camper
11-09-2005, 01:58 AM
Pretty much every camp i know of has campfires. at our camp, we have them every thursday night and they're called tribes. the whole camp is divided into 4 tribes...white mountain, horned king bird, flying eagle, and sunrise. each tribe has a PC chief and assistant chief and a counselor chief and assistant chief. we sit on benches arranged in a circle, each section of the circle is where a different tribe sits. the fire is in the middle. tribes are led by steve, the founder of our camp's grandson. we don't clap or yell out names at our campfires, we say "how" instead when someone does something good. here's how tribes works:
we line up with our tribes to walk to the council ring. the PC chiefs lead the team in after asking steve for permission to enter the council ring. once everyone is seated around the fire, seve taps a stick on the bench 3 times, which is the signal for quiet. he then says, "let there be silence, for we are about to hold council." then he asks the 4 "braves" (either the PC chief or assistant, depending on the week) selected to read the 4 sacred laws of nature to step up to the fire. the nature laws are beauty, truth, fortitude, and love. each chief or assistant recites one law. under each law are 3 "lamps," which are lessons that go along with the law. as she reads each lamp, the PC puts a long stick w/cotton on the end of it into the fire and lights another piece of cotton on the floor that is sitting in front of her. once they're back in their seats, steve asks the tribes for roll call. for roll call, the PC chief and assistant have to come up with a poem relating to the week's main event at tribes and end it with "all here and accounted for," for example, "oh steve, white mountain is here, filled with glory, ready to tell an amazing story. all here and accounted for." after each tribe says their poem, the rest of the tribe yells "howwww!" after roll call, any tribe that has won a tribal event that week (there is usually one tribal activity or evening activity a week other than actual tribes) can request the wooden horns to hang on their totem pole. then, the minutes of the previous campfire are read by 2 more PC's who have been selected as tally-ho's, who change each week. then, steve asks for scout reports, which are where any camper can raise her hand with "the sign of the high hiker," (which is thumb and pinkie up, the rest of the fingers in a fist,) and be called on by steve to tell about something interesting in nature that she has seen. she has to request permission if she is called on, for example, "oh steve, i liz jones of the greatest tribe in blue ridge, sunrise, would like to make a scout report" and then she can tell her story. some of them are really funny, especially if a counselor makes one up and tells it. then there are challenges, where in the same manner a camper can challenge a camper on another tribe to an indian leg wrestle or straight face contest, which they do in the middle of the council ring for everyone to watch. then, there is the main challenge of the evening, which is usually something that is rehearsed for during the week, such as storytelling where the PC chiefs tell a story with a moral, tribal pyramids which is where each tribe does a formation around the fire in the middle of the council ring, or tribal sing. then, while the judges of the event add scores, one age group, starting with the PC's the first week and then going down through the upper camp after that, has a tribal tug of war in the middle of the ring. one team challenges another, then the other 2, and then the winners of those 2. then, the scores are read and the winning team requests the horns. once everyone is seated and quiet again, steve tells everyone to stand and cross right arm over left and hold the people's hands next to you so we can sing taps standing still, no swaying or moving allowed. it's really beautiful, and that signals the end of tribes.
i know that was long, lol but thats tribes! there are lots of other little traditions within tribes, for example the counselor and PC chiefs and assistant chiefs of the tribes play 2 rounds of killer during the campfire. only the other PC's and the counselors know about it. they pick pieces of paper, either blank or with 1 x for killer in the first round or 2 x's for killer in the 2nd round, before tribes starts and play the game during tribes. when you get "killed" you cross one leg over the other. everyone who knows about the game loves to try to follow it!
so, what are your campfires like?
we line up with our tribes to walk to the council ring. the PC chiefs lead the team in after asking steve for permission to enter the council ring. once everyone is seated around the fire, seve taps a stick on the bench 3 times, which is the signal for quiet. he then says, "let there be silence, for we are about to hold council." then he asks the 4 "braves" (either the PC chief or assistant, depending on the week) selected to read the 4 sacred laws of nature to step up to the fire. the nature laws are beauty, truth, fortitude, and love. each chief or assistant recites one law. under each law are 3 "lamps," which are lessons that go along with the law. as she reads each lamp, the PC puts a long stick w/cotton on the end of it into the fire and lights another piece of cotton on the floor that is sitting in front of her. once they're back in their seats, steve asks the tribes for roll call. for roll call, the PC chief and assistant have to come up with a poem relating to the week's main event at tribes and end it with "all here and accounted for," for example, "oh steve, white mountain is here, filled with glory, ready to tell an amazing story. all here and accounted for." after each tribe says their poem, the rest of the tribe yells "howwww!" after roll call, any tribe that has won a tribal event that week (there is usually one tribal activity or evening activity a week other than actual tribes) can request the wooden horns to hang on their totem pole. then, the minutes of the previous campfire are read by 2 more PC's who have been selected as tally-ho's, who change each week. then, steve asks for scout reports, which are where any camper can raise her hand with "the sign of the high hiker," (which is thumb and pinkie up, the rest of the fingers in a fist,) and be called on by steve to tell about something interesting in nature that she has seen. she has to request permission if she is called on, for example, "oh steve, i liz jones of the greatest tribe in blue ridge, sunrise, would like to make a scout report" and then she can tell her story. some of them are really funny, especially if a counselor makes one up and tells it. then there are challenges, where in the same manner a camper can challenge a camper on another tribe to an indian leg wrestle or straight face contest, which they do in the middle of the council ring for everyone to watch. then, there is the main challenge of the evening, which is usually something that is rehearsed for during the week, such as storytelling where the PC chiefs tell a story with a moral, tribal pyramids which is where each tribe does a formation around the fire in the middle of the council ring, or tribal sing. then, while the judges of the event add scores, one age group, starting with the PC's the first week and then going down through the upper camp after that, has a tribal tug of war in the middle of the ring. one team challenges another, then the other 2, and then the winners of those 2. then, the scores are read and the winning team requests the horns. once everyone is seated and quiet again, steve tells everyone to stand and cross right arm over left and hold the people's hands next to you so we can sing taps standing still, no swaying or moving allowed. it's really beautiful, and that signals the end of tribes.
i know that was long, lol but thats tribes! there are lots of other little traditions within tribes, for example the counselor and PC chiefs and assistant chiefs of the tribes play 2 rounds of killer during the campfire. only the other PC's and the counselors know about it. they pick pieces of paper, either blank or with 1 x for killer in the first round or 2 x's for killer in the 2nd round, before tribes starts and play the game during tribes. when you get "killed" you cross one leg over the other. everyone who knows about the game loves to try to follow it!
so, what are your campfires like?