Practice your faith

Page 5

Dear Editor:

I have listened with dismay as Aboriginal prisoners described how, due to strict non-smoking policies, they are no longer permitted to smudge and pray in their cells. I am writing now to register my displeasure with such cultural insensitivity and the violation of religious freedom. As I see it, the justice policies are being used to strip away rights and freedoms of the most vulnerable, which include Aboriginal prisoners, who face the prospect of losing a basic right of Canadian citizenship (voting) as well.

I strongly urge prisoners to consider how valuable the freedom to smudge is in their lives. If it is worth the sacrifice of disciplinary action, by all means practice the positively spiritual and non-violent expression of your relationship with the Creator. I do not believe in violence in any way, but like Gandhi's people making salt freely on the shores of the Indian Ocean, the act of smudging privately in your cell could very well be the next step in asserting our rights as Aboriginals, as Canadians, and as dignified people.

We are engaged in a spiritual battle against forces that seek to see us isolated from our Creator and each other. The most basic right and freedom I have experienced while in jail was, of course, my freedom to talk to God in peace and quiet, inside from the cold. Often I would ask a jail guard to place me in a private place while I quietly prayed and was comforted by the Creator. I wonder what would happen if the good will and peace we show towards the corrections officers was countered by disdain and disrespect. The peace treaties our ancestors signed in good faith might tempt one to break peace. I urge prisoners only to do was is right and good in the eyes of the grandfathers and grandmothers.

Merci, Miigwetch, Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

Brendan William Cross