In 1984, one of my young family members set out on the road with a former inmate. I had visions of all kinds of terrible things happening and called the prison to learn about the man. The Cultural Activity Coordinator assured me this man was not violent and also told me there was an inmate still in prison who was a good friend of the former inmate. I wrote to the friend and he agreed to talk to me in the visit room. He was in touch with his friend and gave me a general idea of where they were and that they were safe. I went to visit him again a couple of times in the next few months until my family member decided to return home to South Dakota.
About this same time, the Solo Parents’ Group of which I was a member offered a tour of the prison. I went on the tour and saw the inside of the prison for the first time. I can still remember the loud noise of the gates closing behind us.
I received a phone call from an attorney asking me if I would meet with an inmate who was the trustee of a family trust to prepare a tax return for the trust. I agreed to do this and met the inmate in the visit room. To this day, I don’t know why they called me to do the tax return except that I was only one of two female CPA’s listed in the phone book.
Fast forward to 1992. A friend of mine called me and asked me if I would be willing to assist the Native American group at the South Dakota State Penitentiary (nicknamed The Hill) apply for tax-exempt status with IRS when they completed their incorporation process. They thought it would help them to raise funds. Every religious/cultural group in the prisons has to finance themselves with no State funds provided. I agreed to meet with them. The Cultural Activity Coordinator met me at the gate, took me to a classroom at the school where about a dozen Native men were gathered, and told me he would come back for me in an hour. My stomach started churning despite the fact there was an officer in the hallway outside the classroom who could easily see through the classroom windows.
This was the first of a number of meetings with them. The attorney who had been assisting them become incorporated quit. I talked an attorney friend of mine into helping them complete the process. Then I started on the paperwork to get them 501 (c) 3 status. The IRS wanted them to change one thing in their by-laws. That proved to be difficult to do since the prison went into lockdown following a riot so they were not allowed to meet to vote on the change. I had to beg a woman at IRS to give us an extension of time on the application. They finally received the IRS approval on Nov. 8, 1993, effective Oct. 13, 1992, when they first applied. In the meantime, some of the officers of the group invited me to attend their powwows. I went to about one a year, but also helped them by shopping for supplies for the group.
After attending their March 2000 powwow, I received a phone call from the Lutheran chaplain whom I had met at the powwow. He told me the Natives really needed a “pink tag” volunteer who could come into the prison to meet with them and assist them. That same week I met the new Cultural Activity Coordinator in the prison lobby while delivering supplies for them. She told me they really needed a volunteer for the Native Americans since they had a continuing need for supplies and assistance. I thought it might be more than a coincidence that two strangers asked me in the same week to volunteer for the Natives so perhaps I should give it a try. I applied to become a volunteer and finished my week of “pink tag” training in June 2000. Pink tags may come into the prison whenever they wish and can check out keys following the security training we receive. I was assigned to a small office in the chapel and given a phone number and computer access. There were about 750 emails on the computer for that phone number since someone else had it before me. The Catholic chaplain showed me how to delete them at once instead of one at a time. I began by coming to the prison once a week, while working as a CPA four days a week. I gradually increased my prison time and decreased my accounting time as I neared retirement. On April 15, 2006, I completely retired and began volunteering full-time at the prison. I assisted at the three separate prisons in Sioux Falls, the maximum security Jameson Unit, the trusty unit, and “The Hill” which was mainly medium security where I had my office. About 28% of the inmates are Native American and have lots of needs.
Mary Montoya
