Headquartered in

Hermantown, Minnesota Hermantown is a city in Saint Louis County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 10,221 at the 2020 census. A suburb of Duluth, it was at one point the only city in the county to grow in population, as much of the area's residential and ...

, Voyageurs Area Council serves Scouts in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. The Ka'niss Ma'ingan Lodge is the local Order of the Arrow Lodge for Voyageurs Area Council.

Organization

Voyageurs Area Council has a staff of nine people. The Council Executive Board through officers are the governing body of the council territory. The board takes action to achieve the purposes of the local council. It establishes the council program, carries out resolutions, establishes and enforces policy and hires a Scout Executive. The council's geographic territory includes 13 counties in

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, three counties in

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, and one county in the

Upper Peninsula of Michigan The Upper Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. – is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula by t ...

. The council is divided into four administrative districts.

History

Voyageurs Area Council is the successor to the former Lake Superior Council and the Headwaters Area Council. The Ashland Council was formed in 1918. It disbanded in 1920. In 1959, Lake Superior Council was formed from a merger of the North Star Council (northeastern Minnesota) and the Gitchee Gumee Council (northwestern

and part of the

). In 1994, Lake Superior Council merged with the Headwaters Area Council, headquartered in

Hibbing, MN Hibbing is a city in St. Louis County, Minnesota, Saint Louis County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 16,214 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The city was built on mining the rich iron ore of the Mesabi Iron Range and ...

, to become the Voyageurs Area Council. Each of those councils had been formed by previous mergers, as depicted below.

Camps

Camp Horace Johnson

Camp Horace Johnson is a wooded area on Island Lake, North of Duluth on St. Louis County Road #4 (Rice Lake Road). Thirty people can be accommodated in the Lodge.

Camp Barksdale

Camp Barksdale is a wooded area along the south shore of

Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...

. The entrance is located along State Highway 13, in between Washburn, WI and Ashland, WI. It is used to accommodate Scouting activities throughout the year.

Camp Nushka

Camp Nushka is of forest on Cass Lake in the middle of the Chippewa National Forest in Minnesota. The camp is located next to of forest land that can be used for hiking, pioneering, orienteering, GPSing, skiing, and snowshoeing. The lake can be used for canoeing, fishing, and other water activities.

Order of the Arrow

Ka'niss Ma'ingan Lodge #196 serves youth in Voyageurs Area Council. The Lodge totem is the wolf, which is featured on the lodge pocket flap patch. The Lodge was formed in 1995 by the merger of Mesabi Lodge (formerly called Little Bear Lodge) and Nahak Lodge #526. Previous to this merger, Nahak Lodge had absorbed Nagadjiwanang Lodge #174 when two councils merged in 1959. The leadership of Ka'niss Ma'ingan includes the members of the Lodge Executive Committee. The Committee meets monthly at the council service center, and is composed of the Lodge Chief and all the Lodge officers. The lodge's main annual events include Winter Banquet, Spring Conclave, Fall Conclave, and Section Conclave. The lodge also holds an annual training event called Lodge Leadership Development (LLD) Training. The course covers topics such as Event Planning, Using Lodge Resources and Talent, Time Management and planning a Service Project. The Lodge is part of the Order of the Arrow Section C-1A. Currently, one of the three Section C-1A officers are from Ka'niss Ma'Ingan Lodge.Ka'niss Ma'ingan Website
/ref> Other lodges in Section C-1A include: Naguonabe Lodge (

Central Minnesota Council Scouting in Minnesota has a long history, from the 1910s to the present day, serving thousands of youth in programs that suit the environment in which they live. Boy Scouts of America in Minnesota today There are eight Boy Scouts of America (BSA ...

), Pa-hin Lodge (

Northern Lights Council The Northern Lights Council of the Boy Scouts of America is the local Boy Scout council that serves all of North Dakota, parts of South Dakota, northwestern Minnesota, and northeast Montana. As of 2017, the Northern Lights Council delivers Scout ...

), Tetonwana Lodge ( Sioux Council), Totanhan Nakaha Lodge ( Northern Star Council), and Wahpekute Lodge (

Twin Valley Council Scouting in Minnesota has a long history, from the 1910s to the present day, serving thousands of youth in programs that suit the environment in which they live. Boy Scouts of America in Minnesota today There are eight Boy Scouts of America (BSA ...

References

{{Scouting Local councils of the Boy Scouts of America Central Region (Boy Scouts of America) Youth organizations based in Minnesota