First Patch

The first Kia Kima patch was issued in 1941. This is not including the Kamp Emblem patches, which were sewn on sashes.

In 1941, the Chickasaw Council leased Kia Kima to the Eastern Arkansas Area Council (EEAC) for the summer while the Chickasaw Council’s summer camp was held at Camp Currier. The EEAC issued this first patch: a blue felt arrowhead.

This patch printed on the back of leftover patches from 1938 Camp Crowley, 1938 Camp Robertson, and 1939 Camp Frierson.

Camp Crowley was held at Crowley’s Ridge State Park. Camp Robertson was held at Bear Creek Lake, 7 miles west of Marianna, Arkansas. Camp Frierson was on land bordering Craighead Forest Park, south of Jonesboro.

In 1948, with the reopening of Kia Kima, the Chickasaw Council issued its first Kia Kima patch: a gold arrowhead with a separate year segment. The following year in 1949, the first patch with a thunderbird was issued.

For more information on these EEAC camps, visit the Eastern Arkansas Area Council Historical Preservation Society. For more information on Judge Frierson's connection to Kia Kima, see Founding of Kia Kima.