. The voice was that of an older man, and he sounded displeased. “I’m telling you to stay out of the Tribe’s business,” he warned. A call returned to that number was picked up by the answering machine of Paul Hinterleitner, a retired master sergeant with the United States Air Force and honorary warrior of the Tribe of Mic-O-Say.
Camp Algonkin is singular in one way, though. The award itself is a piece of carved catlinite, commonly known as pipestone. Catlinite is found in only one place in the world: Pipestone, Minnesota.
It’s actually nothing more than compressed red clay, but it’s a bitch to get to. The catlinite sits between two layers of quartzite, buried at least 12 feet underground. In ancient times, the Sioux tribes of the Minnesota region would go to great lengths to get at this material, which was known to make the very best pipes. The tribesmen would drill holes into the hard quartzite during the summer, using hand tools. When winter approached, they would pour water into the holes, and as it froze and then warmed, cracks would begin to appear in the stone. When spring came, they would pry up bits of rock to get to the pipestone below.
The Pipestone ceremonies at Camp Algonkin are said to follow Sioux traditions, in keeping with the spirit of their culture. But the man who mines the stone for Camp Algonkin, Travis Erikson of the Sisseton-Waphota Dakota Nation, questions that claim after hearing about Pipestone’s obsession with prohibiting gayness.
“There were gay people in the native culture,” he says. “They were called Winktay. The gay people were looked on as more powerful, because they had two souls. They have the power to speak with spirits. Chiefs who needed their daughters protected when they went to war would leave them with a Winktay.”
But Sioux tradition cannot compete with the forces striving to keep scouting free of queers.
The Boy Scouts remains a private organization, funded by sponsor groups. Their biggest supporter: the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which threatened to sever ties if the Supreme Court ruled to allow homosexuals to become scout leaders in 2000.
“The Church, in this case, loves the sinner, but abhors the sin,” says Don Russell, who works in the public affairs office at the Mormon headquarters in Salt Lake City.
The Latter-day Saints keep the money flowing into the organization by all but requiring their young men to join scouting. “I wouldn’t use the word ‘mandate’,” says Russell, “but it’s pretty close. You can safely say that almost all our youth are in scouting. Without a doubt, it’s a huge amount of institutional support.”
If the Boy Scouts weren’t so focused on keeping the gays out, they might wake up to the very real dangers within.
On July 12, 1995, the staff at Camp Algonkin could tell something was wrong with one of the counselors who had just returned from a night campout with some first-year scouts. At 18, Todd was an extrovert, usually the loudest one at breakfast, but he wasn’t eating that morning. He looked like a shadow of himself, drawn and hollow. As the hot day went on and the scouts didn’t see him at camp again, the rumors began. The most widespread was that he’d gotten into a fight with another counselor, 24-year-old Mike Klingler.
The following morning, the staff was gathered behind the dining hall. By then, the rumors had escalated to insinuations of sexual abuse, and tensions were high. We were told by Jeff Gonzales, our camp director, that Klingler had been fired, then had gone home and killed himself. We were stunned. Then, an hour later, we were gathered again and told the coroner had made a mistake: a bullet had ricocheted off a tree as Klingler was shooting at pop cans. The fight with Todd, we were told, was over Klingler’s having beer in his tent.
Todd, who never returned to Algonkin, heard all this for the first time last month. “That’s as far from the truth as can be,” he said, but refused to elaborate. After agreeing to be interviewed, he changed his mind, deciding to not relive the incident. It’s hard to blame him.
Police reports fill in most of the blanks and reveal the lie told to the staff back then. The following is from Todd’s handwritten account:
About 11:30-11:45 PM, I went to bed and then sometime after midnight, Mike Klingler pulled off my blanket and woke me up. He asked me if everyone was accounted for. I quickly began to walk around the shelter to count [the younger scouts] and Mike grabbed the back of my shirt and took me to another camp sight and began choking, punching, kicking and hitting me. He took me behind one of the shelters and made me jack him off. He caught the ejaculate and smeared it on my face and hair. He beat me some more. He called me gay. He pulled down my pants and made me continue hugging the tree which was covered in poison ivy. He pulled me off of the tree and told me to go back to bed and if I told anyone about this he would kill me. He said he should have killed me that night.
Todd made it through the night, staring into the blackness beyond the trees and wondering with every snap of a twig from the underbrush whether Klingler was coming back for him. In the morning, he woke the younger campers and marched them back to Camp Algonkin. Once the scouts were again with their separate troops, he allowed himself to finally break down, telling his story to the camp chaplain.
The chaplain’s written account states that Don Schneck, the Buckeye Council representative who escorted Klingler from camp, said that Klingler began to come unhinged. Schneck told the chaplain that as he packed, Klingler was mumbling about a suspicious 1993 fire on the grounds — which Klingler was rumored to have started — and about when he could get his last paycheck.
Reports show that Klingler then returned to his parents’ house in Stark County’s Beach City. He took a nap. The Carroll County Sheriff’s office called and left a message, indicating that it might be a good idea for him to call them back. When Klingler awoke, he picked up a .22-caliber rifle and headed outside, telling his mother he was “going to shoot at groundhogs.” A short time later a shot rang out, and Klingler was dead. A neighbor later told police that she turned in time to see Klingler’s feet fly up in the air as he fell backward. She did not see anyone else nearby.
According to Richard Walters, the coroner’s investigator, the chances that this was an accidental death are slim. The gun was in contact with the body when it was fired, as if it were pressed against his chest.
“Normally, when you say ‘a contact gunshot wound,’ right away the word ‘suicide’ pops up,” says Walters. “However, we can’t prove it’s suicide, because we can’t even prove that he fired the gun.” Unlike handguns, rifles don’t leave gunpowder residue on the shooter’s hand. And the Stark County Sheriff’s Department never tested the gun for fingerprints, so technically it remains possible, witness statements aside, that someone else fired the gun.
“And that’s why the case was [ruled] undetermined. We were unable to prove it was a suicide or homicide.”
No charges were ever filed against the camp or Buckeye Council. Carroll County Chief Deputy Robert Wirkner explains, “At the time, it was the victim’s word against our dead man’s word. The dead man’s dead. We can’t debrief him.”
The shifting accounts of what happened to Klingler, and Todd’s failure to return to the camp he used to dream all year about attending, made it clear to the rest of us that we were unwilling accomplices in perpetuating a myth. But we were good at keeping secrets. We had been through Pipestone.
The Pipestone program will always exist, and it will always be secretive. Because it has always been that way. And because its allure has become too valuable to abandon.
“Other camps can’t hold a candle to Camp Algonkin,” says Ken Richardson, scoutmaster of troop 555 from Upper Arlington, Ohio. “They take 500 to 600 scouts each week. That’s a lot of money coming through. Pipestone is the component that brings troops back instead of [their] going to other camps. The scouts look forward to getting their fifth-year Pipestone. They have a lot of tradition.”
“It’s kind of like participating in live theater,” says Terry McElroy, scoutmaster for Troop 6 out of Salem, Ohio. “They’re so authentic.”
