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Tah-Heetch means "oak covered valley" in
the Yokut language. Our totem is the
Prairie Falcon, who was a mythical hero
of the Yokuts. They called this falcon
Lim'ik. According to legend, Lim'ik and
the crow named Ahl'wut built the Sierra
Nevada and Coastal mountain ranges.
A Great Flood had occurred upon Earth
long, long ago. While Earth was still
covered with water, there were no living
creatures upon the land. Then out of the
sky one day glided Lim'ik with Ahl'wut
riding upon its back, searching for a
place to light. Around and around Lim'ik
flew until he discovered a projecting
tree stump, or what appeared to be a
stump, upon which he landed to rest.
There was a home at last upon the flat
surface, which was amply large enough
for himself and Ahl'wut to roost upon.
From here, they surveyed the greenish
gray water as far as they could see. The
sky was a gorgeous bright blue with a
few white drifting clouds, occasionally
swirled by a passing breeze. All seemed
serene to Lim'ik and Ahl'wut. Small fish
were visible below the water, sometimes
leaping out of the sea playfully. Hunger
caused Lim'ik and Ahl'wut to swoop down,
catching a meal for themselves from time
to time. Soon a game developed between
the two birds to see which one would be
the winner in the fish-catching contest.
Upon their return to the stump, however,
they always shared the reward.
Because of Lim'ik's great flying
ability, he soared to great heights and
surveyed widely, as the two birds often
flew in opposite directions exploring
for land. But no land did they find. No
other flying creatures did they see. But
they always returned to their home base
on the tree stump. Between them, they
wondered "How can we possibly think of a
way to make land?" "We know we cannot
dive deep enough to find dirt, and the
fish are of no help except to provide
food." Day after day these scenes were
repeated, exploring in search of land or
wondering how to create land, only to
return to their stump and catch more
fish.
One morning soon thereafter and much to
their surprise, a Duck was swimming
around and around their stump.
Occasionally, it dived deep in the
water, rose to the surface chewing small
fish, twisting its head from side to
side trying to swallow its meal. One
time, Duck emerged with more mud than
fish in its mouth. Lim'ik and Ahl'wut
talked excitedly about this! "Can Duck
possibly bring up enough mud for us to
build land?" they wondered. How could
they let Duck know that mud was what
they needed most? An idea occurred to
Lim'ik, which he discussed with Ahl'wut,
"If we supply fish for Duck, maybe he
will bring up more mud than fish." By
trial and error, the two birds caught
fish for Duck, placing them at the edge
of the stump, until Duck learned that
the fish were for him in exchange for
mud! When Duck appeared on the surface
after a deep dive, Lim'ik and Ahl'wut
brushed off the mud from Duck's bill and
his body with their wings. Progress was
slow but steady.
Gradually, Lim'ik had a pile of mud on
his side of the stump and Ahl'wut had a
similar pile on his side. Each placed
fish on his own side for Duck, who now
responded by carrying more and more mud
to both. This became a great game of
fish-and-mud exchange. Duck worked very
hard, consequently he was always hungry.
The birds were surprised at how large
each one's mud pile grew every day. In
bird talk they said, "Duck is helping us
to make a new world. This we will share
equally."
Occasionally, Lim'ik and Ahl'wut flew
toward the horizon, exploring for any
new signs of land. But they returned
with nothing new to report; however,
they noticed a slight lowering of water
around the tree stump. "Surely, the
flood must be coming to an end," Ahl'wut
and Lim'ik bird talked. Each day they
watched for a change in the waterline.
Each day their piles of mud seemed
higher and higher. Faithful Duck kept up
his good work as Lim'ik and Ahl'wut
caught fish for him and scraped off mud
from him for each side of the new world.
Another time, Lim'ik flew high and far
in search of dry land, not returning
until late. The sun set and darkness
enveloped his world on the stump. Next
morning, to Lim'ik's surprise, he saw
how much more mud he had acquired, and
he was pleased. But after looking across
at Ahl'wut's mud pile, he was astounded
to see that Ahl'wut had given himself
twice as much mud while he was away.
"Was this Crow's idea of sharing the new
world equally?" accused Lim'ik. Of
course, they quarreled all that day and
the next over Ahl'wut's unfairness. But
the following day, they went back to
work making their new land. Lim'ik
decided that he must catch up. He caught
two fish for Duck and put them in his
usual place. Duck responded by bringing
up mud twice to Eagle in exchange for
his two fish. All three worked very hard
for many, many moons. Gradually,
Lim'ik's half of the new world became
taller and taller than Ahl'wut's half,
even though they both seemed to work
equally hard. Duck was faithful to his
task, never tiring in his effort to
supply mud. Of course, Duck continued to
give Lim'ik twice as much mud for his
two fish. Crow never seemed to notice
why Lim'ik's half became higher and
higher than his half.
