After witholding them for days, Matsqui prison finally allowed political prisoner Wolverine (Jones William Ignace) to sign his appeal papers late on Friday, November 14. Although prison officials continue to bar Splitting the Sky, national spokesperson for the Free the Wolverine Campaign, from seeing the imprisoned elder, they did finally send someone else in to convey the crucial legal documents to Wolverine for his signature and to bring them back out to Splitting the Sky, who is acting as legal agent for Wolverines' lawyer, Dr. Bruce Clark. The appeal will be able to proceed after all.

S.I.S.I.S. would like to thank all those who wrote to the prison, to the Prime Minister and to the Solicitor General of Canada about this outrage. Kootenay elder Bill Lightbown, spokesperson for the Free the Wolverine Campaign, said that he believed the prison's change of heart was due to public pressure.

Wolverine is a traditionalist Shuswap national serving an 8 year sentence in a Canadian prison for his role in defending sacred Sundance and burial grounds at Ts'peten (Gustafsen Lake, BC) from the largest joint police and military assault in Canadian history. He and 14 others were convicted in a ten-month trial that attracted widespread condemnation for distortion of due process. The Canadian authorities continue to ignore the calls for a public inquiry into all aspects of the matter.

Write to Ts'peten political prisoners:

Wolverine (William Jones Ignace)
Political Prisoner
P.O. Box 4000, Abbotsford, BC V2S 5X8 Canada

James "OJ" Pitawanakwat
Political Prisoner
c/o Mission Institution
P.O. Box 60, Mission, BC V2V 4L8 Canada