The
original Father and Son Y-Indian Guide Program was developed
in a deliberate way to support the father's vital family
role as teacher, counselor, and friend to his son/daughter. The
program was initiated by Harold S. Keltner, St. Louis YMCA Director,
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.
The interest of those workers in the father-son relationship stemmed out of YMCA
pioneering efforts at initiating a father-son banquet idea in 1912 at the Providence,
Rhode Island YMCA. It was stimulated further through the Father and Son Library
series compiled by Lansing F. Smith of St. Louis and Frank Cheley of Denver.
Inspired by his experiences with Joe Friday, who was his guide on fishing and
hunting trips into Canada, Harold Keltner initiated a program of parent-child
experiences that now involves a half-million children and adults annually in
the YMCA.
While Keltner was on a hunting trip in Canada, one evening, Joe Friday, the Indian,
said to his white colleague as they sat around a blazing campfire: "The
Indian father raises his son. He teaches his son to hunt, to track, to fish,
to walk softly and silently in the forest, to know the meaning and purpose of
life, and all he must know, while the white man allows the mother to raise his
son." These comments struck home, and Harold Keltner arranged for Joe Friday
to work with him at the St. Louis YMCA.
The Ojibway Indian spoke before groups of YMCA boys and dads in St. Louis, and
Mr. Keltner discovered that fathers, as well as boys had a keen interest in the
traditions and ways of the American Indian. At the same time, being greatly influenced
by the work of Ernest Thompson Seton, great lover of the our-of-doors, Harold
Keltner conceived the idea of a father-son program based upon the strong qualities
of American Indian culture and life -- dignity, patience, endurance, spirituality,
feeling for the earth, and concern for the family. Thus, the Y-Indian Guide program
was born over half a century ago.
Although the father-son program grew slowly at first, Y-Indian Guides was recognized
as a national YMCA program in 1935 with the advocacy of Abel J. Gregg, then National
Boys' Work Secretary. But the rapid growth of the program across the country
was guided by John A Ledlie, national adviser, in the post World War II period
of 1944 to 1962. With the significant assistance of a devoted group of able National
Long House officers, many new programs and organizational developments at the
local and national level evolved. Since 1963 the swift expansion of the program
has persisted. Over 30,000 parent-child groups have been reported annually by
nearly 900 YMCAs from coast to coast.
The rise of the Family YMCA following World War II, the genuine need for supporting
little girls in their personal growth, and the demonstrated success of the father-son
program in turn nurtured the development of YMCA parent-daughter groups. The
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.
Although some Y-Indian Guide groups had extended their father-son experiences
beyond the first three grades from the beginning, it was not until 1969 that
the Y-Trail Blazers plan was recognized by the National Long House Executive
Committee for sons 9 to 11 years old and their fathers. In the future, expansion
of YMCA parent-child groups will continue as a positive force in strengthening
family life.
In 2003, to respect the wishes of the Native American community, the program
theme was updated to Adventure and the overall program name was changed to YMCA
Adventure Guides .
