Ray Gould sends along a link to a recent eBay auction and a few links which help explain the item. It was a patch for the Order of the White Swastika from Camp Russel New York.
The seller posted to one of the eBay forums and got this reply:
In the 1930’s a new organization replaced the Order of Ka Mar Go at Camp Russell. the Order of the White Swastika. This was another organization based upon the traditions of the American Indian, the swastika being an ancient Indian symbol. This organization, like the orders of Kon-e-on-ca and Ka Mar Go, was for outstanding scouts at Camp Russell. As the 1930’s progressed and the symbol of the swastika became more and more degraded by Nazi Germany, the Camp Russell honor society again became known as Ka Mar Go.
Ray did some further digging and the quote seems to have come from here.
The US Scouting Service project also speaks to the society.
Clicking on the image will bring you to the auction results.
There were 13 unique bidders on this item. Two in it at over $ 1,000.
Ray also provides a link to Sports Illustrated of all places which has an article on the Society.
This was in the mid-1930s, when I was 17, and most of us, in our youthful innocence, still regarded the swastika as an American Indian symbol. The emblem of the Order of the White Swastika was the equivalent of the Congressional Medal of Honor for the scouts who went to Camp Russell in Woodgate, N.Y. A scout had to be somebody special, to do something truly outstanding in the judgment of his leaders and his peers, before he was voted into the order. When a boy had proved himself, and had gone through the order’s solemn initiation, he felt that he had accomplished something really worthwhile.
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“A Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.” –John Adams
Both of these pieces are absolutely amazing examples of early camp honor society pieces. They’ve been fun to watch. Thanks for the post.
-Ray