One of the saddest days in my life was when I found out i couldn’t be or become an Indian. Oh, the horrors. When i was a member of the YMCA as a young boy, we did everything as Indian Guides. Everything we did or learned was all based on the life of the Indians. We learned to work with beads. We learned how to paint our faces. We were read stories of Indian life and the brave things they did. We were just thrilled with the life they led.
As a member of the Boy Scouts, many of the things we learned, and our ceremonies were Indian based. One of my greatest honors was becoming a member of the Order of the Arrow. This is scouting’s National Honor society. Membership limited to those exemplifying the Oath and Law of Scouting.
So many athletic teams took on Indian names as a way of honoring this race. But well-meaning people construed this as degrading to the various Indian tribes. Even some of the tribes became incensed at the use of the names. It was a sad day when the act of honoring the life and style of these noble tribes became wrong and degrading.
How did we ever screw that up?
