Many moons ago, before the white man came to America, there was a tribe of Paiute Indians, also known as the "Numas" or Human Beings.

The Numas were considered to be the only clan who truly lived entirely off the land. Other tribes called them "the gathers" or "diggers" because they collected Pinon nuts and would dig roots to store for the winter.

They learned to make clothing from the bark if the cedar trees and rugs from the sage brush. In the winter their clothes were made from the furs of rabbits and the skins of deer and pronghorns.

The Numas, lived where other tribes would not even consider living.. The others did not know how to live off of this harsh land. The Numas lived in the high desert areas of Utah, Colorado, Nevada and Northern Arizona.

One particularly harsh winter the Numas began to run short on food and were forced to form a hunting party to try to find food. They planned to hunt the high plateau, called Mark-a-gunt, high above the desert floor they called home.

For several nights before they were to start out, they performed a hunting ritual. They danced around the fire singing and praying to "Tobats" the Great Spirit, asking him to bless them with plentiful hunting grounds for the hunt.

High above them large flaming rocks fell, as if from the sky, shaking the land below the rim of Mark-a-gunt. The rim split off and the trees burned throughout the night.

In the morning the Numas started towards the towering Mark-a-gunt. There they gave chase to a large heard of deer. But the animals were too fast and escaped into a great canyon. The Numas gave chase and trapped them in the same canyon that had been burning the night before.

There they made the kill, praising Tobats for sending them the food that would last the winter. As they gazed around they realized that the area had been burned from the same fire they had seen the night before as they were dancing.

Tobats had heard their prayers and as a gift to the Numas, he had sent the falling rocks as a sign that they would have a good hunt.

The elders of the tribe upon hearing the story named this area PACH-QU-OON-QUIP, meaning Earthquake with many falling rocks. In our time we know this area as Cedar Breaks.

Lodge 508 of the Order of the Arrow was established in the Utah National Parks Council, B. S. A. during a planning meeting held 24 May 1954 at Camp Maple Dell, Payson Canyon, Utah during preparation activities for the opening of camp for the coming summer season. John L. Cross Sr., Camp Director, Woodrow C. Dennett, Assistant Camp Director, Alvin Gaudio and E. Louis McClellan, staff members, set plans for the organization of the lodge.

Alvin Gaudio accepted the responsibility of designing a lodge patch and John L. Cross Sr. recommended the name TU-CUBIN-NOONIE, a greeting or salutation used by the Pah-Ute Indians and in varying forms by the Utes. It translates into "I am your friend" in English.

During a Scouting orientation session with L. D. S. Church leaders of the Kanab Stake in southern Utah in the fall of 1948 John L. Cross Sr. had become acquainted with a long time Scouter, Leonard Heaton, friend and confident of the Kai-bab-its, Kaibab Pah-Utes at Moccasin Springs National Monument. On this occasion Leonard had extended to John the greeting in it's entirety -TU-CUBIN-NOONIE, NOONIE-TU-CUBIN, IOOIE, IOOIE. He then explained the meaning and use. The first person to extend the greeting is saying "I am your friend" and is in turn greeted "You are my friend". "All is well" is repeated twice (between us being inferred). The greeting represents the spirit and feeling of both parties toward one another.

For several years following thins introduction, John was greeted in various scout gatherings throughout the southwest section of Utah, formerly the Zion National Park Council and now part of the Utah National Parks Council.

The greeting had been acceptable among the scouters of the former council and the Timpanogos Council. As a Scouter's greeting it had been initiated, apparently, and encouraged by William R. Palmer of Cedar City, Utah while serving as President of the Zion National Park Council. President Palmer was friend and confident of the Coal Creek and Shivwit-Shebit bands of Pah-Utes.

Use of this greeting, in scouting circles in southern Utah as early as 1934 was referred to by Dr. L. D. Pfouts, Timpanogos Council Camping Chairman, in a 1935 dated letter that he had written and addressed to President William R. Palmer.

In a journal of Dr. Pfouts, dated between July 1935 and December 1936, he refers to the TU-CUBIN-NOONIE greeting no less than seven times and several of those times uses it at the close of and entry referring to an experience with another Scouter or friend. He also indicates an intent, as Council Camping Chairman, to incorporate it into the programs at the council summer camps during 1936.

In the 1947 publication, "Millard and Nearby written for the Scouts of Millard County, Utah", by Frank Beckwith, Frank refers to the word TU-CU-BIN as meaning friend and to MIKE-TU-CU-BIN as corresponding closely to our "Hello Friend".

It had been the earnest desire of these and other scouters to incorporate this Native American greeting into the every day activities of the scouting movement through out the now Utah National Parks Council. The council encompasses the lands of the native Pah-Ute as well as the Ute Indian people who both speak the same basic language.

How better could their dreams of desires become a reality than through the friendly greeting of Brothers of the Order of the Arrow lodge to all corners of the council in the lands of it's native people?