Guided spirit baths bring healing to ex-convicts in B.C.

A guided spirit bath has become a healing ritual for ex-convicts on the banks of the Nechako River, as part of an ongoing program at a halfway house for federal parolees.

Chris and Andrew have received conditional release from a federal prison and are staying at the Kenneth Creek camp, a halfway house located 90 kilometres east of Prince George, B.C.

"We're about to do a water ceremony. Basically a form of prayer," says Andrew, 37, of the Semiahmoo Indian Reserve. 

The pair sink into the icy river at 5 a.m. PT as cold drizzle falls on their shoulders. For almost 10 minutes their cries and prayers fill the silence of the night. 

"It's your spirit getting re-awakened — a spirit wake-up," said Chris, who is 22 and originally from the Bella Bella Heiltsuk First Nation.

The ritual is about praying for your community, loved ones and yourself, says Andrew.

"[It's] a place to pray and be heard, and to let go of what you're carrying."

Chris and Andrew's spirit bath or water ceremony is guided by Lheidli Tenneh elder Marcel Gagnon. 

"It's good to be tough on crime. But healing for me means reconnecting with our spiritual, ancestral, cultural past, because that's what was destroyed or taken away from us," said Gagnon. 

The two are ready to be integrated back to the community and the CBC agreed to refrain from using their last names for that reason.

"When I went to prison, I started making changes. Culture and traditions were back in my life," said Chris, "So that's a pretty clear message. That's what keeps me on the straight and narrow."

Chris says after his statutory release in four days, he plans to continue practising the ritual. Meanwhile. Andrew says he's made huge progress.

"I did a lot of hard work on myself, earned my day parole. As a human, I've come leaps and bounds, literally become rehabilitated." 

To hear the full interview listen to the audio labelled ​Ex-convicts find healing through cultural traditions on CBC's Daybreak South.