Inductions and Ceremonial Events 

General Guidelines

The following general guidelines apply to all ceremony evaluations and competitions:

1. All ceremony team members must be from the same lodge. Ceremonialists may perform with only one team per ceremony category. An individual may, however, perform in more than one category, i.e., a ceremonialist may perform on both a Pre-Ordeal and Brotherhood team but not on two Pre-Ordeal teams.
2. All participants *must* be under 21 years of age before August 6th, 2015.
3. For evaluations, lodges may only enter one team per ceremony during the registration period between April 1st and May 31st. More spaces may become available at a later time. Lodges interested in having more than one team evaluated will have the opportunity to register more teams at a later time.
4. In accordance with the policies of the National Order of the Arrow Committee, the use of face and body paint is prohibited at all ceremony team evaluations and competitions. The use of face or body skin coloring, or wigs in simulation of ethnic traits, is also not permitted. Appropriate undergarments should be worn under costumes.
5. All ceremonial parts should be fully memorized.
6. All participants are encouraged to wear appropriate American Indian costumes, but this is not a requirement. Teams are reminded not to show any disrespect, carelessness, or gross inappropriateness in their American Indian costumes. Teams opting to not wear American Indian costumes will be required to wear a full field uniform with the Order of the Arrow sash.
7. Extra people such as drummers, candidates and elangomats may be used to enhance a team's performance, but are not required.
8. The ICE staff will provide markers to indicate the locations of the fire and fire pots in the performance area. A burden will be provided for the Brotherhood ceremony. No other tokens, props or materials will be provided. Ceremonial teams will have to provide any tokens and additional props they need.
9. Teams are not required to have candidates present for their presentation of the ceremony. However, teams are welcome to provide their own candidates if they feel that will enhance their presentation.

If you have any questions about evaluations contact inductions and ceremonial events evaluations.

Honor Team Criteria

For those teams that complete the "Honor Team Criteria" as outlined in the Order of the Arrow Field Operations Guide in appendix 3, page 70 will receive recognition from the evaluations staff.

Criteria includes the following:

• At least three of the four team members must be rated excellent or outstanding.
• No more than one team member is rated good
• No team members are rated as fair

Rating of the ceremonialist will follow the ceremony team evaluation matrix as outlined in the  Field Operations Guide on page 70. Overall rating of a principal rating will be based on the average scores of all the following categories. If a principal is rated as "fair" in any category, then the principal will receive an overall "fair" rating. The complete matrix can be found in on page 70.

Last revised on March 11, 2015