Although I agree with your editorial supporting a program that engages fathers and children, I think you need to re-examine the cultural issues involved in the YMCA Indian Guides and Princesses program.
Just because it was started, in part, by an Ojibway individual does not guarantee that today it is culturally sensitive.
People of the Native American nations regard their traditions and religious rituals just as seriously as do those who came to this country from Europe, Asia and Africa. The problem with the YMCA program is not that it teaches about “another American culture’s customs and values” but that it borrows their symbols, names and traditions.
Roman Catholics would not look kindly on a secular program that involved a simulated mass.
Remember, too, Native American cultures were conquered and devastated by the ancestors of today’s fathers and children; can you imagine a similar program in Germany called Jewish Guides and Princesses?
I’m sure the YMCA and the fathers and children can come up with many ways to create programs that will take families out-of-doors, teach them about nature, allow them to whoop and holler (as I’ve heard dads and princesses doing), have a great time, learn about many other cultures and create their own names, traditions and symbols.
