Indian Princesses

It's that time of year again, when every weekend at camp involves dads and their kids coming out to Kanata for their Fall Outing with the Y-Guides and Princesses program. As we were discussing some of the details of these weekends in the office today, I started thinking back to when I was in Indian Princesses (the name has been changed from Indian Princesses to Y-Princesses since I was a kid).

I have a picture of my tribe (the Sunshine tribe) in all of our vests, headbands, and necklaces standing in front of the office at camp--the girls and our dads. I must have been 6 or 7 in the picture, and sometimes I look at it, and think about how crazy it is that 15 or so years later, my full time job is in that very office. I didn't come to Kanata as a camper until 5 or 6 years after my first experiences here with Indian Princesses, but I have so many great memories of my time here with my dad and the rest of our tribe. Of course getting to do all the camp activities--shooting a gun, bows and arrows, arts and crafts were all high on my priority list as a child, but when I think back to those weekends now, I think the campfires were my favorite times.

Walking down to the lake through a line of torches, sitting at the campfire and hearing stories, participating in all the traditions--it really was a magical experience, and one that has stayed with me for many years. Even now, when I meet campers in the summer who say they've come to camp with Y-Princesses, I love to exchange a "How How" and find out their Indian name. (My Indian name was Butterfly, my dad Red Cloud).

My very first camping experiences came through the Indian Princesses program, and I could not be more grateful. I'm so glad that as a little girl, I got the opportunity to participate in that program with my dad, and to start a life of loving camp!