A 340-year-old cedar log in the Vancouver Island Jail transforms into a symbol with each hammer and chisel strike.
The final product, expected by the end of summer, will be a totem pole featuring figures representing strength, healing, community, and family.
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``We all need a little healing here. Something happened and I took a wrong turn," Roger Dar (VIRCC), one of the inmates participating in the Pole Project at the Vancouver Island Regional Correctional Center, told Global News.
"This is a step on the right track."
He is learning traditional carving techniques from seasoned sculptor Zaut artist Tom Lafortune, his brother Aubrey, and Max Henry, the facility's Indigenous Cultural Liaison.
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"We are all human," Lafortune said.
"But they seem to be forgotten because they are here. I want to bring it out in them and let them know that it is remembered... who All are first-name-based.We're all on the same level."
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Approximately 10 inmates from the prison and Nanaimo Correctional Center are involved.
VIRCC Warden Richard Singleton said as many as 80 people have participated in the project since its inception.
"The idea of individuals carving in their backyards, reconnecting to their culture, and bearing their name on a level of respect and camaraderie is unlike anything that takes place on a normal day in a correctional center. different," he said.
``It's about self-esteem, equality, and identity.''
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Participants are drawn from a pool of inmates who show interest and have clean behavioral records, he said.
This initiative is open to both Indigenous and non-Indigenous participants.
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"These guys are accomplishing something. As Paul takes shape, they actually You can see the fruit of their labor.
"(We're) creating something that can be admired forever in the future, perhaps when it's built in front," he said.
"We are all trying to rehabilitate."
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Singleton said he would like to see the project expanded to other state agencies.
Public Safety Minister and Attorney General Mike Farnworth seems to be taking it seriously.
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"These are the kinds of programs and initiatives that we as a government and we want to make it happen,” he said. He said. “This is reverting corrections to corrections.”
release, Singleton said. That might be the case with
Der as well. Der said LaFortune offered him the opportunity to spend some time in the sculpture shed once he left home.
"This is a good way to lose yourself and not lose yourself. Clear your head. It's good for your soul," he said.
Once completed, the totems will grow in the facility's outdoor exercise yard this fall.
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