Lodge Creation Kanwa tho Lodge was founded on January 6, 2013 at the lodge's inaugural winter banquet. Kanwa tho Lodge was created through the consolidation of Mascoutens Lodge #8 and Mikano Lodge #231. The lodge merger was due to the council consolidation of the Southeast Wisconsin and Milwaukee County Councils, respectively. The terms of the Three Harbors Council merger (dated October 1, 2011) specified that the two lodges should determine how best to consolidate within 18 months of the council merger. In 2012, the lodge creation committee was formed of equal numbers of youth from each lodge with limited adult involvement, aside from the lodge's primary advisers. This committee met multiple times leading up to the 2012 summer camp season with the goals of: - Deciding on a lodge executive committee structure, including officers and elections procedures
- Determining how the new lodge was to support all four camps
- Establishing a chapter system due to the larger geographic area
- Creating the lodge name, totem, and patch hased on ideas solicited from the current lodges' membership
On the morning of July 8, 2012, the youth of the committee decided and voted on the new name and totem. The decision became official at 10:08 am at LeFeber Northwoods Camps. It was announced that the name and totem would be unveiled at the new lodge kickoff on October 20, 2012; however, it was not until January 6, 2013 that the Kanwa tho Lodge #636, was unveiled by the youth committee that created it. Lodge Name and Totem Kanwa tho Lodge is named after a subgrouping of the Potawatomi tribe of Indians headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Their totem is the panther, as "Kanwa tho" translates to "panther band". Former Lodges Mikano Lodge #231 was chartered in 1943 in the Milwaukee County Council. Its name means "turtle" in the Ho Chunk language. The totem was in recognition of the turtle effigy mound at Indian Mound Scout Reservation. Mascoutens Lodge #8 was chartered in 1972 and served the Southeast Wisconsin Council. The name means "People of the Little Prairie" and its totem was the beaver. Mascoutens Lodge was created in the merger of Chippecotton Lodge #524 and Oh-Da-Ko-Ta Lodge #153 during the creation of the Southeast Wisconsin Council. Oh-Da-Ko-Ta Lodge #153 was chartered in 1939 and served the Racine County Council. The name meant "friendly" and the lodge totem was an acorn and leaf. Chippecotton Lodge #524 was chartered in 1957 and served the Kenosha County Council. The totem comes from the lodge name, meaning "chipmunk." | 
