Leaf-peep-alooza: the Improved Order of Red Men

The Hail to the Sunrise statue on the Mohawk Trail didn’t just spring up there fully formed. Instead, it was erected by the Improved Order of Red Men. I was intrigued… Who are these Improved Red Men? Could I join them, finally uniting the Martian and Native American factions?

Thanks to Wikipedia, I know now… The IORM are a fraternal order, similar to the Masons, or the Odd Fellows. They have a secret handshake, and chapters across the USA (many of which, including the now defunct Brattleboro chapter, placed plaques in cement work around a fountain near the statue). Their heyday was in the 1880s, and they draw their roots from the Boston Tea Party, where the colonists dressed up as Indians when they raided the ships and dumped the tea overboard.

Today, their headquarters is in Waco Texas, and I fear that they have a lot in common with the present day tea party faction. Not for me.

Oh well… Somewhere, there is an organization that will allow me to unite the Martians and the Native Americans.