adventure guides?

It seems as if kids today won't have the same kind of childhood memories as I did in the YMCA Indian Guides. After the name and many of the practices of the Indian Guides were deemed racist and offensive, the YMCA has changed and renamed the program. It will now be called the YMCA Adventure Guides, and kids will be called explorers rather than guides or princesses. Although I loved it as a kid, as an adult I agree that many of the practices are utilizing stereotypes. I think the Native American influence had a big effect on kids, and at least generate interest fo future research into the culture. My biggest issue with the change is not the reason, but the result. Instead of making it their goal to work with the Native American communities, the YMCA extracted the Native American culture from the program altogether. Here is an excerpt from the article Y Programs Shed Indian Trappings now Deemed Racist from 2003 in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

"Ronn Wilson, who traces his heritage to the Willamette tribe, said if done appropriately, the use of Indian themes in such parent-child programs can be valuable in spreading cultural awareness.

'As long as the Indian is not used as a sort of mascot, I think using Native culture as a platform to teach respect, reverence and strong family values is only a positive thing,' said Wilson, who has consulted with the Eastside YMCA's Guides and Princesses programs for more than 20 years.

But consulting with Native Americans to ensure Indian themes are accurately portrayed is 'more the exception than the rule,' said Keith Officer, a Y-Guides parent volunteer with the Shoreline-South County YMCA."

Why can't this be the RULE? I feel like people are too afraid of offending anyone these days that they are depriving children of learning about other cultures. It seems as if the Native Americans wouldn't mind having jobs teaching kids about their culture, so why don't we initiate something of this nature?