One morning, as the sun rose brightly,
the two birds looked down through the
water and saw what appeared to be land!
"So that is where Duck finds the mud,"
they bird talked. They were pleased to
see that the water was subsiding. How
they hoped that soon they would be high
and dry on their new world.
But all was not so easy, for that very
night lightning flashed across the
waters and thunder rolled and rolled
from one horizon to the other followed
by a heavy, drenching rain. Lim'ik and
Ahl'wut sought shelter in holes they dug
into the sides of their mud piles. All
night long the rain continued to fall,
washing away much of the new world into
the sea. As the rain stopped and the sun
rose, Lim'ik and Duck looked out upon
the waters and saw an arc of many colo
rs
reaching from one edge of the horizon
across the sky to the other horizon.
This brilliant display held their eyes
in wonderment. What did it mean? They
marveled at how long the colors lingered
in the sky. Lim'ik flew toward the scene
for a closer look, returning when the
arc disappeared. In bird talk, Lim'ik
and Ahl'wut decided that the storm of
the night before must have been a
clearing shower. They began their land-
building project again, hoping that Duck
would resume his work as mud-carrier.
Soon the sun's rays burned strong and
hot, packing the mud until it was hard.
Duck appeared and the team of three
continued to build the two halves of the
new world.
Day by day, the waters subsided and new
land began to show above the waterline
but far, far below the new creation by
Lim'ik and Ahl'wut. Lim'ik's half became
taller and taller and hard packed by the
hot sun. Ahlwut's share of the new world
was still great, but never could become
as large as Lim'ik's half of the new
world.
As our totem, the outstretched wings
symbolize the high ideals of Scouting!
Tah-Heetch was formed by the merger of
Mirimichi Lodge 102 (Mt. Whitney Area
Council) and Sha-Cha-Quoi 548 (Sequoia
Council) in January of 1995, hence the
number 195. The name Tah-Heecth was
suggested by Dennis Haines of Tulare,
who became our first Lodge Adviser. Tom
Switajewski of Hanford designed our
first patch.
In 2001 Riley Berg, Lodge Chief, was
elected W3B Section Chief. Attending the
National meeting in December of 2001, he
was elected to National Vice Chief! Our
trip to NOAC in 2002 was especially
meaningful. For the second NOAC in a
row, the lodge contingent earned the
coveted Spirit Award, which only a
handful of the 300 lodges nation-wide
have done.
Currently, Dr. Bill Wilson has completed a comprehensive
lodge history which has been copied to CD and printed
in color. It was distributed at the Annual Banquet
Dinner in 2005 and can be purchased through the Trading
Post at lodge events.
Service is one of the Four Purposes of
the Order of the Arrow and throughout
the year the lodge provides service on
many different levels; as a lodge during
our three annual Ordeals at the
Council's camps; as Chapters for council
or districts and communities; and as a
section providing service to Conclave
sites each year. Tah-Heetch services
both Camp Chawanakee at Shaver Lake, CA.
and Camp David Wortman in SE Sequoia
National Forest, near Badger, CA.
Most of the Lodge's
funds come from event participation and trading post
sales. A Silent Auction for Lodge Members is held
at each Annual Banquet in January. Contributions for
the silent auction are accepted anytime and businesses
and individuals are welcome to make donations to help
offset costs for Section and National Training events
or specific lodge programs.
Lodge Meetings are
regularly held on the First Thursday of each month
at 7:00pm. From time to time, locations must be changed
to accommodate meeting places.July is the only month
the LEC does not meet.
They are currently held at the Selma
Ward LDS Church in Selma, CA. At the
Floradora exit off Hwy 99, proceed on
Floradora past the RR tracks and turn
left on Thompson. Proceed past the High
School to Burnham, the first street past
the stop sign. Turn right and proceed
down the street to the church.
Alternately, meetings are sometimes held
at Brook's Ranch Restaurant on Floradora
near the Hwy 99 interchange.
Anyone may attend Lodge Executive
Committee (LEC) meetings, however, only
youth Lodge Officers and youth Chapter
Chiefs may vote on matters. An agenda is
published prior to the meeting and
business is limited to agenda items.
Youth members are encouraged to be
active participants of lodge/chapter
committees and to help organize and run
lodge/chapter events. Adult members may
serve as advisers to youth in their
capacities.
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