“I can’t think of a better way to keep kids coming back,” agrees Anton Zellers, the leader of Troop 335 from Pittsburgh. “The scouts want to go to Camp Algonkin for Pipestone. The talks each year, I think, are appropriate, although somewhat dated. But I think the kids appreciate that, whether they admit it or not.”
The speeches can be changed, but not easily. “The circle chiefs, the men that give the talks, are the ones who review them,” says Johnson. “Those talks are reviewed annually. They critique the speeches every year.”
Some changes are coming more quickly, however, because of Scene‘s inquiries. “None of us remembered the line about a Brave keeping his word, whether good or evil,” says Johnson. “Those words will be stricken. That portion will be exorcised. No one thinks that you should keep your word to someone that’s evil.”
The shower arrangements have been “corrected” as well, says Johnson. Boys 17 and younger will get ready in a separate room within the ISH. No timetable has been set on purchasing doors.
Not everyone will be happy with the changes.
“Pipestone is important to a large number of scouts,” Johnson says. “It’s tied to their advancement. Buckeye Council has three times the number of Eagle Scouts because of Pipestone. This program is so important to scouting and so important to so many people. I hope people understand.”
Most graduates protect it as an important trial of manhood, believing its antediluvian practices helped prepare them for their successful lives. Patrick McGuire, an economist working in Switzerland, writes in an e-mail, “Pipestone is one of the last remaining ‘real experiences’ a young person can have . . . It is precisely because the whole ceremony is shrouded in secrecy, and seems so far removed from everyday experience and the reach of parents and lawyers, that it sticks in the gut of every person that participates.
“Local traditions are dying at an alarming rate. I fear that anything which describes a bunch of half-naked adults dressed as Indians running through the woods with a group of 12-year-olds will be nothing more than a cheap exaggeration of the Pipestone program used to sell a few more magazines. You know as well as I do how ‘Joe Mom-n-Dad public’ will react.”
It would be hard to explain why a youth organization would want to teach children to keep secrets from their parents. It would be hard to explain why Pipestone wants to promote homophobia. And it would certainly be hard to explain why their 15-year-old boy’s naked body is being painted by an adult leader.
However, it’s easy to explain why Pipestone has the power to influence so many people. Tradition.
For now, the drum still beats every Friday night through the summer. Its sound marks the beginning of the ceremony. And when it’s over, the young men of tomorrow return in silence to their campsites. In their hands, they hold a cold piece of stone dug up by the aged hands of Travis Erikson. In their hearts they hold the words of the chief. And, as they drift off to sleep, it is his deep voice they hear, echoing in an empty skull where one word sits illuminated: Secrecy.
This article appears in Oct 6-12, 2004.
This article is ridiculous. The author obviously is violating all of the rules set forth before him. How is that person ever going to gain anything in life by revealing an 81 year old secret? To me, things like this ruin the ceremony for the young boys looking forward to it. Nothing perverted or sexually orietnted is involved in these ceremonies. I have been through all of them. The author is a liar. Was it really worth his time to write this article?
this article is bullshit. the pipestone program is a camp honors program built on tradition. i am a fifth year holder and i can attest to this, when you make your fifth year you are brought into such a closely knit brotherhood of good people it is amazing. Fifth year holders together is like a second family. this guy doesnt know what he is talking about and if i had to take a guess, i would say that he is one of those people that couldnt handle it, that didnt have the courage nor the respect to carry the burden of secrecy. looking at this article proves that i am right.
the ceremony itself has very little to do with exploitation. It has more to do with the lack of available supervision in a secret society in the dark.
20 to 30 to 50 years ago, did first year stone candidates get physically handled rougher than acceptable for a frightened 11 year old boy? I saw them get kicked. I saw hand over mouths. Then and now it’s unacceptable “ceremony” or not. I was on camp staff for several years, an eagle scout, a 5th year stone holder. If you mentioned to anyone that running nearly naked through the woods, wearing a loin cloth and a flare in your hand, in the woods, at night, on a muddy trail, painted in red, and being aggressive with little kids sounds normal… well, if you said it at the as station or coffee shop or place of work; you’d get the cops called on you. I think Pipestone is a great program and I came out fine. But I saw 16 year old boys, friends of mine, cry in front of me because they were sodomized against thier will. The principles taught at camp which are good, are taken out of context to allow that kind of action to happen. Dismissing that level lack of protection is unacceptable regardless of rank, tenure, 5th year holder or not. It’s not only in scouting or 7 ranges or pipestone, it’s a fundamental issue. These boys are at a higher risk.
I’d like to ask No One Got Shot what year it was that this happened?
I’ve been involved in the Pipestone program for 5 years now and have yet to see any such accusations as this article or No One Got Shot has stated.
The Pipestone program takes the utmost care in ensuring the candidates are safe. “Indians” are instructed to fall on a burning flare if need be to keep the candidates safe.
To hear such baseless accusations is sickening.
Needless to say when I read this I found it very disturbing that there’s a program in Scouting that would allow these kinds of things to take place. That said, certainly there are the isolated incidences of inappropriates that take place and are dealt with.
I woould like to take a moment and defend the Tribe of Mic-O-Say. The work day is nothing more than painting rocks, removing rocks from a volleyball pit, or simply marking trail paths – i.e. it’s not anything any troop wouldn’t do for a normal service project. And they do take breaks during meals and sporadically throughout the day (because Missouri in mid-July is excruciatingly hot).
The tribe of Mic-o-Say is a fine tradition for all scouts to be involved with. I am a tribesman and will have the honor of seeing my son become a warrior this year. Nobody is harmed or hazed.
This pipestone needs to be looked into. How can a scout call it a good thing and stay with it for five years and admit to scouts being sodomized? Terrible.
I too went through the pipestone ceremony. And anyone who believes that any of it is kept secret by normal adolescent boys is dangerously ignorant of the ability of adolescent boys to keep a secret. Like most of the boys undergoing the first year ritual, my older brother, and other older scouts, had pretty much told me every detail, and what to expect. This was in the early sixties, and I can testify that there was quite a bit of rough handling of anyone that even looked out of the corner of their eyes at the “Indians.” Of course we knew they were just older scouts, but we certainly didn’t take a chance on messing with their reality–they let you know how strong and rough they would be if you even let your folded arms drop, or tried to get more comfortable while sitting on the ground. One Down’s syndrome boy was so terrified he ran off through the woods. I assume they caught up with him and calmed him, but none of us dared to follow his flight with our eyes. And the “sex talk” of the fourth year was also commonly known by all of the boys who heard it from their brothers or their older friends.
But perhaps the most unnatural and perverted thing I ever heard about in a Pipestone ceremony seems to be this brand new and disturbing perversion: telling young men that it’s perfectly all right to brand all homosexuals as “maladjusted” and “immature” as noted above. Go back to preaching against masturbation–at least then you’re calling EVERYONE a pervert.
Dan Beard, who was most instrumental in bringing Boy Scouts to America, was a vociferous pacifist, and opposed to war and to indoctrinating young men into military things. Where is his message? I’m sure that as he was a professional illustrator (he illustrated Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court) that he was aware that there were homosexuals in the world who were not simply “stuck in childhood forever.” But if you believe these ceremonies were kept secrets until this article, you must also believe that there is no such thing as a gay Boy Scout whose life could be ruined by a “time honored tradition” that preaches hate and distrust of people who are “different” –and self-loathing and shame in those most in need of understanding and acceptance.
I participated as a scout in the Pipestome ceremonies at Camp Tuscazoar in the late 1950s. Nothing sexual had ever occured that any of us knew about (and word did travel among young boys). What exactly is the point of Renner’s diatribe? Was he a rejected scout? Failed to endure the ceremony? Tossed out because he was gay or a pedophile? He does go on and on with sexual stories, having said a little about the Pipestone Ceremonies (too much, actually), and hardly anything about Scouting. A disgruntled person with no respect for Scouting is what I hear. Sure, there are peds and gays in about every aspect of life – – I guess he just hasn’t gotten the respect he feels he deserves. I am holding my Pipestone award while writing this. I do hope they took his away after all this.
This article is poorly researched and poorly written. It’s accusations are based solely on opinion with no facts. Being a 5th year I have participated in many Pipestone activities, no of which are like what this article is accusing the Pipestone program of. Pipestone teaches boys of all ages important values and self-discipline. The ceremonies are also 100% voluntary and the boys are informed of this multiple times during their week in camp. I must agree with the anonymous comment above me that the author of this article probably could not handle the responsibility and honor that comes with the Pipestone program. If you are a scout reading this article, do not let it ruin your views of Pipestone.
My troop was there. We enjoyed every moment at Seven Ranges UNTIL the Friday night Pipestone program. We, leaders, were separated from our Scouts. We were not told a single thing about what would happen. We had been to many camps where Friday night programs led to a Scout given a badge or piece of a four to five year program. No cause for alarm right? Prior to the split of leaders and Scouts we were asked to get in a separate area if we had a physical issue that would affect us hiking vigorously. All of us were marked with an “x” on the body part that was giving us trouble. I had one myself, clearly marked that my leg was injured.
My first inkling that something was wrong was when we got in the woods and the women were asked to turn around so the men could urinate. The hike was like nothing I’d ever done. At one point we ended up standing silently to “wait”. Sure, we saw the colored smoke at some point and an “indian” was before us. At that point an “indian” grabbed my leg and yanked it toward my other leg with a big grunt which I suppose was to say, stand with your legs next to each other. There were several of the “indians” manhandling the leaders and shouting at us. Now I’m mad.
We got hiked around again with “indians” surrounding us. I was very anxious about our Scouts, where were they, what was happening to them, would we be reunited soon? At one point I did see Scouts running through the woods. It was pretty dark and I worried that a Scout would get hurt.
We finally end up in a clearing in the woods, no idea where we are, standing above a ravine-like clearing with all Scouts from all troops below us. I was finally able to see our Scouts. It was silent but for the “indians”. The “indians” that were with us started pushing us around and at one point I was pushed down into some shrubbery. My leg was messed up. It was intentional abuse.
The ceremony in itself was pretty well done, authentic and commanding respect. But it took hours to get through the hiking, running, ceremony. Sure enough the Scouts had to kneel in front of the “chief” after drinking something that tasted horrible. Once we were reunited with the Scouts we saw that many of them were terrified, some where crying, but the majority were mad as hell. We had been told to be silent back in camp. NO WAY! We let the Scouts talk about how they felt and the consensus was that we’d all just suffered through a hazing incident. The leaders stayed awake to be certain the “indians” didn’t come back.
Some of those Scouts had nightmares for a while after being at Seven Ranges. A few quit Scouting. Parents were calling the leaders to complain about the hazing and/or physical and psychological abuse. What could we say? We’d been separated. We were intimidated and thrown around. We couldn’t have found our way out of there.
We went as far as to complain to the national Scouting headquarters after Buckeye Council refused to address these things. Nothing came of it as I can tell by the report.
There were two positives. One is that the camp itself is above par, clean, beautiful, and programs throughout the week were great. The second positive is that the hazing incident brought our Scouts closer together. Of the remaining Scouts in our troup, 80% went on to become Eagle Scouts.
I have a feeling no one got rid of their pipestone. We earned it. But the troop would never go back.
The author of this article needs to understand the meaning of the program, not everything that goes on. nearly 400 plus people work on a friday night to put on this program and we dont get sleep. i am a third year holder and i have worked and or been at camp for five years now. it is one thing to simply state that you id not like the program, but to go into a full detail of how the prgrams inner workings is flat out wrong. the auther has NO meaning of the word tradition in all of its integrity. the camp honors program has been around longer than most scout masters have been alive, and those who have partaken in the event or help put on the ceremony will agree with the fact that no matter what happens, the people who put forth there time to the program do it for the scouts. there is nothing wrong with the program at all, and unless you have actually witnessed it for yourself and you read this i hope you do not judge by what the author says. they clearly have no meaning for tradition as well as what scouts is truly all about.
My son attended his first ceremony about 7 years ago and didn’t want to continue scouts for much longer after that year. He felt manhandled, roughed up, and scared. He didn’t know what was happening, and I, as a parent, didn’t know either. Talk about angry when he told me – it’s the most angry I’ve ever been concerning my son. Just recently he mentioned it all again and wants to throw away everything from scouting, including the pipestone. I will join him in throwing the thing away ….. can’t believe adults who barely know these kids ask them to keep secrets, make them drink something and them try to give them a “teaching” moment? I’m glad to be done with it. And no, he’s not a wimpy kid, or insecure, or shy or any of that. Basically a normal kid who had a crappy experience at that summer camp. Who needs that kind of tradition?
“The author of this article needs to understand the meaning of the program, not everything that goes on. nearly 400 plus people work on a friday night to put on this program and we dont get sleep. i am a third year holder and i have worked and or been at camp for five years now. it is one thing to simply state that you id not like the program, but to go into a full detail of how the prgrams inner workings is flat out wrong. the auther has NO meaning of the word tradition in all of its integrity.”
All of this should be completely transparent. Scouting is about learning, not secret societies and scaring the crap out of kids. Sounds more like the Hitler Youth than BSA. At the end of the day, it’s all about the money.
I camped at Seven Ranges six times between 1997 and 2003 and this article doesn’t surprise me in the least. Even in 1997, I thought the experience was rough, but it was toned down a bit after 2000, or maybe I was accustomed to the rough handling. Sure, the concept of the Pipestone camp honor program has the potential to be good, but there is a lot of gray area. Even as a scout, I could see areas in the program where scouts could be abused by the adult leaders. As a participant, I had my own issues with the program, but I quickly discovered that I wasn’t alone.
As far as the message of the program was concerned, I felt that some of the content either conflicted with my own scouting experience, or had little to do with scouting as a whole. After the fourth year ceremony, some of my fellow scouters and troop leaders chose not to participate in the program for the fifth and final year. In my conversations with the scouts and leaders who discontinued their participation in the program, the issue they took was the emphasis on homosexuality in the ceremony. The general feeling was that “discussion” was unnecessary and did not enhance the program. Nowhere in the scout oath or law does it mention sexual behavior, so it was never a subject of our own troop meetings or outings. Sure, all of our adult leaders entered training programs to ensure the protection of our youth, but we placed no emphasis on discussing the subject of masturbation or homosexuality. Our emphasis was having the best possible experience, making sure our scouts remained safe and had a healthy environment so they could develop into exceptional adults.
