by Chris Meyers Almey
Northern News Services

NNSL (June 11/97) - A line of muddy prisoners led by an equally muddy woman troop into the jail, surprising visitors buying inmates' soapstone carvings. They've just come from the Yellowknife Correctional Centre's outdoor sweat lodge.

That's where many stones, called grandfathers, are heated in a fire and doused with water to create steam to sweat away the inmates' troubles.

Inside, the smell of sweetgrass wafts through the jail these days as part of a unique new healing program for criminals.

Last summer the inmates convinced the warden they needed a healing program, and it has turned into a success story.

Traditional healing isn't a new idea at the prison -- more than a thousand inmates over the past 10 years have taken part in a life-skills program developed by April Mercredi, who recently retired. But the prisoners wanted something more for the soul.

Mercredi had invited Aline Laflamme to perform pipe ceremonies for the prisoners two years ago, but only a couple were held.

That all changed last summer when the prisoners' committee told the warden they wanted Laflamme to conduct healing ceremonies.

Within a week the inmates had a sweat lodge, and 44 of them went through the ceremony in two days.

It was originally thought that Laflamme would only come in occasionally to hold sweats and pipe ceremonies. But Warden Ron Near says the response was so positive that jail officials felt it was a good program from which all inmates could benefit.

So Laflamme and deputy warden of programs Rosie O'Donnell came up with some ideas and developed a greater program. "Basically they kidnapped me," Laflamme said.

"Aline is a free spirit, going place to place, so we did a bit of muscling on her and got her to commit to eight months of the year to Corrections," Near said.

"It feels good for me to come and work here," Laflamme says. "I feel strongly about inmates being treated in a fair manner so I'm giving as much support and encouragement as I can," Laflamme said.

"It's a very good feeling, a very positive atmosphere."

What made the program interesting is Aline is a native person from British Columbia, Near said.

"Our inmate population is 95 per cent aboriginal ... Aline was challenged with setting up a program to meet the needs of all ethnic groups.

"It is aboriginal-driven but a program able to bring in all inmates," he said.