satl8

Couldn't let this one pass- Sorry David you are wrong about this one, period. We work very closely with our affiliated tribe and have their full blessing to wear what we wear and do what we do. Our Lodge has 2 OA advisors that are Native American that work closely with our youth and adults to make sure we do not cross boundaries. There is also a National committee that works with Tribes all across the country. After the last update from National about clothing we decided to revisit our choices for "ceremonies". I put that in quotes because it is nothing more than a play with actors, lines, scripts, and coordinated movements. We work very hard to make sure our youth do not use broken English and make our candidates experience respectful and meaningful. At no time are we imitating any ritual or religious practice. Our Native American advisers had no issue with what we were doing but it was not appropriate for our area/region (Plains attire in the Southwest.) One of our advisers made a trip to the Hopi reservation and had a conversation with a couple of Tribal Elders to get clarification. Where we ended up now is basic Pow Wow attire that would be acceptable for anyone to wear in public (ribbon shirts, dark pants, some basic jewelry and sash belts) I would say that we have a good working relationship with the tribe and have their full blessing because we are able to work with them to respect their culture. Does that happen elsewhere? I don't know and cant say. Nowhere do we imitate any "rituals." Native American religious ceremonies are absolutely forbidden and a no go according to National and our local policies. Name one Native American ritual that you have witnessed being performed by OA or Mic O Say? All dancing and drum teams have their own sets of rules and regulations. They basically point out that anything that is performed by a dance or drum team must be acceptable for Inter-tribal pow-wows. You are invited to attend (maybe wait until Covid is less of a thing) and I urge you to attend and participate. You will be welcomed to dance and participate at certain times when allowable.

Scoutbook should have it listed IF your council uploads the list into Scoutbook.... My Dashboard-> My Account-> My Positions-> At the bottom it should show all of your current positions and if registered as a MBC then they should all be listed out.

Waiting on National to publish guidelines, if they want to make that available. I don't think they will IMO. The logistics of getting everything right is going to be difficult at best.

Ours are printed and then laminated

Why not just increase the patrol members to 8 per patrol? The syllabus allows for 6-8 youth per patrol. With 8 patrols that would take you up to 64 participants. The minimum size of a Troop for NYLT is 4 patrols, but I think it is much better to have the interaction of 6-8 patrols than it is with 4-5 patrols. I do agree with having 10 TG's though, seems one or two always drop out at the last minute or aren't quite up to speed yet by course time.