Even outside of the pipestone program, I had difficulty with some of the junior and senior staff; there were a few counselors who would use more sexual innuendo than teenage boys generally do. While the language they used was familiar, I always felt that it was out of context and inappropriate to be coming from the camp staff. Furthermore, whenever I mentioned my discomfort to a higher ranking staff member, the issue never seemed to be dealt with. I would see the same staffers year after year, using the same inappropriate language, discussing sexual topics with younger scouts. As time went on, I learned to avoid them, and encouraged our younger scouts to do the same, but that shouldn’t happen at a scout camp. A scout camp, let alone “scout reservation,” should be a safe place for scouts and leaders to interact and enjoy the merits of scouting.
Thankfully, Seven Ranges wasn’t the only scout camp we attended during those years, we had others in our home state and out West that our scouts chose to participate in. While some scouts went on to attend all of our big summer treks, others explicitly chose not to attend Seven Ranges. If I had to do it all over again, I am not sure if I would participate in the program. While the idea of a camp honors program is a powerful one, I felt that I could enjoy scouting just the same without Pipestone.
Who am I? I’m an Eagle Scout, holder of a 5th year Pipestone, member of the OA Brotherhood, and have attended scout camps across the country and in Europe. I attended the National Scout Jamboree in 2001 and 2005. My family has been involved in scouting since the 1930s, and I have family members who have held positions at the council level. Members of my own troop have participated at a national level. I’m thoroughly invested in scouting and I believe it is a brilliant program for both men and women to develop into outstanding individuals.
I went through all 5 Pipestone ceremonies over 35 years ago and have observed all the ceremonies from time to time over the last 5 years as my step-son has gone through the program, completing his 5th year this summer. I personally thing it is an outstanding program and professionally done with every consideration and effort made to giving every scout who particates, a sense of challenge, tradition, and discipline as well as a sense of belonging to a small group of scouts that have participated in ceremonies that contain an important message and provide a real life adventure, with a sense of secrecy. Years ago, the indians were rougher, but not abusive. The Buckeye Council and the Boy Scouts of America make every effort to train all Scouts and Adult Scout Leaders with Youth Protection Training and Safety – physically, mentally, and Sexually. I have never experienced or seen anything that is even close to being a violation of the trust that is placed in all the things that the Boy Scouts of America stands for. But I am not nieve to think that there has never been an isolated incident from time to time throughout the years. There is no group, organization, community and even alot of families that haven’t had a member violate their trust when in a position of influence over younger and weeker members. All good leaders make every effort to make sure that these situations never arrise, but it’s impossible to guarentee it will never happen again. There will always be some sick people out there. The leaders of the Pipestone program and Buckeye Council are some of the best leaders I have ever seen. After 20 years in the Marine Corps, I know what great leadership is. I also know, like the Marine Corps, the Pipestone program and even the Boy Scouts is not for everyone. If it is not for you, please do not participate. But don’t bad mouth those you love it and dedicate themselve to preserving its history and traditions. It is what it is. If you have concerns as parents or adult leaders, ask questions, and you will get straight answers from the Council and the Troop leaders.
First of all, let me say that I think the Buckeye Council and Seven Ranges puts on a fabulous program each summer for the scouts. I attended summer camp at 7R many times in the 90s and 00s. I often looked forward to returning to 7R not for the pipestone program but for the giant slushies at the trading post, the mile swim, and the opportunity to complete 2 to 3 Eagle required merit badges in a week’s time. I enjoyed the program in the Dining Hall, and found that once the Dining Hall was expanded and renovated, it only added immensely to the quality of the program. I am an Eagle Scout, 5th year Pipestone holder, and Brotherhood in OA.
My first year at Seven Ranges, I had no idea what to expect with regards to Pipestone. I had only heard vague comments from the other scouts and adult leaders about this Friday night even shrouded in secrecy. I must admit I was sort of excited, however I’m someone who dislikes surprises, so I was a bit apprehensive as well. So, I went through the first week of camp – completed my merit badges, good turn project, yada yada yada. I had met all of the requirements for pipestone. Friday night rolls around and we are at the retreat ceremony after dinner. The Pipestone flag goes up the flagpole, and we are given the speech that the Pipestone flag now flies over 7R and everything is closed (Trading Post, shower houses, etc..) Sort of a mood kill, eh? Anyways, we go back to our campsite and get ready for Pipestone. The adult leaders and older scouts are completely vague on how to dress, only saying that you should wear clothes that you don’t care about. Ummm ok. Fine. I’ve got that covered. But it’s 90 degrees outside and I see other scouts wearing sweatshirts and jeans?! Ok fine…maybe we’ll be doing something in heavy brush or near briars. Now my mind begins to wonder. Next, I see the scoutmasters DUCT TAPING the laces on all the scouts’ boots so that they won’t come loose. Now I’m seriously worried…are we going to defend the camp from attackers or are we going to get a reward for all of our hard work at camp all week!?? Ok, so now I’m ready to leave the campsite with the laces on my boots duct taped, in jeans and a long sleeved sweatshirt (mind you, the temperature by now has dropped to a cool 88 degrees.) Oh yeah, and my glasses are tethered to my head. But this is only a precaution, as I’m going to get a reward for all of my hard work at camp. Now we leave the campsite, based on what year Pipestone you are a candidate for. We get “processed” at the Dever (sp?) administration building. And are just told to “wait.” So, we go sit in the field next to the admin building. 30 minutes…45 minutes…90minues…2 hours go by. (I’m just guessing, since we weren’t allowed to wear watches – safety first, right?) Finally in a very gruff and stern voice something to the effect of “First year candidates stand up and form a line..etc….” So we line up, and they count us twice (maybe three times….I forget.) and walk us across Meter Road into the…..woods? Fine, whatever. We continue walking into this clearing, and we are told to turn around, take 1 step into the weeds and “relieve yourselves”….one questions…what if you had to go #2. Mind you at this point it’s been a few hours since dinner, so that’s a real possibility. Keep this “bathroom break” in mind. This will be the last one you are allowed for a NUMBER of hours. (…this is ALL staring to make sense now ..THIS is why the older scouts didn’t drink any water at dinner a few hours earlier. But wait…it’s summer time, temps in the 80s and 90s, and we were told at first aid merit badge to stay well hydrated….odd, but ok. ) Anyway, zip up, and continue walking into the woods. We are led to this fire circle and told to sit in rows. So, we do. We get some type of speech to stay quiet, look into the fire, and reflect on our week at 7R. At the end he says “Tonight you will see and hear many things, but you are to tell NO ONE.” Then walks away. Cult behavior perhaps? Anyways… 15 minutes go by….30 minutes go by….I’m guessing that about 45 minutes go by before the next “Event” happens. The suspense is killing me. We see this road flare being placed in the fire, and this Indian jumps out from behind the fire ring. He dances around, goes around intimidating the scouts, staring at them. Then, all of the sudden, about a half-dozen more Indians pop out from the woods, and their flares go off simultaneously. We are VERY roughly roused up and put in line. But remember, we’re not talking, and there’s NO verbal communication with our new Indian friends. At this point I’m terrified out of my mind. We begin running through the woods with these surprise Indians carrying road flares. I must admit that I loved the toxic smell of the burning sulfur from there flares. It was a nice, after dinner treat. It almost brought a tear to my eye…literally. So, we continue running-stopping-running-stopping in the woods for a good 10-15 minutes. I’m guessing that during the stops, the Indians are counting us, to make sure that none of us got lost…safety first…right? I mean, nothing is safer than running through the woods at midnight, lit only by road flares, with roots sticking up from the ground. The Indians rough up of a number of scouts “correcting” them for not standing with their arms folded when NOT running. Or for just general fidgeting or for talking. We finally arrive at this ceremony circle and are put into position, quite roughly I might add. We go through the ceremony one by one. As the other posters have mentioned, we are given this bitter drink. Mind you, whatever serving device they are using to give it to us has been used on the 30 people in front of us, so I strongly question the sanitation practices used. I bet the Stark County health department would love to get their hands on this, Buckeye Council?? I was SO grossed out by this, I wanted to puke. Anyway, you go to the “Chief”…have a little chit chat, and he tells you that the this year’s password is secrecy. You go to the next Indian helper and you get your actual Pipestone. Yada yada, you get back in formation and then you sit down and get a speech from the chief. Once he’s done (15 minutes or so) You do the previous process in reverse.. run stop run stop..back to the uniformed people. Ok so now it’s WELL after midnight…you are told to go back to your campsite in the pitch black and any type of talking will result in your immediate death and dismemberment. Mind you, you don’t have a flashlight on you, because you weren’t allowed to bring one. Safety first, right? Ok so now you stumble back to your campsite. And are supposed to go immediately to bed, because some of these evil Indians could be lurking in the woods just WAITING to take away this “award” that you’ve just been given. Awesome way to end the week right? After this I had no intention of returning to 7R, but the next year rolled around, and I did, ONLY because I could knock out a few more Eagle Required merit badges.
The second and third year ceremonies sort have escaped my mind. I forget what the chief’s speeches were about, but it was no doubt spreading some out-of-date intolerant propaganda to the scouts. Same deal though, go to the pick-up circles get roughed up by the Indians. Run-stop-run for about 15 minutes. One year it was POURING down rain and a bunch of the “Indians” kept wiping out in their moccasins. I liked that. The other year, the mosquitoes were particularly bad. Hopefully the Chiefs and Indians got particular attention from the mosquitoes. (I should mention that after my 3rd year Pipestone I went to the OA Ordeal Weekend – the weekend had the same feeling of abuse and hazing. NO talking, minimal food + water, clearing brush at this out of the way camp. Really, BSA? But this discussion is for a whole different message board.)
Now let’s get to the infamous fourth year ceremony (my favorite to talk about.) Mind you that the password is Purity. As the other posters have mentioned the Chief talks about topics that they have absolutely NO BUSINESS discussing to scouts ranging in age from 12-18. The speech is quite one sided and I believe borders on hate speech (my parents paid $150/week for me to hear this?!) Are you kidding me??! In a nutshell, the Chief goes on to say how homosexuality and masturbation are wrong, awful, terrible, and how you should be shot and dismembered if you’ve ever committed either of those acts. I should probably point out at this point that I am homosexual (As an aside, I’m not sure why the BSA is so afraid of homosexuals. I mean, all the years I went to camp, I knew there were a number of homosexual camp staffers, scouts, and yes even “married” adult leaders (yes, believe it or not, this does happen-we are part of general society) These people are trying JUST as hard as their straight counterparts to contribute to a worthwhile and fun week for everyone. I really don’t see how their S orientation is even an issue. All homosexual men are not sex crazed child molesters)
Finally we’re at the fifth year. Same rhetoric…wait, fire surprise, bang bang bang..you’re at the ceremony circle. The Chief talks etc etc….THEN a special surprise that we get a behind the scenes peek @ Pipestone. We leave the ceremony circle and we get to this pavilion/shower house in the middle of the woods (still on the other side of Meter Road from the main camp.) We see where the camp staff get made into “Indians”, etc, etc..where they carve the Pipestones, etc, etc. Pretty cool actually. Then they feed us..I think my year we had pasta and cake or brownies..something like that. And we are invited back to participate in the program as helpers. Great. My 5 year reward is complete?
The summer after receiving my 5th year pipestone, I returned to 7R a number of times to help out with the Friday night ceremonies. There is an apprenticeship program to go through in order to get “full rights” to help out with Pipestone. You have to be on the uniformed “trail crew “a few times (the ones that take you from the administration building to the holding circles.) You have to dress up as an Indian a few times. You have to carve a certain number of Pipestones. I think you might have to help clean this mysterious shower house a few times. Anyways, you get the idea. I actually enjoyed this, but now thinking back, I was just perpetuating the abuse of the scouts.
A few years back I had heard that Tom Merriman (or Carl Monday…I forget which one) was planning on doing a expose on Pipestone. I often wished that had come to life. For one reason or another, it fizzled. Not necessarily to portray Pipestone in a negative light, but to present the facts and allow people to form their own opinions on the program. I mean, come on think about it – Let’s say you were the mother of an 11 or 12 year old scout going to 7R for their first year of camp and you saw even a 90 second clip of what was going on. Would you honestly allow your child to participate in something like that? At some point, somebody is going to sneak in an iPhone or similar device and video of the “ceremonies” will be leaked. If the BSA has nothing to hide, then they shouldn’t have a problem with this…right? I believe transparency is the word? After being so traumatized after my first year ceremony I WISH there had been a blog like this up at the time. I had every right to know what I was going to be subjected to that first Friday night. I remember coming home from camp and doing Google searches for more information on Pipestone, but all I could find was the usual BSA sanctioned rhetoric about this being a Camp Honors reward program, highly coveted, yada yada yads. My hat’s off to the author of this post. As far as the other posters comments about tech-savvy scouts performing Google searches on this, those scouts have every right to find information on Pipestone. I hope they do, and I ENCOURAGE them to do so. I mean, come on folks, get with the program. It’s 2011…there are no such things as secrets anymore. The things happening in Pipestone should NOT remain a secret. This secrecy perpetuates the scouts’ physical and mental abuse. Additionally, nothing that the previous posters have said about what happens in the ceremonies is untrue. I think some of the other posters are just trying to cover up the severity of these actions.
While I don’t believe that the Pipestone program will ever go completely away, I do believe that it will have to evolve in order to stay viable in today’s world. Today’s helicopter parents will no allow this to continue in it’s current fashion.
Overall, I would highly recommend the Seven Ranges summer camp program. It does provide the Scouts with valuable life skills and life lessons (teamwork, swimming, first aid, etc…) However I would give serious consideration before allowing your child to participate in the Pipestone program. I question the program’s ultimate intentions with the scouts. This reward program could certainly be replaced with something more worthwhile that actually has the feeling of a “reward ceremony.” The scouts work hard all week at camp, and deserve something better than a few hours of abuse at the end of their week.
