Potlatch in prison: Tribal Sons by Frank Hopper
Two years ago Jay Powell, a member of the Squaxin Island Tribe who is currently incarcerated at Washington Corrections Center, knitted a cap and a scarf for an inmate he’d just met. The man was about to be released in the dead of winter, homeless, and Powell was worried he might freeze to death.
Powell received permission from staff to use a small loom to knit the items and gave them to the man. When he was released back out onto the cold streets, at least the man's head and neck were warm courtesy of Powell.
Word got around and a few other inmates began asking Powell about the caps and scarves. They didn’t want Powell to make them some. They wanted to learn how to do it themselves, to make things and give them to needy people.
Merry Christmas from the joint
Powell and the other inmates are members of the Tribal Sons Native American Inmate Spirituality Circle at the prison. The program for Native inmates of any tribe currently has between 20 and 25 members. It includes twice weekly meetings led by Native sponsors from nearby communities. The brothers learn traditional drumming, songs and stories and make sacred regalia. Twice a month they hold a sweat lodge ceremony on the prison grounds.
But until then none of the brothers in the circle ever thought about making things for the needy. Initially, not many brothers showed interest.
“When we started knitting there were just a few of us, maybe 3 or 4 bro’s. Now it’s almost the whole Circle plus guys that aren’t even in the Circle,” Powell said in a recent interview.
The brothers wondered what to do with the items they made.
“That’s when we read about the foster kids,” Powell explained. “An article in the Klah-Che-Min, the newsletter from my tribe, Squaxin Island, was like ‘sponsor a child for the holidays.’ So I got with some of the brothers here and that’s when we created the box program.”
Powell and the brothers made 40 decorated wooden boxes filled with toys and gifts they made themselves. They donated them to children of the Squaxin Island Tribe who are currently in foster care.
“A lot of the Tribal Sons were in foster care at one point or their children are in foster care,” Powell said.
Potlatch in prison
On December 4, 2018, members of the Squaxin Island Tribe, including Tribal Chairman Arnold Cooper, came to the prison to receive the gift boxes on behalf of the tribe’s foster kids.
“They came in here,” Powell explained, “and we were able to sing some songs with them, present them with the stuff for the foster kids. It was really good. They share with us, because we don’t get to see it, the joy it brings to the kids to be able to have something for Christmas.”
Each handmade wooden box was constructed by Tribal Sons brothers from the prison’s scrap pallets. The brothers cut, sanded and assembled the boards into boxes and painted them with Native imagery or characters like Hello Kitty or My Little Pony. They filled the boxes with handmade beaded medallions and bolos, hats, scarves, socks and gloves as well as candy-filled Christmas stockings.
“I’m honored - to the bottom of my heart,” Chairman Cooper said to the brothers, as reported in the Klah-Che-Min, the Squaxin Island Tribe’s newsletter. “My hands go up to each and every one of you for giving to our kids and to their futures. Some aren’t as fortunate as others. There are no words for how happy I am on behalf of the Tribe. Just because you are here, you are not forgotten.”
The honoring, singing and gift giving were reminiscent of the Native Northwest coastal tradition of potlatch, an ageless ceremony of feasting and giving from one clan group to another.
Help from a surprising source: the joint
The Tribal Sons were aided by a member of the prison staff. Stella Jennings is the Unit Supervisor of one of the residence halls at Washington Corrections Center. She is also a member of the Spokane Tribe and a staff sponsor of the Tribal Sons.
She advocated with the prison administration on behalf of the brothers and their efforts. Last summer Jennings helped organize a fundraising event in which the Tribal Sons raised over $1,100 for the Chief Seattle Club.
“Doing these positive things opens their eyes to show them that there’s more in this world than going down that wrong road,” she said.
Winona Stevens, of Native American Reentry Services, acts as a liaison between the Department of Corrections and the Circles and tribes. She credits Jennings with making the Tribal Sons outreach program possible.
"I think that probably made all the difference, having her as a Native staff member supporting the group and helping make this happen," Stevens said.
The medicine of giving
"Making amends is an important part of the work and so is identifying the proper ways to do that in our DOC Circles," Stevens, a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation, explained. She points out the Tribal Sons aren’t the only inmate Circle supporting local communities.
The Tribal Sons pose with the $1,100 donation they made last summer to the Chief Seattle Club. Front row, left to right, Chief Seattle Club Representatives Samantha Biasca, Colleen Chalmers, Alicia Diamond, Donalda Lyons and Correctional Unit Supervisor Stella Jennings. Back row: Steve DeMars, Tribal Sons members Angel Fernandez, Jaydeane Ell, Melvin Stohs, Jay Powell, Keith Brakes. Native American Reentry Services Representatives: Dezia Stevens and Winona Stevens (courtesy Stella Jennings/Department of Corrections)
“We have groups across the state that offer up support in the communities,” she said.
The Tribal Sons have since expanded their giving to include elders and foster kids from the Skokomish Tribe. This year they gave shoes, socks and drawstring backpacks filled with gifts. In December they donated 40 hand knitted caps and scarves to members of the Chief Seattle Club.
"As far as we’re concerned the Tribal Sons are still part of our Native community and a part of our people," said Colleen Chalmers, Program Manager at the Chief Seattle Club. "So we were really grateful to have them hear that our members were cold and reach out with support."
Powell, whose prison job is as a GED tutor to other inmates, notes how giving has acted as a powerful medicine for the brothers.
“It reaches a deeper level than just giving back. It really touches these brothers souls in here and helps them. For a lot of the bro’s, this is the first time they’ve ever been a part of something like this. They stop me on the breezeway and say, ‘Oh my God, bro! Thank you so much. I’ve never ever been a part of something like that! And it just felt so good!’"
The ancient tradition of potlatch, which until only a few years ago was illegal in U.S. prisons, is now becoming a source of healing and growth for our relatives in the Iron House.
Frank Hopper, Tlingit, is a freelance photojournalist, a member of the Tribal Sons, and a former inmate at Washington Corrections Center.