Totem-pole program brings healing to Indigenous inmates at Cedar Creek
Inmates at Cedar Creek Corrections Center created a totem pole and held a smudging ceremony to 'awaken' it as part of a program staff say is likely the first of its kind in a U.S. correctional facility.
On an early spring afternoon, a totem pole with newly attached wings stood tall greeting every person who enters the Cedar Creek Corrections Center. As the sun peeked through the overcast skies, dozens lined up to be smudged before the ceremony to awaken the totem pole.