You should be ashamed of your self. you have reviled a great secret that is greater than you or your entire existence. your pipestone should be thrown from Thunderbird hill.
I have just completed my second year pipestone and this article is ridiculous. The only reason they fix you is because you are fidgeting or moving and you shouldn’t be. Pipestone is all about discipline and if you don’t have it you will struggle during this program. If there are any scouts who haven’t gone throught the program and are reading this, I assure you that this is a great program and do not let this article ruin your view of pipestone. And to the author you should be ashamed of yourself for writing this and not telling the truth. A scout is trustworthy right? You should be ashamed that you also broke your promise of secrecy.
In 2012…still an oath of secrecy, forcing scouts to drink unknown substance (some vomiting), placing hands on scouts to ‘correct’ them if not looking straight ahead with arms crossed, pushing scouts, running in the woods at night without flashlights, forcing them to stand for hours, and scaring scouts is unacceptable according to BSA’s youth protection policy (scouting.org). This is outright hazing and should be investigated by BSA and state law enforcement for putting youth at risk. No scout should ever be sworn to keep secrets from their parents. There are no scouting lessons learned from this initiation ceremony and is completely unacceptable behavior for a scouting program…definitely not a ‘honors program’ or indicative of normal scouting practices.
‘eagle’ I am SO disappointed in you….
To preface this comment, I was in scouting from first grade through the time I turned 18, I am a fifth year pipestone holder, and I attended National Jamboree in 05. I went to Seven Ranges at least one week every summer while in the Boy Scout Program. I’m currently a college graduate who majored in education. I have a close friend who works as a district executive in another council and regularly assists at Seven Ranges.
The way the program is portrayed in this article is GREATLY exaggerated. This isn’t five grown men in a room with a young boy. We are talking about thousands of scouts every summer and hundreds of volunteers. In my five years as a participant and the several times I have been back to observe since I have never seen an instance of abuse or a volunteer “roughing up” a participant. The volunteers are all required to go through BSA Youth Protection Training and there are trained medical personnel on site at all times. When you are standing you are expected to have your feet together and arms folded with head forward, and as the author mocks, it is for safety reasons. A volunteer will come up and place your arms, legs, or head in position, but I’ve never seen an instance where they were hurting anyone. There is an alternative walking group for anyone who either has some kind of condition that would prohibit them from running. The rough spots on the trail are well lit and participants are constantly counted and checked. The volunteers absolutely WILL break character if there is an emergency and someone is in need of assistance. During one ceremony one of my friends passed out, they moved him away from the ceremony quickly and he was immediately tended to by three volunteers.
Some people like to claim it’s a secret society and the things that go on are hidden from parents and concerned citizens. One fact that the author conveniently omits is that registered adult leaders who have completed the requirements are able to participate in the ceremony the same as the scouts. That’s right, as a parent you can sign up as an assistant scoutmaster. You are welcome to attend a week at camp, complete the requirements, and go through the ceremony yourself. To think that an adult leader wouldn’t stand up and stop a case of abuse because they are afraid a guy painted like an indian would beat him with a stick is ridiculous. I find it kind of odd that after 80+ years there have been no lawsuits against the program or Buckeye Council, don’t you?
Is it possible it was rougher back in the day and that there were incidents? I suppose, I can’t vouch either way as I wasn’t there. Of course, that doesn’t stop this author from saying he heard from the friend of a friend about an isolated incident that might have happened one time. When you receive your fifth year award they answer ANY question you ask about the program or the ceremony and explain the safety measures they take every week including why you must stand a certain way, why they are so particular about the size of pipestone wood bundles, and changes they have made to improve the safety for scouts. When I received my fifth year award in 2005 we were specifically told that the “secrecy” portion of the ceremony does not apply to people asking about hazing or what goes on in regards to the well being of the participants. They don’t want you to ruin the experience for younger scouts. If concerned leaders ask a camp official about the program prior to the night of the ceremony they are given details of what to expect. Every year there are officials there from the National Office to check up on things and openly monitor the ceremonies. They can be seen outside the circle where the participants can not see them several times throughout the year.
I’m sure the people who complain about the program are the same ones who send their kids to the doctor at the slightest sign of a headache and discourage them from playing outside during high pollen levels. The tradition of the Pipestone Program is in tact, but to think it hasn’t evolved to ensure the safety of participants and to conform to changes in acceptable ethical standards in the past 80 years is ignorant.
im gay also i like this story its hot as fuck tell more
This is crap I’m only a first year and u let our secret out that’s great
this article is a piece of shit. I’m a fifth year holder, right now i feel really mad because when scouts see this shit on the internet and they come to camp it doesn’t give them the full effect and sometimes they might not want o partake in the events that happen there. Pipestone is the camp honor for buckeye council summer camp many other troops from across the nation come and partake in its program every year this camp honor is bound up in secrecy for it to be effective and make those scouts want to come back next year.
I am a fifth year pipestone holder. Earned them all at the old “Camp Buckeye” near Beach City, OH from 1975-1979. (Buckeye and Tuscazoar’s camps were combined into what is now the Seven Ranges program.) My pipestone is a cherished piece of my youth that I will never part with. Never. In fact, it sits on a shelf in my office along with other cherished mementoes.
The program was designed to allow the boys to advance a full rank the week of camp, and to reward them for it. This isn’t one of those, “Hooray! Everyone’s a winner!” programs. The pipestone program awards achievement; you don’t make rank, you don’t get the award. Period. The program worked extremely well. My five years there, I only remember one boy from our troop missing the cut. It was a big deal.
The native American aspect of the program (and camp in general) was an absolute mark of respect for their culture. There is another program — a national program — called “Order of the Arrow” that also is steeped in Native American culture. Of course, while the media is busy bashing the BSA, they NEVER take the time to learn or tell the public about the reverence for NA culture that exists in Scouting.
Was I scared out of my wits the first year? Yes! Now, this was back in the mid-1970s and I GUARANTEE the ceremonies we experienced back then were more intense than what they are allowed to do now. But no one was permanently traumatized, nobody was injured — all allegations of that type are pure BS. As for “zxcvbnm,” he sounds like a typical whiny Genx-er. Once you are past the first year, you know what to expect and the “fear factor” is not nearly as intense.
The cautionary words that fourth-year candidates hear was relevant then, as it is now. These are young men coming of age and the advice given is good advice. I will say no more about the specifics of that or any other year’s ceremony because, unlike the author, I respect the secrecy of the program. I’ve never shared the details with anyone who hasn’t been through it and I never will.
For anyone to allege any kind of known or sanctioned sexual abuse before, during or after these ceremonies is a bald-faced lie. Period. If anyone in a position of authority had heard even a whisper of anything like this it would have been dealt with swiftly. Why do you think the BSA fought gay scout leaders for so long? Simple answer: they didn’t want gay adults in a position of authority around young men.
In addition, for any of the “adult leaders” of troops attending camp to say that they knew nothing about the ceremony or what would take place also is a lie. Pure and simple. I can’t imagine that some out-of-state troop would attend camp not knowing details about the program. Not buying that one at all.
