In the United States, the YMCA parent/child programmes under the umbrella programme called Y-Guides, (originally called YMCA Indian Guides, Princess, Braves and Maidens) have provided structured opportunities for fellowship, camping, and community-building activities (including craft-making and community service) for several generations of parents and kids in kindergarten through third grade.[32]
The roots of these programmes stem from similar activities dating back to 1926. Notable founders of YMCA Indian Guides include Harold Keltner, a St. Louis YMCA director, and indirectly, Joe Friday, anOjibwa hunting guide. The two men met in the early 1920s, when Joe Friday was a speaker at a local YMCA banquet for Fathers and Sons that Harold Keltner had arranged. Today, Joe Friday and Harold Keltner are commemorated with patch awards honouring their legacy which are given out to distinguished YMCA volunteers in the programme.[32] In 2003 the programme evolved into what is now known nationally as "YMCA Adventure Guides". "Trailblazers" is the YMCA's parent/child programme for older kids. In 2006, YMCA Indian Guides celebrated 80 years as a YMCA programme. Several local YMCAs continue to employ the Native American theme, and some YMCA Indian Guides groups have separated from the YMCA and operate independently as the "Native Sons and Daughters Programmes" from the National Longhouse[33]
In some programmes, children earn patches for achieving various goals, such as completing a designated nature hike or participating in Y-sponsored events. Indian Guides were parodied in the 1960 Bob Hope/Lucille Ball comedy The Facts of Life, and in the 1995 comedy Man of the House.
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