Yokahu Lodge 506 is the Order of the Arrow lodge of the Puerto Rico Council of Scouting America, serving all municipalities of Puerto Rico. It was founded at Guajataka Scout Reservation, next to Guajataca Lake in San Sebastián, between April 10–15, 1954 by Luis Matías Ferrer and Dr. Frank H. Wadsworth. Yokahu Lodge's executive operation is based at the Puerto Rico Council offices in Guaynabo, while their field operations are at Guajataka Scout Reservation. The Lodge adopted the Three-Point Taíno Cemí as its totem and Yukiyú as its name, the latter which was eventually changed to Yokahu as a proposition by Dr. Ricardo Alegría. At National level, the Lodge is part of the Eastern Region, Section E-17.
History In 1953, the very first delegation of Scouts from the Puerto Rico Council attended the National Scout Jamboree at Irving Ranch, California. Among the activities, the delegation witnessed in awe an Order of the Arrow (OA) ceremony that caught the attention of its adults. Having the ceremony concluded, they approached the OA members and asked them about the ceremony and its meanings. Upon the delegation's return to Puerto Rico, the idea of the Order of the Arrow was taken to the Puerto Rico Council.
With the necessary requirements in hand provided by the OA National Office, the council tasked the founding of the Order of the Arrow in Puerto Rico to its executive Luis Matías Ferrer in 1954. Having no knowledge of the organization, he sought the help of Dr. Frank H. Wadsworth, an American forester who had been inducted in the Order of the Arrow during his youth in the United States, and was also the only Arrowman in Puerto Rico at the time. The first Ordeal ceremony took place April 10–15, 1954 at Guajataka Scout Reservation with Dr. Wadsworth acting as the first Ordealmaster. Because of his role in the first Ordeal ceremony, Wadsworth has been often recognized as the Yokahu Lodge's main, or sometimes sole, founder throughout its history with not enough credit given to Luis Matías Ferrer.
After the establishment of the Order of the Arrow in Puerto Rico, the Lodge was named Yukiyú and was later renamed to Yokahu, a variant of the name proposed by archaeologist, anthropologist and historian, Dr. Ricardo Alegría. In the beginning, the Lodge translated the ceremony scripts from English to Spanish and used Native American regalia, but decided later to slightly modify the ceremonies by assimilating the Taíno heritage with the Lenni Lennape culture, incorporating Taíno-based regalia and adapting the scripts to the Taíno culture. Yokahu Lodge is the only Order of the Arrow Lodge that uses Spanish as its main language.
When Yokahu Lodge was founded, it also covered the United States Virgin Islands when the Puerto Rico Council was previously known as the Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands Council. A chapter for the Virgin Islands, Chapter Arawak, was created to support them until they separated and created the Virgin Islands Council and Arawak Lodge 562 in 1965.
Headquarters The Lodge's office headquarters, where lodge, section and national business are managed, are within the Puerto Rico Council while field headquarters are at Guajataka Scout Reservation, considered as the official home of Yokahu Lodge. Most of the Lodge activities are celebrated in the camp where the Order of the Arrow has provided service to the facilities for many years. The OA has its own campsite, called "The Cabin", which occupancy has been discontinued due to structural damages, but still remains standing. In the past, the Paquito Joglar campsite area was considered the official gathering place for the Lodge, later becoming a campers area due to the need of space for the many Scouts that attended camp.
Lodge Chiefs and Chapters The term for Yokahu's Lodge Chiefs runs for a year, after each election. From the Lodge's foundation in 1954, the Lodge Chief term began in the middle of the year, until the term was changed to run from the beginning to the end of each year, as of 1972. Since then, the Lodge has had over sixty Lodge Chiefs, many who have had professional careers in politics, television, law firms, courts of law, medicine, etc., such as Héctor Luis Acevedo, former mayor of San Juan, and Alfred D. Herger, television host and psychologist.
