The Degree of Pocahontas are the female auxiliary of the Improved Order of Red Men, an American fraternal order. [1] Despite using names based on common non-Native ideas about Native Americans, it was formed solely by and for white women. [2] Membership is now open to patriotic American women of every race.
The Degree was founded in Elmira, New York. [1] The idea of creating a female Degree was first broached in the early 1850s, however it wasn't until the IORMs "Great Council" of 1885 that Degree was approved. The first local chapter was the Wenonah Council, #1 of Philadelphia, whose "Council Fire was lighted on the 28th Sleep of Cold Moon, G. S. D. 396 (February 28, 1887) at the 828 Red Men's Wigwam Race Street in that city." [3]
Local units are called "Councils" and meeting places "Tepees". The president of a local Council is called "Pocahontas" and is assisted by a "Powatan", a male counselor. The immediate past president is called a "Prophetess". [4] Other officials of a local Council include the "Wenonah", the "Keeper of Wampum" and the "Keeper of Records". [5] The state level of the organization is similar to the local level. [4] Statewide organizations are called "Great Councils" [6] and their presidents are called "Great Pocahontases". The National Degree of Pocahontases is made up of Past Great Pocahontases and elects a Board of Great Chiefs from its number. The Board of Great Chiefs consists of seven officers: [7] "National Pocahontas", "National Wenonah", "National Minnehaha", " National Prophetess", "National Keeper of Records", "National Keeper of Wampum" and "National Collector of Wampum". [6] This board operates under the supervision and authority of the Great Council of the United States of the IORM. [8]
A youth auxiliary was founded in 1952, the Degree of Anona. This degree was not very popular, however, mustering only 90 local Councils and less than 5,000 members in 1979, principally in New England. [9]
In 1907 the Degree had 26,000 members. [10] As of January 1, 1921, the Degree claimed 120,000 members, averaging approximately 70 per each Council. [5] In 1977 there were 22,827 members which represented a drop of 1,731 from the previous "two Great Suns", or two years. [4]
In the early 1920s, membership was open only to white women over 18, who were of good moral character and "a firm belief evidenced by life and act, and not mere declaration alone in the existence in the Great Spirit – God – in whose hands all power is, and to whom all are accountable." [5]
The order has a secret ritual, signs and passwords. New members are required to attend an initiation ceremony. [4] The Degree's sign of recognition was a right hand raised to face level with the two fore fingers extended, the last two fingers closed, and the thumb on the third finger, signifying "Who are you?" The correct answer was the same gesture with the left hand meaning "A friend". [11]
They have provided financial support to fight communism. [4]
The Improved Order of Red Men is a fraternal organization established in North America in 1834. It claims direct descent from the colonial era Sons of Liberty. Their rituals and regalia are modeled after those assumed by men of the era to be used by Native Americans. Despite the name, the order was formed solely by, and for, white men. This whites-only rule was part of their bylaws until 1974, when the all-white clause was eliminated. Their current position is that they are now open to people of all ethnic backgrounds. In 1935 the organization claimed a membership of about half a million but, by 2011, that declined to a little more than 15,000.
The Knights of the Golden Eagle was a fraternal organization founded in Baltimore in 1872.
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Knights of the Maccabees was a fraternal organization formed in 1878 in London, Ontario, Canada. Most active in the U.S. state of Michigan, the group's fraternal aspects took a backseat to providing low-cost insurance to members. In the society's early years it also provided other final-expense related benefits such as society cemeteries.
Fraternal Order of Eagles (F.O.E.) is a fraternal organization that was founded on February 6, 1898, in Seattle, Washington, by a group of six theater-owners including John Cort, brothers John W. and Tim J. Considine, Harry (H.L.) Leavitt, Mose Goldsmith and Arthur Williams. Originally made up of those engaged in one way or another in the performing arts, the Eagles grew and claimed credit for establishing the Mother's Day holiday in the United States as well as the "impetus for Social Security" in the United States. Their lodges are known as "aeries".
Fraternal Order Orioles is a social and charitable organization that was founded in August 1910. The organization currently consists of about 54 local Nests and affiliated Auxiliaries located in 9 states in the eastern United States.
The Ancient Order of United Workmen (AOUW) was a fraternal organization in the United States and Canada, providing mutual social and financial support after the American Civil War. It was the first of the "fraternal benefit societies", organizations that would offer insurance as well as sickness, accident, death and burial policies. It dissolved in 1952.
Danish Brotherhood in America is a fraternal organization that was founded in 1882 in Omaha, Nebraska. It had about 8,000 members in 2010. A period report said of the Danish Brotherhood, "This is by far the strongest and most influential secular organization about the Danes in America."
The Junior Order of United American Mechanics is an American fraternal order. It began as a youth affiliation of the Order of United American Mechanics, but seceded to become its own organization and eventually absorbed its parent order. Originally, it was an anti-Catholic, nativist group.
The Order of Owls is a secret fraternal order founded in 1904 in South Bend, Indiana, USA, by John W. Talbot. According to its literature, the purposes of the society is "to assist each other in business, to help each other in obtaining employment, to assist the widows and orphans of our brothers, to give aid to our brother in any way that they may need, and assemble for mutual pleasure and entertainment." Its "catechism" said "Owls do good, speak kindly, shake hands warmly, and respect and honor their women."
The Daughters of America is an American secret society, Nativist organization dating from the late-19th century. It was founded in 1891 as an auxiliary of the Junior Order of United American Mechanics. Since its heyday in the 1930s, the organization is believed to have shrunk significantly, to the point that it is no longer known whether or not it still exists. As of July 2022, the organization is still active, though membership is dwindling and new membership almost nonexistent.
There have been a number of interlocking fraternal orders known as the beavers. The Fraternal Order of Beavers was created in 1911. The relationships between these and the Beavers Reserve Fund Fraternity, Beavers National Mutual Benefit and the National Mutual Benefit is complex. The North American Order of the Beaver was founded in 1990.
The Degree of Honor Protective Association is a fraternal benefit society. It was originally organized as a female auxiliary to the Ancient Order of United Workmen, but split off in 1910 to become its own independent group. It merged with Catholic Financial Life in 2017.
The Knights and Ladies of Honor was a highly successful and popular American fraternal benefit organization in the late 19th and early twentieth century. It is perhaps the first major fraternal benefit organization to adopt the idea of diversity allowing non-white persons and racial groups to be recognized and establish lodges.
The Knights of the Ancient Order of the Mystic Chain were a secret society in the United States in the late nineteenth century. Founded by Freemasons in 1871, the group had a strong Masonic influence in its rituals and degrees, as well as incorporating elements from the Bible and Arthurian legend.
The Dramatic Order of the Knights of Khorassan or Dokeys are a side degree of the Knights of Pythias, somewhat analogous to the Shriners in Freemasonry. The Order was founded in 1894.
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