After more than two years since it was started, the totem pole carved by inmates at the Vancouver Island Regional Corrections Centre in Saanich now stands as a reminder to those on the outside that true rehabilitation is happening inside.

Elders, community leaders and local First Nations members converged near the facilityB次元官网网址檚 entrance May 11 to dedicate the pole, as well as honour the roughly 160 inmates who B次元官网网址� even if only briefly B次元官网网址� helped shape the 340-year-old cedar log from the Jordan River area.

Max Henry, the jailB次元官网网址檚 Indigenous cultural liaison, said he has seen remarkable change in some of the inmates, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, as a result of participating in the project over the past two years.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a small step towards bringing back our cultural teachings, the ways of our elders and peoples, as opposed to just putting inmates in a cell and letting them serve time. It gives them a purpose,B次元官网网址� he said.

Henry brought forward and led the project with help from Tsawout First Nation carver Tom LaFortune, his two brothers Aubrey and Perry LaFortune and late elder Max Henry Sr., to whom the totem pole was dedicated during ThursdayB次元官网网址檚 ceremony.

Intricately etched into the totem pole are images of the eagle, the owl, the wolf, the frog, the beaver B次元官网网址� all important symbols of strength, healing, community and family B次元官网网址� and four paddles representing the Coast Salish, Nu-Chah-Nulth, KwakwakaB次元官网网址檞akw peoples and non-First Nation peoples.

B次元官网网址淭his is a surreal moment for me,B次元官网网址� said former inmate Eddy Cliffe, who now works alongside LaFortune in his Greater Victoria workshop.

B次元官网网址淭his pole changed my life in many different ways B次元官网网址� it made me a better friend, it made me a better father and made me a better human all together.B次元官网网址�

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