Yokahu Lodge Chiefs timelineNo.ChiefTermChapterUnit67Sebastián Y. Rosado–González2026Guaitiao36066Yénesis Y. O'Neill-Quiñones 202565Víctor D. Padilla-Rivera2025202464Julián Calderón-Pérez202315463Sebastián Matos-Medina202262Laura V. Díaz-Piferrer 2021Yagüeka3961Jorge A. Rivera-López2020 Guaitiao154201960Edward Colberg-Avilés2018Majagua1259Douglas Soto-Ocasio2017Arasibo82258Ricardo Calzada-Preston2016Yagüeka16257Roberto E. Vélez-Rodríguez2015Guaitiao68556José A. Molinelli-González2014Guaní116755Mario A. Velázquez-Fernández2013 54Angel J. Carrillo201224753Brayan G. Deida-Galeano2011Guaitiao36052Manuel A. Díaz-Arzola2010Yagüeka39200951Carmelo Pagán2008Guarionex4950William Joglar-Medina2007Guaitiao15449José R. Guzmán-Pereira2006Guarionex51448Martín Soto2005Yagüeka27047Miguel "Choki" Rivera-Rivera2004Guaní24746Angel M. Velázquez-Fernández2003116745José E. Castro2002Guarionex4944Antonio Juan Barbosa2001Guaní21943Nelson J. Díaz-Hernández2000Cayniabón57242Orlando Lugo-Pérez199941Alexander Fontanez1998Majagua40840José Antonetti-Pagán1997Guarionex199639Juan Francisco Rosario-Riefkohl1995Guaraka3238Juan Arnaldo Ortiz-Cotto1994Guaní24737Juan J. "Popeye" López-Ríos1993Majagua55336Miguel Maldonado1992Guaitiao37735Edgar A. "Gardy" González-Moreno1991Guarionex42434Luis R. "Jun" González-Medina1990Yagüeka16633Antonio "Tony" Fernandez-Santiago1989Majagua237198832Angel L. "Ozzy" Rodríguez1987Guaitiao57231Rafael Fernández-Santiago1986Majagua23730Rubén Sandoval-Ramos1985Majagua58329Ubaldo Soto-González1984Arasibo28José A. Kareh-Cordero1983Guaní16727Eladio J. Feliciano-Matos1982Majagua81426Edwin González198132725Juan A. Cornier1980Guaitiao24Juan R. "Raymond" Nieves-Bonilla1979Guarionex9623Luis R. Medina-Martínez1978Guaní16722José Luis "JL" González1977Majagua32721Víctor J. "Vitín" Linares-Ortiz1976Guarionex9620Roberto J. "Bobby" Hernández1975Guaitiao19José Francisco O'Neil197418Juan Lorenzo Martínez-Colón197317Edgardo "Gardo" Verdejo-Calderón1971-72Guaitiao57716Erick Montalvo1970-71Guaitiao4615Freddie Martínez1969-7014José A. "Beco" Zayas1968-69Guaitiao4613Juan B. González1967-6812Héctor Luis Acevedo1966-6711José A. "Pepe" Goyco-Larazabal1965-6610Jorge A. Camacho-Vega1964-65349Angel A. Amy1963-648Hipólito "Polo" Bravo1962-63Guaitiao347José Adolfo Morales1961-626Francisco A. León1960-615Alfred D. Herger1959-60Guaitiao114Raúl Iñesta-Quiñonez1958-593Luis R. Pérez1957-582José A. Méndez1956-571Rafael Maldonado-Angulo1955-56Guaitiao111954-55
Throughout its history, Yokahu Lodge has been composed of varying numbers of chapters. More or fewer chapters were created or merged with others to adapt to changes in their membership and in the national and local regulations of Scouting America and the Order of the Arrow. There have been a total of nine chapters that have existed at different times in the Lodge's history: Arasibo, Arawak, Cayniabón, Guaitiao, Guaní, Guaraka, Guarionex, Majagua and Yagüeka. Chapter Arawak, which covered the United States Virgin Islands since 1954, separated from Yokahu to form Arawak Lodge with the establishment of the Virgin Islands Council in 1965, leaving eight chapters remaining.
At the beginning of 2018, two of the eight chapters that formed Yokahu Lodge, Guaraka and Cayniabón, were merged to Chapters Guaní and Guaitiao, respectively, to align with the same number of districts of the Puerto Rico Council. In June 2026, another restructure was enacted, merging the remaining six chapters into three super-chapters: Majagua with Guaitiao, Guarionex with Guaní and Yagüeka with Arasibo.
