Charlette, Indigenous Elder

My name is Charlette Daniels, I’m one of the elders that work in SIU.

One of the things that I look at every day, my guide is kind of the reconciliation we are going through. Learning and understanding the trauma inmates have come through, why they are here. And for me, that’s what I base my teachings on.

I am a 10 year residential school survivor, and that is what I talk about when I am talking with them. Finding out what they’ve gone through, understanding that trauma, and relating to that trauma, I know what it is.

Like many of the inmates here in SIU, this may be the first time they’ve ever learnt and understand about traditional teachings and ceremonies, so they may not have that experience of feeling good about who they are. And you know I always tell them, you have to feel good about being a Cree man, an Ojibwe man, a Dakota man. You have to feel good about who you are.

Things that we offer to the inmates, of course we offer the ceremonies to them, but also we offer the craft program. Whether it is beading, loom beading, or learning how to play guitar or learning how to use the hand drum, so we have those different activities we offer to them. 

A smaller and basic ceremony we do is the smudging, and the smudging ceremony is for them to cleanse and I always tell them no matter what kind of day you are having, always stop and smudge, because that stops you in whatever you are feeling and makes you feel positive of who you are.

One of the things that I like to talk to the inmates is to get educated. Get your education while you are here. Get educated, take programs so you will understand about your trauma, so you will know what, when you go back into the community, you may find that you will have the answers now to deal with that trauma you’ve gone through.

I never give up on anybody. I have never said that, I never tell them that “Oh you made a mistake.” Things happen and that’s the steps you’ve got to take to walk the red path. That’s a step you have got to take, and sometimes it means stepping back and understanding what happened. Understanding what made you come back.

When I’m out in the community and I run into one of them, and they introduce me to their family, and they tell me they are working, going to schools or whatever. To me, that’s my accomplishments.