In January 1969, with the support and guidance of my father, Phil Sr., Ihanktonwan Nation, and the Warden of the Washington State Penitentiary (WSP), Bob Rhay, Cherokee Nation, we established, with our inside brothers, the first self-help, Native American Cultural Group, the Confederated Indian Tribes, (CIT) in Canada and the United States.
From Washington State Penitentiary, the CIT spread to every State, Provincial, and Federal Correctional Institution in Canada and the US. In the early 1980s, the CIT expanded to become the Brotherhood and Sisterhood of American Indians. In many places, it is now called the Brotherhood and Sisterhood.
Many brothers emerged from the CIT and the WSP, never to return. Some became leaders in our Indigenous communities and beyond. One became a Special Assistant to the Governor of the State of Washington.
From my experience and perspective, some of our most outstanding potential Indigenous leaders and community members, women, and men, are locked up in prisons. Their imprisonment is a direct result of the Indian Residential/Boarding schools and colonization.
Over the years, I came to know many of the prison guards, including those I went to High School with at Walla Walla High School, 1960-1962.
The prison world is a culture all its own. I pray that someday the Washington State Penitentiary and every other prison will close their doors. It is not a healthy place for inmates or guards. While that day is beyond my years in the future, I pray and trust it will happen.
