Uniting Cultural Beliefs - Toward the Red Road

In an effort to meet the spiritual needs of Indigenous inmates at Her Majesty’s Penitentiary (HMP) in St. John’s, NL Memorial University’s School of Social Work collaborated with First Light Native Friendship Centre and HMP to construct a Sweat Lodge and hold a Ceremony on the grounds of HMP. The sweat lodge ceremony has been proven to help many Indigenous men to turn their lives around. It has helped them to move from addicts to sober men, from violent to loving men, from angry to humble men, from destructive to peaceful men, from reckless to brave men, from toxic to honest men, and from men beaten down by the impacts of colonialism to warriors. A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots (Tootosis Tala). A renown , Chief Misel Joe, led the ceremony.