The Chilliwack Progress from Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada • Page 30

IOC THE CHILLIWACK PROGRESS, Wednesday, April 4, 1979 fltesfve MmwBes mlqm pmhhms drf crafererace with the ministry of the Solicitor General. Discussion at the workshop, which took place at last week's conference on the incarcerated offender at Harrison, centred on the unique problems of natives who find themselves in the penal system. Suggestions were made at the end of the discussion to encourage more consideration of tional school for girls. From there she graduated to Oakalla prison at the age of 15. She has been doing time since 1966 and at present is an inmate at Twin Maples.

Penny was one of the speakers at a workshop called "Consideration of the Native Offender," chaired by Carole Lavallee, national consultant on natives By DEBBIE FIEGUTH Penny Wells is the product of an institution. She spent some of her early years in a tuberculosis sanitarium, and when she reached school age she was sent to a residential school. Because her parents had drinking problems, Penny was young when she began getting into trouble, and ended up in a correc situation of the native offender included: More native family court workers for British Columbia. Public education. Halfway houses and prerelease preparation.

More native involvement in programs. Appointment of a native ombudsman. Halfway houses designed for natives. she no longer blames society for what she has been through, and wishes she could have been stronger. Ms.

Lavallee suggested a problem in Indian communities' is a lack of support from one's own people. "One of the biggest problems we're talking about is attitude," she said, pointing out an attitude change is needed on both sides. Suggestions for improving the Prisons human garbage disposal says USA ex-attorney general VALLEY SALVAGE 45682 Yale West, Chilliwack, B.C. The problem with native offenders begins in school, said inmate Roy Hanuse. "We lost our pride when we first started school." He explained that natives in isolated northern communities cannot relate to what is taught.

For example, his own schooling started with "Fun with Dick and Jane" stories of children playing on a front lawn, when most native homes in northern British Columbia do not have front lawns. John Sparrow, editor of the Indian Voice, said another problem is that Indian offenders are not properly and adequately defended. "We as a traditional Indian people have never judged anyone," he said, adding that natives do not speak up for themselves in the court system. Penny Wells explained a native fellowship club started in 1966. The goal is for Indian inmates to help one another in planning for their release.

She added, however, that where she is currently an inmate, all natives are required to attend Alcoholics Anonymous, whether they have a drinking problem or not. Institutional programs interfere with native groups, she said. "We like to help ourselves." When she is released from prison, Penny said, she would like to be a liasion worker. "I would like to work with children eight to 16 before they hit the penal system." She added that little on helping people get out of prisons. He suggested halfway houses are necessary to help native offenders readjust in society.

Several observers and participants in the workshop agreed that halfway houses could be helpful. Mr. Brown said Indians are treated differently in prisons because of their background. They are not often sent on passes back to their reserves because authorities do not believe reserves are conducive to rehabilitation, he said. An observer who works in the prison system in Edmonton brought up the point that it is not in the Indian tradition to lock people up.

That is why it is difficult to find natives who will work in prisons to help other natives, he said. He then explained a program used in Alberta where staff members are given training to help them understand Indian culture. He added that in western Canada there is more conflict between natives and white people because the white people have not been established here as long as they have in the east, and therefore have not had as long to integrate. A program at Mountain Institution in Agassiz was explained by two inmates who are involved. They told how native inmates have started a furniture and wood-carving co-operative which has been beneficial to many inmates.

They noted, however, that there is no follow-up after they leave the institution. One inmate suggested programs such as this one would be more effective if the reserves were involved. cultural differences and backgrounds of natives. Halfway houses, more family court workers and an ombudsman were seen as part of a solution. As a teenager in conflict with the law, Penny found herself bitter against white people in general, and the Department of Indian Affairs in particular.

"I had never been brought up in society," she said. "The DIA took over my life completely I was very prejudiced against white people before I knew what it meant." Penny has two children, but she does not look after them. "I never lived in a home," she said. "It's hard for me to say, 'okay, kids, this is where it's at'." She could not give her children love and attention, she said, because "I didn't know what it was." Because in her early life she was made the object of mockery, Penny said, she found it difficult to communicate with white people. She recalled hearing comments such as "Where's your buckskin "Who let you off the and "I smell a dead Indian." She also recalled not being permitted to carry on her own culture and crafts.

Later, she said, she "did stupid things because I figured white people owed me a living." Many Indians leave the reserves to seek something better, she continued, but find drugs and alcohol are their downfall. She added that she realized "for every bad white person there is a bad Indian." Another inmate, Bill Brown, criticized the penitentiary service for spending so much money on expanding prisons and very social and economic inequalities contribute to crime. He cited some facts such as; in the United States between 1931 and now, 455 pe'ople have been executed for the crime of rape 405 were black; 60 per cent of all people executed for all crimes were black; not one per cent of all young men who have served time in prison have been of the middle and upper class; of the $30 to $40 billion dollars of crime per year in the United States against corporations, $5 billion is from employees pilfering. "Society has an enormous bias, partly over social values," Clark stated. "How did we come to use As the only attorney general of the United States to oppose the death penalty, wire tapping, and prison construction, Ramsey Clark is a self-confessed abolitionist.

As major guest speaker at The Incarcerated Offender, Conference 79, held at Harrison Hot Springs last week, Clark told his audience he would like to abolish the prison system as we know it to achieve freedom, equality and justice. The theme of his talk at the Fraser Valley College jointly sponsored conference, was that laws are political in nature, that those in power make laws, that CAR BODIES and STEEL Phone 795-3333 795-7515 a system so overwhelmingly against the poor, and what else can it mean but racial hatred?" He said in Canada this would apply to native Indians, in Australia the aborigines, in South Africa blacks, in Sweden the Laplanders and so forth. He pointed out that United States prisons are full of juveniles, and 90 per cent of them are school drop-outs. "Segregation won't work experience is the big teacher and who knows the truth but those who live in prisons," he explained. He said he felt his country would be better off if it incarcerated only five per cent of its criminals those who were dangerous to others.

He said this would take more time, and skills, but he felt the benefits would be enormous. Asked if he would go back to being attorney general if he could, Clark replied in the negative. "I believe laws are inherently political in inception and reflect the feelings of those in power but they can be applied fairly," he said. "I guess I come to you with a plea for help rather than an answer. "Our prisons are a human disposal system," he continued.

"Those who work in them have an obligation, at whatever sacrifice, to communicate as the public doesn't really know you do." WEI Crowded prisons cause quandary OKI MM TRUSSES FARM RESIDENTIAL COMMERCIAL Buy Direct From The Manufacturer And Save release centres and residential centres can be helpful. He added that the only good of a moratorium on prisons is the reduction of spending. Before a question period that concluded the afternoon session, Dr. Hawkins pointed out that sometimes there is no choice other than the construction of more prisons, and that a certain amount of respect must be paid to public opinion. 3183 Mt.

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Dr. Larry Blake, president of Fraser Valley College chaired the session. Dr. Hawkins noted there are two main views: one is that increasing numbers of prisoners require more and larger prisons, and the other is that the construction of more and larger prisons results in increasing numbers of prisoners. Many prison authorities believe overcrowding can be remedied by the appropriate capital investment, he said.

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