The origins of the Tribe of Mannaseh can be traced back to September 1999 when a report from the council Camping Committee Chairman, Leo Desmond, showed a steady decline in attendance at summer camp since 1997.
The council's Executive Board, concerned with this trend, then discussed various ideas to improve attendance. One item mentioned was the use of camp honor societies by other councils. At the urging of Executive Board member, Sandy Silverstein, the Council President, John Marsh, appointed fellow board member, Mark Pluff to organize a committee to review some of the successful camping honor societies and provide the board with a recommendation.
In September 2000, Mr. Pluff provided the board with his findings. Several programs had been examined, including:
Mr. Pluff reported that the councils listed above enjoyed a significant and continued increase in summer camp attendance due primarily to their camp leadership programs.
Given these findings, the Executive Board decided to proceed with the formation of a camp honor society, and to base it on the Tribe of Mic-O-Say programs used in Kansas City and St. Joseph, MO. It was decided that the name of this society would be the "Tribe of Mannaseh". This was in homage to the council's former Order of the Arrow lodge which existed from 1935 until 1965. As with the Mannaseh Lodge, the totem of our Tribe is the buffalo.
In January 2001, the inaugural meeting of the Tribe of Mannaseh was held at Camp Joy. At this gathering, Scout Executive Warren Wenner was named Chief Mighty Tall Sequoia, the first Chief of our Tribe, and Council President, John Marsh, was named Presiding Chieftain Spotted Eagle.
Also at that meeting, the following members were named to the first Tribal Council:
