(gentle poignant music) - [Attendee] No matter what the outcome, you may still appeal to the (faintly speaking).

- How you doing?

- [Gabe] The ramifications were very obvious to me even decades later in the courtroom when we were there in the Yakima County Superior Court.

(gentle poignant music continues) - He has forfeited his right to ever be free in society.

And it's my hope that he remains here until he dies.

- [Reporter] That's what prosecutor Jeff Sullivan had to say at Herbert Chief Rice Jr.

's sentencing in 1989.

- When he was a teenage boy living in the Yakima Valley, him and another man took the lives of a revered couple in the Yakima Valley.

It wasn't just the lives he took of those people, it was the lives he took from their entire surrounding community.

- [Reporter] Rice went to trial facing the death penalty.

- It is the closest that Yakima County has ever come to putting someone on death row.

- What happened in Parker kind of really shocked us to see one of my classmates doing that.

And I remember this vividly 'cause I was thinking, "Why would somebody do that?"

- [Chief] I was about nine when my cousin gave me my first beer.

And I guess I was probably 11 or 12 when I first did weed and cocaine.

What's crazy, I didn't even like that stuff.

I didn't really care for it.

Only time I really did it was when he was around.

- You know, Chief is just one of those guys that you, there's just certain people everybody knows about, not only because of how long he'd been down, how young he was when he got incarcerated.

- We were young, we were intense people.

We just handle our business, you know, there's no questions asked.

- What you did sent reverberations through this county.

It changed our way of living.

- [Operator] You have a prepaid call, you will not be charged for this call.

This call is from-- - [Chief] Chief.

- [Operator] An inmate at Washington State Penitentiary.

This call will be recorded and monitored.

- [Chief] I wouldn't be the man I am today if I hadn't come here.

Because I don't think I would have ever evolved, had the understanding, the attunement with myself and life I don't think I would have none of this.

I remember when I was about... I don't know, I was like five or six or so... One of the ladies there that my dad was with, she had a son.. so we're walking home from school, and uh... the guy at the fruit stand, I always say "hi" to him and stuff, and he gave me an orange but he didn't give her son an orange.

And so... when I got home, her son went in crying to her and she flipped out and... she started beating me with the belt buckle part of the belt.

And so the hook of the belt buck was, it was digging into my back through my shirt as she was hitting me with it.

So I hid under the trailer house until my Dad got home.

Another time... tried to drown me in the bathtub one time.

I was getting burned with cigarettes by one of his chicks.

It was hard for me as a kid, you know, especially as an adolescent teen, you know, it was really difficult and I had nobody there.

(solemn music) - I belong to the Round Valley Indian Tribes.

I'm a descendant of the Nomlaki and Concow peoples.

I'm an indigenous rights lawyer and an indigenous human rights lawyer.

I've been practicing law for 25 years.

I've been practicing indigenous human rights for the last 15 years.

I'm tired, to be honest.

Not necessarily as a result of what's happening in this country, but generally but what's happening to indigenous people specifically.

And I'll just say it, this country doesn't give a [...] about us.

They just don't.

And I've tested that at every level of government for at least the last 15 years.

And that's the outcome.

Indigenous people are the original peoples of these lands.

And they're the only people that don't universally enjoy human rights protection.

We're excised from the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights doesn't attach to us.

And as a result, we live a life that is subhuman and sub-citizen And I'm not a psychologist, but at some point, this stuff becomes real, in that you have youth and others who just have their head down about their existence because I think they know consciously or subconsciously that this country doesn't give a [...] about whether they live or die.

And here we are.

(bright jaunty music) - I got life without parole at 17 years old.

Yeah, first offense.

So I got sentenced at 19, but I was locked up at 17.

I wasn't in a good place.

I was pretty addicted at that time.

And umm... So for me, it was very... it was pretty numb.

And when you're a kid, you don't understand it, you know?

And you... you don't realize how permanent it is.

That's the other thing, you just don█t you don't grasp that in your head, like, there's no family, there's... there's just the guy in the cell block next to me.

I was so grateful for the brothers back then because I remember walking in the cell block, there was this big Navajo brother named Ralph.

And I mean, he's huge.

He's like probably 6'7", he's probably 350 pounds.

The biggest Indian I'd ever seen in my life.

He's like, "Where you from?"

And I said, I'm from Yakama Rez, and he's like, all right.

He goes, "Come out of next gate.” I don't know nothing.

I don't know what's going on.

They got a big old bag of stuff like, you know, cookies and carton of cigarettes and coffee, and... I'm like, I didn't get it, you know what I mean?

We're talking almost 40 years ago.

And so there was just the... It really helped me because they took me in, you know, and they're like, "you're a brother man, you're Indian, you're a tribal member.” It was something I never had in my life.

- My Indian name is... Sunktanka Maza, Iron Horse.

And my real name I go by is Jason.

- Where you enrolled?

- What is it called again?

- Umatilla?

- Umatilla, yeah.

- I met Chief in first grade.

He was my classmate here in elementary levels.

He was one of my buddies.

We just played together.

And then of course, then evolved to sports where Little League baseball, you know, your competition, everything, and you wanna beat your buddy.

We had short attention spans.

If we weren't engaged or doing some activity, we were just bored.

And so I think Chief took that a little further.

I think when he was bored or something, he'd just act out, and that's why he'd get in trouble a lot more.

I think at that time I was a follower, so if I saw someone in trouble, I was like, I ain't going that route.

So I kind of toed the line after I see someone else get kicked out.

That's where we kind of separated.

- [Stacy] Trying to be Hollywood?

Trying to be my Hollywood dog?

My name's Stacy Carson Sr.

I'm from the Colville Tribe.

I'm 55 years old.

The first time I met Chief, when I was... when I went to Walla Walla, Chief was already there.

And he just said, "I'm Chief," da da da da.

"I'm from Colville.

I said who I am.

And I said I'm from Colville.

He says, "oh great.

We got a package for you."

And I said, "okay."

"We have a care package."

You know, like, what do you need?

We got coffee, cup, comb, toothpaste, you know, the basic essentials that you need while you're there.

We took care of each other while we were in prison.

That's what, you know, that's what us natives did.

- My name is Aaron Faletogo and I am Samoan.

Everybody inside knows me as "Big Time.” I got that when I was about 12.

And that's because, you know, I just went to the extreme of everything.

My first day in Shelton, I got into a fight with two other guys over a pepper shaker.

I beat 'em both up pretty bad, and I went to the hole for about five months.

Got out.

The same night that I got out, they put me in a cell with a white dude that was extremely racist.

Beat him up, went right back to the hole for another six months.

And then I got sent to Walla Walla from the hole.

And like in my first week at Walla Walla, pretty much started a riot.

You get stuck in the hole, I did almost 10 years in solitary confinement.

The first time that I met Chief, I want say it was 2001.

I just got done with a long stint in the hole.

For like myself, you know, never having a very healthy male figure in my life.

There's very few, not just men, but older men that I actually, you know what I'm saying connect with like that.

And I think Chief saw in me, you know what I'm saying, a lot of good things as well.

- Indigenous people in Washington state comprise 2% of the population, but they comprise 5% of the Department of Corrections.

- This system is designed to do exactly what it is doing right now.

There is nothing broken about this system This institution was created to capture and house Black and Indigenous bodies from the beginning of its inception.

- Most stunning is that 45% of the indigenous people who are incarcerated by the state of Washington recidivate, meaning they're allowed freedom, and for whatever reason, they repeat their mistakes and get sent back to prison.

- Here, buddy.

I'm gonna say 13, 14, I started getting in trouble with the law, and then it just progressed from there.

And then next thing you know, 22, I catch an armed robbery and started doing prison time.

From 22 till 48, in and outta prison.

All my... I'm gonna say my whole adult life, I was in and outta prison.

That's pretty much where I grew up.

- [Chief] It begins at home with the parents, and... you know, in our communities, addiction to alcoholism has been such a powerful driving force, negative force in our communities for countless... I mean, my grandmother and great-grandmother were alcoholics.

- You know, being inside for so long, you get a lot of time to just sit there and self-reflect, and reflecting back on why everything that a human being needs was not there, on top of... an extremely abusive father, you know?

One of my earliest childhood memories is, you know what I'm saying, my dad beating on my mom and trying to run her over with a car.

- Oh man, I wasn't a very good student.

I was always trying to be a show off and trying to get acceptance from people.

I got in trouble a lot.

- I never really knew much about his home life 'cause I never went to his house.

Likewise, he... our parents were really strict.

No one could come to our house either.

My parents were shocked.

And they said, "that's a person you run around with.

That's your classmate."

And I think after that, they kind of really watched who I hung out with.

- [Interviewer] Why'd you do the burglary?

What made you do that?

- I couldn't even tell you.

Boredom, I guess?

I mean, nothing around, nothing to do, you know?

No father figure.

I mean, there's just no male figure in my life to guide me any which way, good way or bad way, you know?

So, I don't know.

- Yeah, it's safe to say that the great majority of Indigenous youth today don't stand a chance.

They're raised in disenfranchised environments.

They are likely raised in a broken kinship structure, if not a broken nuclear family, or where they are suffering or witnessing abuse, addiction.

- I was also present with my father when he was shot and killed.

And I like held him until he bled to death.

A lot of people that I grew up with say that's when Big Time really came off the porch 'cause after that I just went, I didn't care.

I was so angry, I was so hurt.

And I got into dealing drugs, and it just led to, you know, dumb choices and a guy tried to basically rob me for drugs.

And doing what, you know what I'm saying?

I was taught and learned and conditioned to do, you know what I'm saying, if someone wrongs you.

And of course, you know, my mindset and my emotional instability of taking everything to the extreme, I killed him for it.

I was 16.

Got charged and tried as an adult, was sentenced to 380 months.

And then... it was a couple days before my 18th birthday, or right on my 18th birthday, from King County, got sent to Walla Walla State Penitentiary.

- [Chief] What's really incredible is the the similarities in their upbringings.

It's not like these kids came from good, secure, nurturing homes and then just decided, okay, well, I'm evil and I'm gonna do these things.

That's not how none of these stories are.

- I know Chief's walk of life, up until that moment, much like many other Indigenous peoples, was one of broken family, pain, addiction, confusion.

I know all of that contributed to a fateful day when him and another man went into a home, stole a television and murdered a couple.

- You read the reports and all that, "high, looking for money, desperate.” You just figure out, wow... what a impact, that... choices they made have affected their life.

- There has been Supreme Court decision making, suggesting that when you are a juvenile or a young adult, your brain is not fully developed.

You have not fully matured.

And in Chief's instance, he was certainly of a young age, he was also impaired.

To sentence somebody forever or for an unduly long time for a judgment or misjudgment they made, that amounts to cruel and unusual punishment.

So the Supreme Court has suggested that people like Chief be allowed an opportunity to be re-sentenced.

- We are here in the State of Washington versus Herbert Rice.

This is 88100427-2.

Welcome everybody.

We are on for re-sentencing today.

So back on January 5th of 1990, Mr.

Rice, you were sentenced to two consecutive terms of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

I was assigned your case in August of last year, and one of the things that I had done was I had the complete trial transcript put back together for me, and I read it.

And I wanted to know what were the facts.

They're devastating.

They are unbelievable.

And they are horrific facts.

- When I first walked in that door and I was walking down the hallway and I could hear that door clang shut, I thought, "whoa... what if I don't get out of here?

- We've got some really beautiful elders who have committed so much to bringing these teachings, and these ways and these lessons, the language, our songs to our brothers and sisters who are incarcerated.

- Yeah, I met Francis when I was in prison.

I think all of us did.

That's where we all met Francis Cullooyah.

I guess he watched us grow up as much as we watched him grow, you know?

He brought his daughter in, you know, to prison, to all of our powwows.

He shared his family, like we shared our family with him.

- He would look at the bigger picture, like... you know, like people in prisons, inmates, they get a bad rap.

But it's like, you know, he would always stress it out that you don't know what these people have been through, to be these... you know, to do the things that they've done.

He was just willing to help, help, help, help 'cause he was thinking, maybe if I help them, it could change their path.

- He made sure he showed up.

You know, he didn't have to, you know?

He took the time outta his life to come into prison.

And I think that was because of Chief, you know, mostly.

- When I first met Chief, he didn't treat me too well, you know?

I heard that he was the man of the hour, you know, and the go-to guy.

But I ignored him for a couple of weeks.

- So one day I'm in the cell block in Walla Walla, and... they call me down and they said, "Chief, there's somebody in the day room wants talk to you, some Indian guy."

And I'm like, "what?"

And so I walk and I look in there and I see him and I don't recognize him.

So I go in there and he stands up and he says, "Hi."

He says, "I'm Francis Cullooyah.

I'm the new Native American chaplain.” - We sat across from one another on the table and he began to tell me how things were.

- I said, "well, look, I don't mean no disrespect man, but if you're just here for your paycheck, we don't need you.

Don't come around.

Don't come see us.

Just stay home and collect your check.” - I said, "I made a commitment in my life to help others.

And I made a commitment to be respectful to others.

And I expect that to come to me 'cause, you know, I don't know you, I don't know anybody else here.

I'm just here to start this position.

If I'm not good enough for it, I'll step away."

- Man, yeah.

He showed us up.

But he awed us, really, I mean, he came at the right time.

- I remember once I asked him, "you know, Chief, why didn't you give up?” And he goes, "you know I almost did when I was first in prison."

He said, "I was an [...]."

And he said, Francis Cullooyah asked him, "well, what are you gonna be when you grow up?"

And Chief said, "what do you mean what am I gonna be?

I'm a convict.

I'm a lifer, there's nothing.

The only thing that's ever gonna happen for me is these four walls.

This is what I am."

And Francis said, "well, no.

Actually, you have a choice.

Even in here, you have a choice on who you're gonna be and what you're gonna do.

And you need to decide that."

- Hey, how are you?

- Good.

- Oh, shy girls.

I love you.

- Act like you guys love me, okay?

(group laughs) See, when you was a little kid you were the boss too, of the whole house, the whole house, everybody was scared of you.

I'd call and your grandpa would be like, "oh, that one there, that one's the boss right there."

I'm glad you guys made it, okay?

Obviously what brought us all together is our culture.

But the other element that brought us together was the old man, you know?

We're all sitting in this room connected because of his effort.

I remember that first powwow when Francis came in and... and he had brought so many people, and we were all intimidated, to be honest with you.

That's kind of how we felt, we felt intimidated.

Basically, we felt like we were faking it in a way because we're like, wham, you know, we don't know everything that they know and how we gonna screw this up.

Everybody was really nervous, but excited at the same time.

We had seen it as growing up as kids on the reservation, you know, we went to powwows and we'd see everybody in the circle and the arena.

And as a kid, you don't understand what that means.

But as you become an adult and you evolve through your life, you understand there's such a... an appreciation like for sitting in a circle today.

There's such an appreciation to be able to sit here and share.

And so, when Francis brought that, we all latched onto it, you know, we were starving for it basically.

And Francis used to call us, he used to emcee our powwows and he used to call us the low-income dancers 'cause we used pajamas and yarn.

And well we didn't know.

We were about it though.

We really wanted it.

Our guys got out there, and... I'm glad I ain't got none of that on my, no videos of me doing that 'cause I didn't get in 'em.

Them guys got out there and they danced their heart out.

And I remember the elders were.. Yeah, I remember all the elders were so, they were pretty proud of them.

So the thing is is that some of the brothers aren't alive no more.

But for that moment in time in their life, they got to experience the power of our culture.

(gentle brooding music) - When you know you're Indigenous and yet you're missing that connection to who you are, it feels like there's a piece of you missing.

That's where you become lost.

I think emotionally, spiritually physically, sometimes.

- A lot of people are learning about their indigeneity when they go into the Iron House.

- All the practices and culture and traditions are important because that's like what defines us.

That's what, like, makes you different than everybody else.

So if you don't have that, then who are you, you know?

If you're losing your language, if you're losing all of these teachings, which they are, they're getting lost so quickly.

So it's just as important as you're practicing them that you teach them.

- You have to take those teachings that were given to you by your elders from sometime back.

And the teachings of everyone around this circle here, I've learned something from every one of you guys.

And that's what Chief has learned.

- A teaching that we have in our ways is the... is the wheel of life, right?

Your medicine wheel, your wheel of life, and what you put on your wheel comes back to you.

That's what really got me, was to give back and to try to restore some of the harm that I had created.

Each thing that I sought out to know about and I learned about, then I taught to the next person in here, to whoever's willing, whoever was open.

- I don't know if you've heard it said before, but... this is like our one day that we get to be home because we're surrounded by our families and our community.

- We have seen individuals that come into incarceration, and their first experience and exposure to their culture comes from the circles within the correctional facilities - The traditions and the ceremonies and their prayers, all of these things during incarceration that keeps your sanity, that keeps you going, that gives you strength, that gives you healing.

- Everything that we do in our culture is in a circle.

And everything that we do leads us to that next part of our journeys.

- All of those things create community and they create safety and they create inclusion.

- Going to sweat lodge helps a lot while we're locked up, getting close to the creator.

And I never really learned that out here, I learned that more in prison.

And that's what Chief and the other natives, you know, I guess they could say, they taught me to be a native.

- With the Samoan culture, it's there, but you're not really taught it.

You're more so shown it, or they call it Fa'a Samoa, which like, they beat it into you.

This is exactly what we do.

There's no why we do it.

What those things mean.

This is what we do and you do it, and if you don't get it right, we're gonna beat you up for it.

That's one thing that I really admire about Chief as well.

And that's one thing that really, you know what I'm saying, help me grow and change, is how he took the time to like show you, not just show you, but teach you, you know what I'm saying?

Why we do this, what that means, how it's gonna be helpful for you.

- What my nephew said was, had it not been for Chief that he wouldn't have survived.

- When my brother was 21, he was at Walla Walla and he met Chief Rice.

One of the things that Chief Rice said to him that totally changed how he looked at himself is, "hey, you know what, be native, or do that.

You can't do both.

You gotta be native or do that."

And he took it to heart.

- From our perspective as a family, here was Chief creating a place for my nephew in a very dangerous place.

And he had nothing to gain from it.

He was just doing it because it was the right thing to do.

- As you grow in your culture and you grow in your knowledge of your culture and your ceremonies, you learn a respect and a sacredness to life, to others.

And I felt I had taken so much, I think from, from the world.

The things that we do today is to honor you and our families, our bloodlines our culture, who we are.

- I've taken him to sweat, so he knows how to sweat.

We pray, and... I teach him the significance of that because that's our church.

That's the way we pray.

That's the way we kind of suffer for others, but also pray for the people that are here on earth.

And not only the people but the animals that feed us, nourish us, and also the living and non-living.

- I always knew I was Indigenous, but my grandma went to boarding school in the 19 teens along with her brother, and that severed the kinship connection between my family and our homelands.

My great grandma's children were basically removed from her care and custody by the United States government.

But I only knew I was tribal because my grandma would tell me that.

She'd basically put me on her knee, explain that to me.

Occasionally there'd be a story, but honestly she wouldn't talk very much about any of it.

- All of these outfits you see that us guys are wearing in here, we made it here.

My outfit's over 20 years old.

It's things like that that help us.

Help us remind us who we are.

Help us to remind us on our path and what our path is supposed to be in life.

- You hear a lot of guys inside, you know what I'm saying, "I'm native, I'm Indian," you know what I'm saying?

This is me, this is what I do.

A true identity is lacking.

And so you think you do it, but you don't know why you're doing it.

Chief actually takes the time to show you why we do it.

- [Chief] What I try to tell these guys is, "look, we can't change what's behind us.

We can't change that we didn't get this or we didn't get that.

We can't do none of that.

You got to work on today and plan for what you wanna try to do tomorrow, be who you want to be tomorrow.

If you understand who you are, then you can stand up straighter you can stand up stronger because I wish somebody would've done that for me.

- Yeah, I think I'm gonna just get a burger.

- The organization I'm currently working with, Restorative Community Pathways, we receive pre-filing referrals from the King County Juvenile Prosecuting Attorney's Office.

I mean, look at it like this, right?

You first came to us when?

- [Joshua] Like two years ago.

- Two years ago.

The summer.

- It was summer.

It was like about to be summer.

And then I got-- - I remember that.

- What happens if a youth consents to programming and supports with us?

The charges is dropped.

It doesn't get put on the record.

It doesn't get used against them.

It's not an admittance of guilt.

- Damn, that's crazy.

It's been that long for real.

It's so funny 'cause I went to the wrong place.

You remember that?

- And we have what is called community navigators, sort of a peer mentorship.

And basically, sitting with the youth and trying to identify, you know what I'm saying what is leading up to these decisions that they're making, whether it be, you know what I'm saying, mental health, emotional, environmental issue, childhood traumas, and just trying to support them in any way we possibly can to try and, you know, get 'em into a better path, you know what I'm saying, like myself and Chief took.

- Do you remember the charges you were facing?

- Little bit, yeah.

A lot of [...].

(both chuckle) - You know, that's what everybody asks me right now.

They're like, "Damn uncle, you've been out three years.

You ain't got a girl?"

I said, "I'm not really trying to get a girlfriend.” I mean, if it happens, it happens.

I'm not really, I kind of like my solitude, you know?

I got my little routine I got going now, you know, the little structure I got going.

I don't think I got time for another person just yet.

Maybe though, I don't know.

They say that your last love is usually just outta nowhere, the one that lasts the longest.

So we'll see.

Well, this is where I bring the dog, me and the dog come out here.

Yeah, it's a good place to come out here just to chill and think, you know, if you've got any problems, you can come out here.

Calm, relaxing.

This is a good spot right here.

Sit out here and gather your thoughts.

- [Interviewer] You ever been on a vacation?

- Besides going to prison?

(laughs) I'm just being honest, man.

That's what I considered a vacation, I guess, but really not, but no.

I have never been on a real vacation yet.

And I was just talking to my son.

Like I said, I haven't seen him since he was five years old, but we still talk.

And uh... I told him, I said, after having this job next July, I'll have a year at my work.

So I'm gonna take a vacation and go over and see him.

So that'll be my actual first vacation, actual vacation vacation.

That's real vacation.

So that's what I'm gonna do.

That's what I'm gonna do next April, or next July, yeah.

(slow serene music) - [Chief] Since I knew I could get re-sentenced, I've sat and thought about that for a long time and I don't really know.

I have a... obviously I need to set up a way to survive and live and get a home and stuff like that.

But I hope to be able to, you know, go back to the reservation and help.

I just wanna be... I just wanna have a successful life.

And what does that entail, I don█t know, but I don't need a lot.

I just wanna just enjoy my life and my grandkids.

You know, for me that's what's, when you've done so much time away from your families and your communities, that's what you yearn the most for is that connection.

(slow serene music continues) - [Gabe] The sad reality is that family has served with him.

And the tragedy of these unduly long sentences, I believe, the people that get hurt serve time right alongside the person that hurt them.

That's our system.

(group chattering) There's no opportunity, generally speaking, for an apology to be made or an apology to be accepted for forgiveness to be extended, for redemption to occur, and for healing to happen.

- I carry an immense amount of guilt, regret, remorse, sadness, and shame for what I did, and I will the rest of my life.

I caused the family great pain and trauma.

And I pray someday they will find healing.

I not only harmed the family, but the whole community.

I created an anxiety and fear for everyone by my actions, and I'm extremely regretful and sorry for this.

I'm truly ashamed.

I'm truly ashamed that we're here because of my actions.

Apologies and sorrys are not enough.

The burden that I carry for what I did, it's almost immeasurable.

And I know you may not believe that as a family.

If there was anything I could do to change what happened, I would.

I only speak truth in my life today.

I was a coward when I was a kid.

I was fake.

I was misguided.

I try to lead by example today as these people spoke of what I do in my life each day.

It's not fake, it's real.

I've lived in prison 35 years, and my way of giving back and for what I've taken from the universe is to hope that some of these people will change their lives and they will not harm our communities no more as I did 35 years ago.

Once again, I apologize to all of you for being in this room today because it's my fault you're here.

- I witnessed for the first time there was a release and a relief, and that's the sad and tragic part about our criminal justice system is when a horrible crime occurs and life is lost, and I make no excuse for that, like, no matter what your upbringing is, no matter how much pain you're in, no much... how much hurt has been caused to you, your family, your tribe, your people, there's no excuse to take another█s life.

That's a tragedy.

The tragedy is compounded then by the fact that the family of the person whose life has been lost can't receive an apology, can't consider forgiveness, and I don't begrudge anybody for not wanting to forgive.

That's up to them.

But they should at least be allowed an apology.

They should at least be allowed an opportunity to decide whether it's an apology they wanna accept.

They should at least be allowed an opportunity to decide whether it's forgiveness they want to extend, and they at least need to be allowed to decide whether redemption is something they want to be a part of.

- You know, what we're talking about here is, how Chief affected our lives, individually, maybe even totally.

There were many things that were passed down that we didn't understand, but the older we got, the more it made sense.

And in looking at Chief, so many of the things that he's asking, the information that he wants are from the old people.

- Last time I went down there, there wasn't any old guys around anymore.

A lot of the guys have left, you know, they're gone.

- And some of us never would've known one another except for Chief and gathering around him, but this is just a small circle compared to the circle of hundreds of people that he has mentored, that he has helped, that he has cultured over the years.

And a lot of those guys will never go back to the joint again.

- The culture's always there.

If we learn it and we teach it and we share it, if this is what we're doing every day, we speak in something about our culture, if you're beating something, you're blowing that ember, right?

You're blowing that ember.

- He walks his talk.

He is those stories that we have told about people who have transformed.

He's that story.

- I see a man who's watched people go in and out, in and out, in and out of prison and has intentionally positioned himself so that he can speak to them and try to speak some truth to them and some wisdom to them so that they don't come back.

And, you know, you form attachments to people, you get to love people and to be able to say, "Hey bro, I love you so much, I don't wanna see you come back.” - And that speaks volumes to his character and his perseverance, but also his remorse is evident.

- One thing right now, I'm a very impatient person.

I like things to happen very quickly.

I talk to Chief on the phone and I get so frustrated with him because he's at peace with knowing that someday he'll get his hearing, someday he'll be released.

- You know, we come together on our powwows, we come together on our phones and stuff, but to have this moment where we can reflect and share, is... it's good... it's good medicine for all of us.

And you know, it's just an honor.

And I think that... the old man would be proud.

He really would.

He would really... It would really be pretty powerful for him.

- When he does walk out of those doors, out those gates, I'm gonna be there.

(pensive music) - You know, growing up and seeing the respect that he had for my Dad and the mutual respect that he had for Chief.

It's like... you know, just his life.

It's been really hard, and it's always like hard for me to not be emotional talking about him.

I don't know, I hope he gets to experience life outside of those walls because I feel like he's earned that.

You know, like you said, nobody owes you anything, but he's earned it.

He's completely earned that.

(pensive music continues) (crowd chattering) - Jason, get up.

Get up, Jase.

You getting ready?

We got another game.

- When I grow up, probably a teacher like my dad, a coach, something with sports.

I'm a real sports fan.

- Man, just like trying to find the time is, you know what I mean?

And I used to get up, I used to get up at 4:30 in the morning and I'd go run four and a half miles and come back, hit my pre-workout and then go hit the ball.

- My name is Aaron or Big Time.

I'm the referral administrator for RCP.

What's one thing that has brought me joy this week?

Man, every day, as soon as I wake up as I'm going to sleep, is this one right here, you know what I'm saying, seeing her smile, seeing her laugh, trying to talk to me.

Yeah, that brings me joy.

(chuckles) Don't be so nervous, man.

It's gonna be okay.

I can see it in the cheesy smile.

I hate it, but I'm glad that I gotta complete you out.

But bro, you already know man.

You got my number.

I also got a little something for you as a little graduation present, we'll go get something to eat too.

- Nah.

- Yep.

- Nah.

- Whose name is on that bro?

- Mine?

- Here.

That's my graduation present, man, from me to you.

- Yo, what?

- Make sure you put that in your savings.

- I'm gonna go check it in right now.

Yo.

- Yeah.

You deserve it, bro.

- That's too much.

- No, it's not.

You deserve it.

I know you're gonna put that to good use, bro.

That's all you, just make sure you put it in your savings.

- Can I hug you?

- Yeah, of course, bro.

Man, come on, man, for real.

Yeah, I got you, man.

Always.

- Careful, honey.

That's me when I was a little guy.

Go on, go outside.

Stay in the yard.

Oh, story of my life right now.

I love it.

Good, everything's been going real good.

I mean, considering, I mean, I lost my job, but that's all right.

I'll get another one, you know?

Just takes a lot longer now, you know, being a felon is just, it's a pain.

Me and her mom Timberly, Timberly's my daughter, Azaria's mom, Timberly, we were supposed to get, she wanted to go to Disneyland, take the kids to Disneyland.

That never happened so, maybe next year.

I'm shooting, I'm shooting for a vacation.

- [Stacy's Mom] And he's seeing somebody.

- Was.

- [Interviewer] Was?

- [Interviewer] Tell me about that.

Since the last time we seen you?

- Oh yeah, I'd seen somebody for a minute and, yeah, that didn't happen long.

It didn't last, yeah.

See where it would go.

It didn't go.

Easy going, that's all I want.

Just easy life, you know?

And so far it's been going good, you know?

Throw the fishing pole in the water every now and again, you know, take my dog out, hang out with my grandkids.

That's my life.

That's my easy life right there.

That's it.

Just wanna make sure that they're safe and good.

I'm good.

I'm healthy.

So far, so good.

Definitely, you're definitely a Carson.

- I would say Chief is the most impactful, indigenous incarcerated person I've ever met.

His impact is immeasurable.

Not just on the lives of other brothers and sisters who are looking to culture to heal and rehabilitate and find redemption, but more broadly, he's helped tribal people and Indigenous people self-advocate and really fight to be seen, fight to exist, and fight to find a better way of life.

- When you're sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, you don't have any hope.

But you did journey in hope.

And it's a person who has a realization that they're never getting out of those four walls, I think tend to probably would just say, that's my lot in life and I'm not going to do anything.

But you didn't do that.

You have tried to slowly put your life back together.

And what you've also tried to do is you've tried to say, "I can't change the past, but maybe there's somebody's future I can change."

And, you know, Mr.

Rice, I think that really speaks a lot because, you're right, there's nothing that you can do that will ever change what happened for this family.

Maybe, maybe in that tragedy, you are being able to impact somebody else, and I really hope that.

So based upon my consideration of what happened in this case and the various factors, I will agree with the recommendations and I will amend your sentence and I will sentence you to 40 years of prison for murder.

And I will sentence you to 40 years for being an accomplice to murder.

I will make those concurrent with each other.

It looks like you will be released from prison at 57.

You will get the life and the hope and the second chance.

Those are something you didn't give this family.

Use it.

(poignant music) (Chief sobs) - Yeah, it was very overwhelming.

Life is a gift, man.

And you know, there's good in all things, and... it's just sad that we have to be in a situation like this to realize that, you know what I mean?

Because that wisdom isn't shared as young, we don't learn that as children.

We didn't get that knowledge.

If we could have got that knowledge, then maybe it would've changed the trajectory of our life.

That means a lot for me to get on these kids about in prison that are hey, listen, when they're in there, they're whining to me about, oh, they got nothing and their families, so what?

You tell 'em my story.

That doesn't impress me.

What are you gonna do about it?

And that's the thing is that, we have to take control of our destiny, I guess.

And you do that through feeding yourself.

What you feed yourself, you become.

When you learn who your family are, when you learn where you come from, there is a... there is a confidence and a pride that you find.

And you don't care because you know where you come from.

What you need in this life is in you, you just have to seek it out.

And how we seek it out is through ceremony and through prayer and through all these different things, and these things we learn about ourselves.

You grow.

When you share, you grow, I guess, you know?

And my elders would talk about that.

And I understand that today, you know?

(Chief vocalizing and drumming a Native song) I just had to get that out.

That's it.

(bright calm music)