The name of each chapter corresponds to words or names from the Taíno language. Arasibo, Guarionex and Majagua are named after caciques who ruled the territory where each chapter is located in. Cayniabón, Guaraka and Yagüeka are named after the Taíno name of each of their chapter's territories. Guaní and Guaitiao mean "golden disk that identifies the Cacique" and "friendship", respectively. Finally, the former Arawak Chapter took its name from the Arawak people, in which, the Taínos formed an important part.
The current chapters are:
Chapter 1:Adjuntas, Aguas Buenas, Aibonito, Arroyo, Caguas, Cayey, Ceiba, Cidra, Coamo, Comerío, Culebra, Guayama, Guayanilla, Gurabo, Humacao, Jayuya, Juana Díaz, Juncos, Las Piedras, Maunabo, Naguabo, Patillas, Peñuelas, Ponce, Salinas, Santa Isabel, San Lorenzo, Vieques, Villalba, Yabucoa, and Yauco.
Chapter 2: Barranquitas, Bayamón, Canóvanas, Carolina, Cataño, Corozal, Dorado, Fajardo, Guaynabo, Loíza, Luquillo, Naranjito, Río Grande, San Juan, Toa Alta, Toa Baja, Trujillo Alto and Vega Alta.
Chapter 3: Aguada, Aguadilla, Añasco, Arecibo, Barceloneta, Cabo Rojo, Camuy, Ciales, Florida, Guánica, Hatillo, Hormigueros, Isabela, Lajas, Lares, Las Marías, Maricao, Mayagüez, Manatí, Moca, Morovis, Orocovis, Quebradillas, Rincón, Sabana Grande, San Germán, San Sebastián, Utuado and Vega Baja.
Activities Main There are four main activities in the Lodge's calendar. The Retorno is celebrated on a weekend between March and April; its purpose is to reunite the Lodge's Arrowmen to lay out and distribute the year's activities and the chapters in charge of running each one, it also serves as a chance to meet the new Lodge Executive Board for the year. Halfway through the year, the Lodge celebrates its high adventure activity between August and September, in order to challenge each Arrowmen's outdoor skills. In October, the Lodge celebrates its Guateke (from the Taíno language, meaning gathering), a fellowship event in which chapters participate in various competitions such as ceremony, regalia, dialogue, sports, triathlon and trivia; the highlight of the Guateke is the youth nominations for the positions of the Lodge Executive Board during the Fall Assembly. Finally in December, the annual Convention serves as the conclusion of the Lodge's year, similar to a "Court of Honor", in which different recognitions and awards are handed out based on service during the year and the youth elections for the executive board are held.
Other activities include the start-of-the-year Lodge Leadership Seminar followed by the First Executive Meeting, both taking place the same day early January, the Second Executive Meeting between March and April, the third and final Executive Meeting between late August and early September and a service project.
Inductions Inductions are celebrated four times a year, usually once a month from May to August. The induction weekends are called Ordeal/Bros, which began in 1993, since both Ordeal and Brotherhood ceremonies take place at the same time. The Vigil Honor is celebrated as an independent activity from Saturday evening to midday Sunday on the weekend of Thanksgiving, strictly open to Vigil Honor members and candidates.
Section Conclaves Since 2008, Yokahu Lodge has hosted three Section Conclaves at Guajataka Scout Reservation
The 2008 NE-2A Section Conclave marked the first time that the Yokahu Lodge hosted such event and the first to be held outside the United States. The event had a record attendance of 500 Arrowmen including the National Chief and Vice-Chief, Northeast Region Chief and many Section Chiefs. In this Conclave, the Section changed from NE-2A to NE-5A with the Section losing and acquiring other Lodges. At this event, Alberto del Valle, from Yokahu Lodge, became the second Puerto Rican to become a Section officer after being elected Section Vice-Chief. The first Yokahu Arrowman to become a Section officer was Fernando Moreno, who was elected Section Secretary, years prior.