Letter to the Editor: Wag the dog

Dear Editor:
Hi. I am an inmate doing time in the Northern Treatment Centre in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. I am writing to you to voice my opinion and let others know of how our ceremonies are being dishonored. Is it not bad enough that when doing the sweat we have to heat our grandfathers with propane on a barbecue-like surface with no sacred fire, but then also to dishonor the ceremony by not smoking the pipe? It is to my knowledge and belief that without the smoking of the pipe, the ceremony is incomplete and means nothing. The pipe is like our eucharist. Without smoking it would be like a priest not breaking the bread at a Sunday service. I understand that institutions/jails are non-smoking, but this is our religion, our right. I hope with self-government that in the future we as North American Indians will have our own institutions/jails where our people can be put, not to be punished but to be healed. Where all our ceremonies are conducted properly and the one holding them will not have to worry about job security and the no smoking policies.