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PRISON FASTING
Page 3
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Three Native inmates continue their hunger strike at the Edmonton Correctional Institute just east of the city as a protest to what they consider unfair treatment. Willie Blake (NWT) and Dennis Okeynan (Alberta) began their fast on October 22 and were joined by Wesley Crowe (Saskatchewan) on the 29th in a show of solidarity.
The fast is a direct result of an August 24 incident at the prison when inmate Richard Roche was fatally stabbed and 34 inmates were consequently thrown into the "hole" for what was termed "the good order of the institution," according to then acting warden Tim Fullerton. Since the 24th, the three people mentioned remain in segregation and are trying to draw attention to what they consider an unduly long period of time.
Media Criticized
Sources closely associated with the inmates are taking exception to recent press statements in daily newspapers such as the Edmonton Journal and Sun which have labelled the strike as nothing more than "a cultural fast" and which blame internal strife
on warring factions between Alberta and Saskatchewan Natives. One source is Cheeko Desjarlais, the financee of Okeynan; another is Mabel Paquette, an Elder who has been working with Native inmates for over a year.
Paquette reacted strongly to the Journal's story, which alleged warring factions. "No way!" she exclaimed when contacted by Windspeaker. "That's a lie. I'm there, I know what's going on. They all like each other no matter where they come from."
A third source, Phyllis Iverson of Vancouver, agrees and adds that prisons practice cultural genocide not only by divorcing prisoners from society at large but by deliberately transferring them to far away jails, where they are not able to maintain contact with friends or relatives which are important supports for anyone. Such action, she says, is the one point that Blake expressed and would like the public to be informed about.
At the time of this writing, 14 days have passed since the fast first began. On Friday, October 31, we spoke with Desjarlais and Iverson (a close friend of Blake) regarding Okeynan.
Weight Loss
Contrary to the prison administration's claim that neither Blake nor Okeynan are demonstrating any significant signs of weight loss or dehydration, both Desjarlais and Iverson are steadfast that such is not the case.
Having just visited the inmates on October 31, Desjarlais says that Okeynan is "really weak...lost of lot of weight (28 pounds we're told)...his face is gaunt.
"It's only because he's a big guy and that he took such good care of himself physically that he's not showing any obvious signs," explains Desjarlais.
For a little aside, Desjarlais tells us of a visit with Okeynan a week after Roche was stabbed. She said Okeynan had shackle burns on his wrists and ankles and that the warden had promised shackles would not be used in his prison.
As for Blake, Iverson says, "he's feeling okay. He knows why he's doing this and is committed to it...his spirit is really strong." She claims that Blake, like Okeynan, has lost "quite a bit of weight."
Fullerton rejects this line of talk. "There are no signs of dehydration....and they both had their weight taken," he said. The newly appointed warden, Wendel Headrick, support Fullerton's statements. When asked by Windspeaker whether he had noticed any actual weight loss, he said, "No, not at all." His attempts to discredit the hunger strike were expressed when he said that the institution "suspects that the inmates are eating... where one was observed to be eating an orange and another was observed eating chocolate bars and drinking pop."
Although the circumstance regarding the latter individual are unknown, Desjarlais counters Headrick's claim. She had visited with Okeynan on November 3 and says that
the reference about eating an orange reflects, but not accurately, on Okeynan. He felt obligated to try to eat something after it was hinted that he would be force-fed perhaps
by intravenous injections, said Desjarlais.
The outcome, continued Desjarlais, was that his stomach rejected the food and
he threw it up. She claims that his fast is, in fact, continuing and that he is resolute about continuing his part in the hunger strike.
When told that the prison administration is saying that the fasters show no appreciable indications of weight loss or dehydration, Desjarlais and Iverson found it hard to believe. How, they ask, is that possible when they have been on a fast for two weeks and "we have seen the persons in question with our own eyes." To them, it's just an attempt to mask the truth from the public and they will do anything to discredit the inmates, they say.
Nor has the media informed the public of the real truth, say the women. Iverson is quite upset with the press for taking things out of context with her comment that, "every newspaper and radio reporter that I've talked to...want to know...what crime they've committed," which is not, in her estimation, central to the real issue. The issue, according to the women, is the reason for the fast whey they are fasting. They elaborate on that by pointing to the fact that they have been in the "hole" for over two months and that some
of them are being kept there without ever having been charged.
To their way of thinking, Desjarlais, Iverson and Paquette feels that the segregation is not warranted and that it has carried on for far too long.
Fullerton doesn't agree. He justifies the prisoners' confinement in accordance with Penitentiary Service Regulation (41(a) which he says states that inmates "can be segregated for the good order of the institution and those functioning in the institution."
He went on to say that "there's no limit on the length of time that they can be held in segregation without charge."
Discrimination?
While discrimination is very difficult to prove, the outside parties claim it has certainly been a prominent feature in the isolation of the ative people who were thrown in the hole after Roche was stabbed. Desjarlais and Iverson charge that more than two-thirds of those inmates were Natives.
When contacted by Windspeaker, Harold Burden, investigator with the Canadian Human Rights Commissions was at a loss for words. "There's been no formal complaint (of discrimination) done on this thing, "he said. "The problem the commission encounters, he continued, "is that unless a formal complaint is received, our hands are tied."
It gets to be very frustrating at times, says Burden, because there are instances when he feels there's something there but the proof and the formal complaint is lacking and the inmates can't or won't speak up to lodge a formal complaint with specific information.
Windspeaker, also contacted Native Counselling Services and was told by their communications contact, Bob Allman, that, to his knowledge, nobody from their services are involved in the affair nor does he think they have been asked to do so.
Whether anyone does anything or not, the fast is a drawing card which casts the situation of the hunger strike into the eyes of the public, organizations and government.
Last minute update
Page 3
It has just been learned that a November 4 press statement from the Edmonton Correctional Institution announced that Willie Blake and Wesley Crowe had been released November 3 and are now in the prison's mainstream population.
Their release culminates in the end of their hunger strike protesting their lengthy confinement in the "hole.' Blake fasted for 14 days and Crowe for seven.
The third member of the group, Dennis Okeynan remains in the prison's hospital unit where he is presumably undergoing psychiatric treatment.
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