YMCA Adventure Guides: History and Legacy
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How did this Program Come to Be? |
How did this Program Come to Be?
The YMCA Adventure Guide Program is an evolution of the original YMCA parent-child program called Indian Guides. The father and son Y-Indian Guide program was developed in 1926 to support the father’s vital family role as teacher, counselor, and friend to his son. Harold S. Keltner, a YMCA director in St. Louis, initiated this program around a blazing campfire while he was on a hunting trip in Canada with his friend, Joe Friday, an Ojibwa Indian. Friday told him, “The Indian father raises his son. He teaches his son to hunt, track, and fish, walk softly and silently in the forest, know the meaning and purpose of life and all he must know, while the white man allows the mother to raise his son.” These words struck a chord for Keltner, and he arranged for Joe Friday to work with him at the St. Louis YMCA.
After World War II, the rise in YMCAs that served the whole family, the need for supporting young girls in their personal growth, and the demonstrated success of the father–son program nurtured the development of other parent–child programs. A mother–daughter program, called Y-Indian Maidens, was established in South Bend, Indiana, in 1951. Three years later, father–daughter groups, called Y-Indian Princesses, emerged in the Fresno YMCA of California. In 1980, the national YMCA recognized the Y-Indian Braves Program for mothers and sons, thus completing the four programs and combinations that made up the Y-Indian Guide Programs.
For 75 years, the program was the cornerstone for family programs in YMCAs across the country. But it is a different world today than it was in 1926. Native Americans and other citizens expressed concern over program participants’ adopting the Indian culture and teaching children about Native American life in ways they deemed inaccurate or stereotypical. The YMCA’s commitment to being a caring, honest, respectful, and responsible organization; changing demographics resulting in diverse communities and diverse family structures; and an evolving cultural sensitivity and better understanding of Native American history all prompted YMCAs across the country to re-evaluate their parent–child programs.
One of the strengths of YMCAs both locally and nationally is that they have adapted and responded to societal changes in order to remain relevant and useful to their communities. From late 2000 to mid 2003 YMCA staff and volunteers from across the country met on several occasions to craft a parent-child program that had a broader appeal. In the summer and fall of 2003, YMCA Adventure Guides was launched in YMCA communities everywhere.
A Comparison of YMCA Indian Guide and Adventure Guide Programs
People familiar with the Indian Guide Program can see that the essential program components of the original program are reflected in Adventure Guides. Click here for the PDF (36KB) of a comparison between the two programs.
Program History and Chronology
Click here for the PDF (69KB) of the history and chronology of the YMCA Adventure Guides.