If you talk to anyone who has ever been through the program, you will hear nothing but good things, respect, and admiration for the program. Clearly, the author is trying to discredit the program and the local council. This is not some “secret society” tinged in sexual misbehavior! I am insulted beyond words that the author seems to be sensationalizing the program in an attempt to discredit it.
For those of you who commented and know nothing about the program saying it’s wrong, or should be investigated, etc. I will say this: You’re buying in to the author’s lies. This story is a hit piece, plain and simple.
One specific thing I will debunk is this: No one is forced to stand for hours. That is a lie. Then, as now, you wait by a campfire, sitting quietly, before your group goes through your specific year’s ceremony. There are no beatings; no one is abused; there is no violence. All of those allegations are LIES.
Quite frankly, we need MORE programs like scouting and pipestone. Oh, one last thing: the author should be stripped of his pipestone for violating the secrecy of the program. So should “zxcvbnm,” who went as far as to reveal secret passwords. If you haven’t already, you should mail your pipestone back to the council. You don’t deserve to keep it.
I understand where you pipestone holders are coming from, when i first started reading this article i thought of how bad this program must be. But then he mentioned Mic-o-Say and how bad it is and i knew that this author was just another person trying to make boy scouts and its honor programs look bad. I just returned yesterday from H. Roe Bartle scout reservation where i have just earned my warrior in the tribe of Mic-o-Say. I can attest that nothing that Mic-o-Say does is questionable, sure they make you work for a day but it is less of a punishment more of giving back to the reservation that has given so much to you, and sure they make you fast but only if you are able to and the silence is to let you think and is encouraged to be broken if you feel that something is wrong with you or another scout. And once in the tribe the perks are amazing and so are the people i would strongly recommend people to research it more
I was a participant for 5 years. On my 6th. year, I was involved in carving pipestones, and in my 7th. year, I was an Indian. Nothing in my life of 63 years has had a greater impact on me. It is Scouting’s greatest ceremony, supported by dozen’s of adult volunteers. Kid’s have to earn their pipestone and it becomes more difficult every year. Kind of like life. But the reward is beyond imagination!!!
In Mic-o-say they make you work all day and fast. You are not allowed to talk for a period of 24 hours. It is a big production that ends with them Threating to kick you out because everyone “broke silence”. At the brave ceremony you have to sit with your head down for hours and then grown men rub mud all over your body. You are forced to drink a sustance from a horn containing who knows what? You are also whipped with tree limbs. The whole thing is a joke.
There must be something to all of this: the national BSA ordered Seven Ranges to make changes to their program for this summer due to all the complaints over the years, including hazing, making the ceremony a secret (no secret societies in the BSA, not even Order of the Arrow), and questionable procedures during the ceremonies. Seven Ranges and Manatoc were ordered to make changes for the 2015 summer.
Let’s see–People who don’t know the true facts about Buckeye Council, B.S.A., are living in the dark. Buckeye Council just might be the most corrupted B.S.A. Council in the U.S. Camp Tuscazoar, the oldest and most historic Scout camp in Ohio, was secretly sold in 1983 to a company that does landfill and strip-mining. BUT, they weren’t told that a 14 yr. old Scout, Tom Hohn, was buried in the floor of his memorial Chapel at the camp! It’s called TOM’S CHAPEL. Tuscazoar was sold after Scout troop leaders – volunteers were promised by top Council officials that it wouldn’t be sold. Camp Buckeye was sold ahead of the Tuscazoar lies to a church group after Scout troop leaders – volunteers where promised it wouldn’t be sold. The United Ways in NE Ohio stopped giving Buckeye Council any money. The SCENE article talks about Jim Mills and his sweat lodges. Mills was finally arrested for having child pornography. He had been committing illegal acts with minor-aged boys for decades at Buckeye Council camps AND was allowed to get away with it. Look at Jack Johnson’s 20 years as Buckeye Council Executive and you see one crime after another. Johnson protected Jim Mills! The day before Mills was to report to prison in 2013, he went into his backyard and committed suicide. The Columbus TV stations and newspapers covered it. Back in 1999, Johnson hired a 19 year-old to build illegal pyrotechnics that were fired off at Sunday evening summer campfires at 7 Ranges. On one Sunday evening, a device, which the ATF described as a “pipe bomb”, exploded and hit a 14 yr. old Scout in the face. He was lucky it didn’t kill him. Only the 19 yr. old staff member was charged! And, he got a slap on the wrist. Johnson, who hired him, and the 7 Ranges Director and Activity Director were never charged. Johnson also allowed Mike Klingler, a 7 Ranges staff member who sexually molested a 15 year-old boy, to go home instead of the Camp Director or Johnson calling the Carroll County Sheriff. The camp Chaplain finally demanded it. When Klingler got a message at home to call the Sheriff’s office, he went into his backyard and shot himself to death! HERE is the bottom line: the number of outrageous scandals and crimes committed by Buckeye Council officials, some adult volunteers like Jim Mills and some camp staff members, is a horrendous story almost too terrible to believe. BUT, it all happened! The SCENE article just scratches the surface of the stink. Digging into the facts shows that the crimes took off in the 1970’s and the level of Un-Scout-like behavior–criminal behavior really–continued to at least 2000. Oh, I didn’t mention that over $20 million of charitable money was laundered through Buckeye Council’s books by a guy with a famous name who controls a huge Foundation. The truth is that B.S.A. across the U.S. has been protected from prosecution, especially for theft of charitable money and sex crimes, by government and law enforcement officials. It has basically been treated like a “sacred cow.” Law enforcement so often just looked the other way. Is it any wonder that some people call 7 Ranges–7 Mistakes? And, yes, I have a 5th year Pipestone and am an Eagle Scout.
This is absolutely crazy. I have been through all 5 years of pipestone and I am currently a circle brave helping with the ceremonies now. What is described in this article is nothing even remotely close to the truth. Do some research before falsifying reality. Pipestone is secret because it is meant to keep scouts returning year after year, and the secrecy of the pipestone program helps peak young scouts curiosity and desire to return. Article is bogus and very irritating to read
I went to Camp Seven Ranges & participated in the first year Pipestone ceremony. While I certainly wouldn’t call it traumatizing, I definitely think it qualifies as hazing. I was roughed up & manhandled; at one point I was pushed down a hillside because I wasn’t moving fast enough. I find it odd that so many young men apparently are interested in repeating what is a rather unpleasant experience. I had no desire to return to Camp Seven Ranges. Mainly, I found the whole experience rather stupid & pointless as a 12 year old. And I still do.
I went through the Mic-O-Say hazing back in the late nineties. We were insulted, pushed and aggressively made to stand in a certain way, forced to stand and sit for what seemed endless amounts of time, definitely ran in the dark, and forced to drink that awful concoction out of a shell or horn. Who knows what elements of all this I’m forgetting now. Sorry to all of you who witnessed more serious secrets and have to live with it.
I am a Brave in the Tribe of Mic-O-Say, and I have passed all the requirements for such a position. Quite frankly there is no time where I went without food for more than 4 1/2 hours. All the Tribal rituals for candidates are as safe as can be expected for a BSA honor camping society.
