(Sent Nationwide to various Indian Princess members...)
October 2002
| I am the Nation Chief of the Mighty
Prairie Nation, in the northern suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. Our great
nation is about 280 dads and daughters strong. I was a guide as a boy, I
graduated in 1977. I have been in Indian Princess with my 2 daughters for
9 years and will not graduate out until 2006. Both myself and my daughters
have made the strongest bonds of friendship between ourselves, and with a
large group which we now consider our circle of best friends. When I heard
the Y was doing away with the theme I was devastated. I vowed not to let
the program die. With or without the Y we must continue on with our
traditions that were handed down to us by Joe Friday. The program has
become just that, a tradition not just a theme get-together. Traditions
cannot just be thrown away. But the Y is doing just that. The Y is dumping
a tradition, and a way of being, not just a theme. Should we change the
name of our state? Illinois is an Indian name. What about the other
states, the rivers, the mountains? Many of them have Indian names.
I am about 1/5 Cherokee Indian through my great grandmother I am also Jewish, I have learned in life to not be bothered by other people. I do not get offended easily. If we made fun of Indians, then I would say shame on us and the program. But we don't, we instill values on our daughters that represent the way America should be. Read our 6 Aims and anybody should be proud of our program. I do not want this program to change. nor do I want our Nation to leave the Y. I do want the Y to listen to us and not the few, and I mean very few Indian activists. My wife and I just got back in August. We drove to Arizona. If you pull out your atlas you will see that along our southern drive we drove though many Indian reservations. We stopped at most of them, we talked to local natives who all supported the program. We met many crafters that make and sell headdress, jewelry, and other Indian items. I asked for opinions on the Y not wanting us to wear our headdress in our local parade. We had a room full of real Indians telling us they thought it was ridiculous, and they love the fact that we show off there wears. They also explained that the headdress that they make and sell are not the same as their ancestors wore. They don't have real eagle feathers and now they use man made synthetic fibers. I urge everyone to take this trip, visit a reservation, ask questions. It is both fun and informative. If we work together Nationwide, we can continue our traditions that help to foster companionship between parents and their children. Brian Marks
|