from Robert Eurich..thanks!

Y's Indian programs likely to end

Guides and Princesses considered insensitive
March 8, 2002
BY BILL DOW
FREE PRESS SPECIAL WRITER
http://www.freep.com/news/childrenfirst/indian8_20020308.htm

Big Glen stands in a circle around a fire at Camp Copneconic near Grand Blanc,
sporting a colorful Indian headdress. The chief of the Three Fires Federation
welcomes father and son braves, who throw corn into the flames and promise to be
"pals forever."

Although Big Glen -- Bill Peirce of Birmingham -- and the other participants are
not Native Americans, they are part of a 75-year-old YMCA-sanctioned activity
that uses an Indian theme to foster bonds between parents and kids.

For generations, the YMCA Indian Guides (father-son) and Indian Princesses
(father-daughter) programs have formed neighborhood tribes that participate in
activities ranging from camp-outs and community service to bike trips and
learning about Indian culture.

But the days of wearing Indian headbands, borrowing the names of genuine tribes,
and taking on Indian-sounding names like Big Bear and Little Wolf are likely
numbered.

More than 180,000 participants nationwide -- including 1,200 in metro Detroit --
could lose the program after the Chicago-based YMCA of the USA's recent decision
to phase out the Indian theme that was first adopted by a YMCA director and his
Indian friend in 1926.

Responding to charges of racial stereotyping by Indian activists while
acknowledging that the change will not be popular, the organization is faced
with informing YMCA professionals, volunteer parents and their children.

"The Indian Guides program has been widely praised these past 75 years for
building character and family relationships," says Arnold Collins, a YMCA of the
USA spokesman. "Our intent was always to honor Native Americans and their
traditions while urging our participants to exercise the greatest sensitivity.
Nevertheless, as we continued to embark on our cultural sensitivity initiative,
it became increasingly more difficult to ignore members of a race telling us the
program is offensive," he says.

Bobby Scruggs of Harrison Township, known as Yellow Wolf, is not happy about the
decision.

"The Indian program does more good than any harm it might do," says Scruggs,
whose daughters Breeana (Singing Waterfall) and Brittany (Yellow Fox) are
members of the YMCA Indian Princess Ojibwa tribe. "It is a beautiful medium, a
wonderful culture that we respect and emulate that helps us facilitate a bonding
with our kids."

"It just wouldn't be the same," Breeana, 11, said. "We have learned a lot about
Indians. My friends and I have fun exploring on camp-outs and pretending we are
Indians."

Two Native American leaders see it differently.

Bill Memberto, an Ojibwa, is the director of Michigan's Urban Indian Affairs
Office. "The denigration of native people is so interwoven into the fabric of
our society that folks can't grasp that the YMCA's program has its roots in
racism, irregardless of what they talk about honoring.

"Most people only relate to a monolithic movie mythology which is stereotypical
and degrading. Folks need to start teaching their children about their own
cultures instead of trying to live by and imitate somebody else's culture, which
is a real falsehood."

Vernon Bellecourt is the spokesman for the American Indian Movement, a group
based in Minneapolis that has been battling sports teams' use of Indian mascots.

"I am sure that in many cases these YMCA people are well-meaning and they like
the Indian culture, but they are ignorant on how it offends native people," he
says. "We simply don't like the superficial behavior of children and their
parents playing Indians because it renders them incapable of understanding that
the original people are still struggling and that it is compounded by racial
stereotyping."

Is dropping the program the only solution?

"I would rather see adjustments than dropping the program entirely," says Reg
Pettibone of Livonia, a full-blooded Ho-Chunk (formerly Winnebago) who lived on
a Wisconsin reservation until he was 18.

He says education is the key. He travels to schools and organizations, including
the Birmingham Guides and Princesses program, and demonstrates traditional
dancing.

"The YMCA program has triggered an interest in children to learn more about the
indigenous people. It would be helpful if there were more contacts with Native
Americans."

Although the national organization can't force the more than 540 national YMCA
branches with Indian Guides programs to drop them, the YMCA of Metropolitan
Detroit will likely require the seven of 17 tri-county branches with the theme
to do so.

"I have not received a staff recommendation yet to eliminate the Indian theme,
but if I were to predict, I believe we would follow the lead of the national
YMCA," says Reid Thebault, president and CEO of the YMCA of Metropolitan Detroit
and a former Indian Guide participant.

"Perhaps a Pioneer program would allow us to move to a more cultural sensitive
theme. The real strength of the parent-child programs are in the relationships
that are formed, not the theme itself."

RELATED LINK:
http://ishgooda.nativeweb.org/racial/ymca.htm

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American Indian Sports Team Mascots
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