Tschitaneu Aptonagan
The lodge is comprised of 7 local chapters, each covering a designated service area within the boundaries of the Indian Waters Council. An Arrowman’s chapter is determined based on the district (of the council) in which their unit is chartered, and much of the lodge program and administration are organized around chapter membership (e.g., competitions at the Fellowships, Unit Election Team visits). When a chapter is initially established, the members choose a fitting name, which is both distinctive and provides some level of identity for the chapter members.
Service Area
The Etowah Creek District of the Indian Waters council covers portions of Lexington and Richland counties (Lexington/Richland School District 5 and parts of Richland 1), located between the Broad River to the northwest and Lake Murray to the southeast. “Etowah” is a reference to the Muscogee (Creek) word for “town”, though the Creek word is actually “italwah”.[1]
Chapter Name Etymology
In literal word translation from Lenape, “tschitaneu” and “aptonagan” might be combined with a bit of poetic license to mean “strong chapter”[1]. The chapter was created as a carve-out from the Tschitanek Woakus chapter, as the high number of active units in the service area necessitated subdivision into two chapters. The Arrowmen from the newly formed chapter created the name as a reflection of the pride and standards of excellence evident in the newly formed chapter.
1Etowah Valley Historical Society. (n.d.) Native American. https://evhsonline.org/native-american.
2Brinton, Daniel Garrison, and Albert Seqaqkind Anthony, editors. A Lenape-English Dictionary: From an Anonymous Manuscript in the Archives of the Moravian Church at Bethlehem, PA. The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1888.
Contact Leadership
Each chapter has an elected Chapter Chief, Vice Chief, and Secretary, with guidance provided by their selected adviser. Chapter members should contact their Chapter Chief with any questions or to schedule a unit election visit.
Chapter Chief
Chapter Vice Chief
Chapter Secretary
Chapter Adviser
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