Today I was reminiscing about my time in Boy Scouts, of course my mind immediately went to the pipestone ceremony at Algonkin/ 7 Ranges. After a google search I stumbled upon this article and felt the need to share my experience. I am a 5th year pipestone holder, Eagle Scout, college graduate, and proudly hold a career as a Firefighter/Paramedic. My father is also an Eagle Scout and 5th year pipestone holder who attended camp Tuscazor in the late 60s.
This is definitely the first time I’ve ever heard any accusations of physical or sexual abouse surrounding the pipestone program. I am 8 years removed from scouting but have had friends stay active from youth to current leadership. Some have even returned to volunteer in the pipestone program at 7R.
I’m quite dumbfounded by some of these accusations. If anyone involved in the Ceremony as an officiate or candidate ever whinessed abuse of any kind, I assure you it would have been reported and followed up on to assure whatever happened was dealt with accordingly though the counsel, BSA or Law enforcement as nessesary. It’s quite obvious to see that people are looking for a scandal and want to find something horrendous. Just look at the “likes and dislikes” above each comment.
As a child I had ADD so you could imagine my fidgeting would have gotten me “corrected” or “roughly handled” as the author and other commenters state. However I can recall no such actions toward me or any other participants. At no time was I concerned for my safety or the safety of my peers, and given my current career, I’m familiar with potential hazards or injury to others. It was meerly a performance much less traumatizing than a Halloween “haunted house” with native Americans instead of ghosts and zombies. I can also assure you that the running/ walking trails of the woods are kept clear. I personally recall removing tree roots or rocks from the trail during OA service projects.
All I can say about the 4th year ceremony, is the Chief’s speech was quite vague and preached the importance of “a scout is morraly straight” which is in the scout oath. No hate speech.
I apologize for the lengthy comment but feel it necessary to defend my personal experiences with the pipestone program at 7R. Perhaps there have been other incidents which have gone unreported or brushed under the rug but I personally have never herd or experienced anything of the like. I would encourage my own son or others involved in scouting to participate in the program as it truly helped mold me and guid me towards my goal as an Eagle Sout.
I watched a boy vomit, and another get diarrhea from the potion. With no bathroom in sight. Why in world adults are making scouts drink bitter potion is beyond me. Nothing to do with scouting in my book. Hard to believe it is still allowed. This ritual stains a good camp in my view.
The problem with the Pipestone ritual is that it violates the Scout Law, the Scout Oath and the Youth Protection policy. In no way does the BSA condone any person physically forcing a child to their knees or picking them up or putting their hands over their mouths. The Scouts call this a ritual of courage. It is defined everywhere else in the country as hazing. The BSA has documents on council web-sites where the leaders say it is not “hazing or bullying” but the fact that they say that does not make it so. If you demean a child by shoving them to the ground for your ritual ceremony you are in fact hazing the child.
hazing
hziNG/
nounNorth American
noun: hazing; plural noun: hazings
the imposition of strenuous, often humiliating, tasks as part of a program of rigorous physical training and initiation.
The BSA allows the ritual to continue and forces the children to disobey the Scout Law – A Scout is Obedient. If a Scout parent asks about the ceremony the children are sworn to silence. Why would you ever train a child to not speak to their parents? That in and of itself violates “to keep myself mentally strong and morally straight” Is it “good fun?” So was the drinking at the fraternity party at Penn State until the kid died. Now 18 people will be heading to jail. If the ritual accidentally injures a Scout, what do you think the BSA’s insurance will say, “Oh well, accident” or “Someone pushed a child into a fire by jumping out and scaring the shit out of him?” Yeah, no your insurance does not cover that. And God forbid, you jump and scare a child and they get injured, what defense does the BSA have against the parents lawsuit? Zero. It’s a dangerous thing to do for a “ritual” that has lasted nearly 100 years. But the BSA and 7 Ranges tread on dangerous path with a ritual like this and it will one day backfire o them. I’m sure it already has and the child was silenced.
p.s. – if the media ever seizes on the hazing rituals after what just happened at Penn State the BSA would be in serious trouble. The loss of LDS is 185,000 fewer Scouts. Imagine what parents are okay with their kid being hazed at these rituals. #notsmart #notloyal #notbrave #notkind #notcourteous #nottrustworthy The entire ritual violates the very core of Scouting.
I’am a Eagle Scout and was on staff during the mid nineties. It is a shame what happened to Alot of staff I’m thinking of writing a book on my ordeals with the order of the arrow, the camp staff and how Mike assaulted me numerous times as a commissioner and was never trained for it, and how many times I let people know about what really happened when Jim Mills was around and what really happened it was more graphic than this and has scared me forever. BTW ,Jeff the head of the camp I’m tired of holding all of this in my life is no secret anymore.
I was on staff at camp those years . I have horror stories that still keep me up at night from Jim mills and Mike klinger and Gonzo. How corrupt that branch of the Order of the Arrow is and how screwy pipe stone is. I still live with my nightmares over 20 years ago.
Secrecy, huh? As a part of this very respected association, I think that someone has gone against the values of pipestone. Even though it isn’t considered a secret society, this article really shouldn’t reveal all of the secrets of this sacred ceremony. And to all that think that this is B.S., it most certainly is NOT, but it is pretty awesome.
So what are all the secret passwords?
How’s it going this summer? Are kids still being forced to drink that crap? Urinate in public as a group? Scared to death to say anything about the secret ceremony? Just curious how the program has changed this year. Any updates?
I know this article is old, but wanted to leave my two cents regardless.
I went to this camp in the late 90’s to the early 2000’s. I only earned my 1st year pipestone, so I can’t speak to any of the weirdness mention in the later stages of the pipestone ceremonies.
I can say I didn’t like my experience. It all felt strange. I have a vivid memory of my and friend and I having to run through the dark woods. Feeling exhausted, but being pushed by half naked white kids dressed as Native Americans. Physical being shoved to keep moving. Upon arriving at a weird torchlight ceremony my one friend vomited from the situation.
You then couldn’t move an inch. If you did, you could expect some half naked white kids (dressed as Native American) to put their hands on you and straighten you out. Eventually you got to drink something gross. That seems reasonable…
Had they told me this was what I was trying to earn. An award with all this weirdness wrapped up in it – I would have said “thanks…. I’m good” It felt like hazing, or a the cousin of hazing.
I don’t think I was traumatized by this, but the whole thing was strange enough for me to not want to do it again. That turns into a thing also. We kept going to that camp, but I kept not doing pipestone. And every year, I would people constantly and consistency questioning my choice not to pursue it.
A part of me wonders how much the pipe stone ceremony has changed throughout the years. Surly a ritual that is 100 years old can fluctuate over time. Perhaps there were times where the more aggressive aspects of it were toned down? Conversely – perhaps there were times we’re the more aggressive aspects of it were turned up? This could explain why some people remember the ceremony fondly, and others have mixed feelings.
Also – Just in case anyone wants to question my withal as a scout… I am an Eagle Scout.
Complete Bullshit. I have my 5th year award as well as participated as an indian after that. One of the best experiences of my 60 years of life. Nothing even remotely immoral or unethical ever occurred. The author is a very sick man.