Greater Niagara Frontier Council #380
Buffalo, New York

159 Ho-De-No-Sau-Nee’s issues were renumbered in February 2025. Info
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Editors:

Special thanks to Marty Abramson, Gonny Conway, Harry DeBan, Paul Freitag, Don Izard, Larry Jones, Mike Knittel, Roger Lemke, Bill Mulrenin, Dirk Norwich, Jerry Sullivan, III, Dave Zasowski.

Lodge Details

Chartered
1967
Merged with Ashokwahta 339 in 2023 to form Erie Canal Lodge

Lodge Details
1st Merger Details (Ganosote & Tuscarora): 1/24/1967 Consolidation Meeting; 2/13/1967 Name Approved; 2/14/1967 Camping Committee Approval; 2/1967 Executive Board Approval. Ho-De-No-Sau-Nee Lodge was formed. 2nd Merger Details (Ho-De-No-Sau-Nee & Ashokwahta): 11/2/2022 Merger Discussions Announced; 5/1/2023 Council Merger Announced (Western New York Council); Lodge Merger 6/26/20023; Announcement 7/7/2023. Erie Canal Lodge was formed. Lodge Chapters: Amherst, Apache, Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Cazenovia, Ellicott, Erie, Falling Waters*, Iroquois, Kenton, Mohawk, Niagara, Ongara, Onondaga*, Polaris, Portage, Rainbow, Red Jacket, Scajaquada, Seneca*, Silver Lakes, Theodore Roosevelt, Tonawandas (*final chapters).

Lodge Totem/Insignia Longhouse

Name Translation People of the Longhouse Info

Pronunciation

Membership No Membership Data

Ho-De-No-Sau-Nee S1a

Ho-De-No-Sau-Nee S1a
1967

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Lodge History

In early spring 1967, the Greater Niagara Frontier Council was formed from the merger of the Niagara Frontier Council (Tuscarora Lodge) and the Buffalo Area Council (Ganosote Lodge). A new merged Lodge was formed, taking the name Ho-De-No-Sau-Nee, meaning "People of the Longhouse." The new lodge quickly adopted the Iroquois longhouse with six smokestacks (one for each of the six tribes of the Iroquois) as its totem.

Initially, the lodge had fourteen chapters (twelve from Ganosote and two from Tuscarora). However, a year after the merger the number of chapters was reduced to twelve. In 1970, the Niagara Falls chapters merged. In 1983, 1986, and 1990 there were a series of chapter mergers. Finally, from 1990 until 2002 there were only three chapters. Things changed in 2002 when the lodge added a chapter (Theodore Roosevelt).

In 2004 the Council split three of the four districts in half. The chapters retained the same boundaries with Onondaga Chapter containing Cayuga & Iroquois Trail Districts. Polaris Chapter was made up of Niagara Gateway & Tonawanda Districts. Silver Lakes Chapter was made up of Erie Shores & Southern Hills Districts. Theodore Roosevelt Chapter was the Theodore Roosevelt District.

In 2007 the Theodore Roosevelt Chapter merged with the Onondaga Chapter. Silver Lakes Chapter changed its name to Seneca Chapter. Polaris Chapter changed its name to Falling Waters. From 2007 till 2023 the lodge had three chapters: Falling Waters, Onondaga, and Seneca.

On November 2, 2022, the Greater Niagara Frontier Council and the Iroquois Trails Council announced they were beginning merger discussions. The merger was completed on May 1, 2023 and resulted in the creation of the Western New York Scout Council. During that time, the Ho-De-No-Sau-Nee #159, and Ashokwahta # 339 worked together to merge into one combined lodge. Effective June 26, 2023, Erie Canal Lodge #159 was created. According to the lodge, “the name was chosen due to the significance of the Erie Canal with regard to the effect it had on the commerce of the time (1825), both nationally and statewide. This new lodge will have a Canal Packet Boat as the Totem. The Packet boat was the only means of transporting mail and passengers at that time.”