Native Americans and Jews
March 13, 2011 by Herzl Camp Admin, under Letters from Alumni.
By Steven Goldberg
I can’t remember how old we were or what year it was but we were young enough to be anxious, excited and just a little bit scared about a visit from a group of guests for a special day at Herzl. Maybe it was 1968 or maybe 1972 – it only matters that it was long enough ago that Indians were not called Native Americans. Our visitors were a group of Chippewa youth from a nearby Reservation. I don’t know who organized the day or how it was done but I sensed that it was done as a gesture of brotherhood and education brilliantly planed by Herzl’s executives and directors. It was presented to us campers as a planned day of fun with an opportunity to learn about another people. We talked about it the night before – I remember that much – it was going to be a similar fun and learning experience for them. What did the Indians talk about the night before and who were they going to meet? Jews? Pale-faced kids from big cites? I will never know because we never got close enough on that day to talk freely and openly with the Chippewa.
They came into camp on cargo trucks, I guess about thirty. This was not a camp-wide activity but only for a handful of cabins, and I think it was an all-boy affair. I don’t remember what we did that day but I remember it being awkward. The Chippewa boys seemed bigger and harder than us Jewish boys and they didn’t strike me as being happy or seem like they were on a voluntary expedition. It wasn’t a fun day at all but it proved to be a day to remember eternally because it was a monumental experience that provoked great reflection and mystery. Rarely a month goes by without pondering that experience of so many decades ago.
At the end of the day when the cargo trucks pulled up we all gathered around to see them off and they climbed up into the trucks in a semi-sedate demeanor. We hadn’t developed any serious relationships so there were no tears or hugs or final conversations. As one Chippewa boy standing next to me was about to climb up onto the cargo bed he said to me and the others standing nearby in a voice meant to be heard, “Here we go back into a cage to be taken back to our cage.” What kind of impression did that day at Herzl leave upon those young Indians? May it have been too a day of great reflection and mystery.
Does anyone out in cyberland remember this day? Was this an annual occurrence? We’d love to learn more about Herzl in the 60s and 70s.