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Visalia YMCA Adventure Guides The
first Y-Indian Guide Program was developed to support parents vital
role as teachers, counselors and friends to their children. Harold S.
Keltner, St. Louis YMCA Director, initiated the program as an integral
part of Association work. In 1926, he organized the first tribe in Richmond
Heights, Missouri, with the help of his good friend, Joe Friday, an
Ojibway Indian, and William H. Hefelfinger, chief of the first Y-Indian
Guide tribe. Inspired by his experiences with Joe Friday, who was his
guide on fishing and hunting trips into Canada, Harold Keltner established
a program of parent-child experiences that now involves several hundred
thousand children and adults annually in the YMCA. Keltner
was also influenced by the work of Ernest Thompson Seton, a great lover
of the out-of-doors, conceived the idea of a father-and-son program
based on the strong qualities of American Indian culture and life, dignity,
patience, endurance spirituality, harmony with nature, and concern for
the family. Thus the first Y-Indian Guide program was born more than
half a century ago. The
rise in families following World War II, the need for supporting little
girls in their personal growth, and the demonstrated success of the
father-son program nurtured the development of the YMCA parent-daughter
groups. The mother-daughter program was established in South Bend, Indiana
in 1951. Three years later, father-daughter groups emerged in the Fresno,
California YMCA. In 1980, the National Longhouse recognized another
program for mothers and sons, thus completing the four programs and
combinations in Y-Indian Guide Programs. The
past and present cultures of the American Indians can challenge a father
or mother to be aware of his or her role as parent, guide, friend and
example for a son or daughter and help develop the child's natural curiosity
and enthusiasm. The teaching of values, attitudes, fitness, health,
knowledge and ethics to children is an integral part of the Indian way
of life. The Native American Indians feel a profound responsibility
for the well being of all family members. This culture gives the non-Indian
parent a common interest and learning experience in working with his
or her child. The genuine concern among Indian people for parent responsibility
in teaching and guiding children to adulthood is a fine standard for
all parents and children to live by today. For
more information
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