Inappropriation: The Contested Legacy of Y-Indian Guides

By Ryan Bean and Paul Hillmer

In 1926, Harold Keltner, a YMCA Boys Work secretary from St. Louis, and Joe Friday, a member of the Canadian Ojibwe First Peoples, channeled white middle-class fascination with Native Americans into what became the Y-Indian Guides youth pro­gram, engaging over a half million participants across the nation at the height of its 77-year history. Intended to soften the stereo­typical stern father, the program traced a complicated thread of American history, touching upon themes of family, race, class, and privilege.

The Y-Indian Guides was a father-son (and later parent-child) program that encouraged real and enduring bonds through play and an authentic appreciation of family. While "playing Indian" seemed harmless to most participants during the pro­gram's heyday, Paul Hillmer and Ryan Bean demonstrate the problematic nature of its methods. In the process of seeking to admire and emulate Indigenous Peoples, Y-Indian Guide participants often misrepresented American Indians and reinforced harmful ste­reotypes. Ultimately, this history demonstrates many ways in which American culture undermines and harms its Indigenous communities.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 082622279X
• ISBN13: 9780826222794
• Release Date: March 2023
• Publisher: University of Missouri Press
• Length: 270 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.1" x 9.1"