Hi, my name is Odessa Marchand. I am a status aboriginal person from Vernon, B.C. I've been in and out of jail since I was 12 years old. The last sentence I got was 10 years. I did seven years and I'm now on parole. I was granted day parole under section 84 for aboriginal people.
I didn't grow up with my culture and when I went into federal prison, I found my culture. I also did aboriginal programming and mainstream programming. An elder was available to do smudges in the aboriginal program, but otherwise the programs were the same.
I didn't grow up with my culture. I learned everything inside. I wanted more teachings about my culture. Otherwise, I found the programs very repetitive and not interesting. If the programs were to happen at the end of your sentence, I think there would be a lot more good for the people when they get out.
I got my Dogwood Diploma inside. I also did the DBT, dialectical behaviour therapy program. It helped me more than any other program. It taught me how to recognize my feelings, and it breaks them down so that they are easier to understand. It prepared me for real-life situations, and it gave me skills, feelings, and understanding. It was a voluntary program, but they should make DBT mandatory for everybody.
I recommend that there be more support in the community for aboriginal people who are on parole. When I had my parole hearing, there were a lot of aboriginal people there to support me. I went to a non-aboriginal halfway house, and there was very little support for me and my culture. In the halfway house, when I wanted help from the aboriginal liaison, I couldn't get hold of him.
Inside federal corrections, there is an aboriginal elder always available to us. Now that I was in the community, I felt dropped. I didn't know where to go for help. I went to sweats voluntarily, on my own. It made me feel like a failure because I was asking for help and did not get it. I recommend that aboriginal elders meet regularly with indigenous people at halfway houses, with set meeting times.
Thank you.