At the prison, inmates are usually called by their last names with Mr. in front of them and officers are called their last names with CO, Lt. or some other title before the last name.

Most inmates call each other by their last names too, but there are many with nicknames.  I had to talk to one inmate one day and the other inmates told me he was a barber so I should go to where the barber chair is and ask for “Big Snack.”  They wouldn’t tell me his real name so I asked the man cutting hair if his name was “Big Snack.”  He got a big grin and said yes he was and asked who sent me to find him.  I told him and asked how he got that nickname.  He pulled up his shirt and right across his ample belly were the tattooed words, “Big Snack.”

Another man I know has the nickname of “Whiskey.”  None of the other inmates call him by his birth name.  I needed to talk to him one day so I called the Control pod to get him.  I told the officer who answered that I needed Whiskey.  He told me he thought it was a little early in the day to start drinking.  I apologized and gave him the inmate’s real name.

Next time I called for that inmate, I used his birth name.  It was the same officer working in the control pod and he asked me if I wanted Whiskey. I told him that is exactly who I wanted.

Whiskey had other relatives in prison.  I asked his older brother one day how he received that nickname.  He told me Whiskey got that name when he was about three.  His parents would have parties and they thought it was funny to watch him stagger around so they gave him whiskey.  He acquired a taste for it so when people were passed out at his house, he went around the room finishing their drinks.

From the little that I know, it seems that beer is much more popular on the rez than whiskey so I’m surprised his nickname isn’t Beer.

It happens frequently that inmates don’t even know the first name of some of their friends.  If I ask for that information from them when I need to put a list together, they shrug their shoulders.  If I ask where the man lives, they usually know that so I am able to look at the locator list to find his first name.  There are often several inmates with the same last name.

I am given nicknames too by the inmates.  When I was hobbling around after breaking one of my toes, I was called “Broken Toe.”  When I used to bring in tobacco for pipe ceremonies, I was called “Tobacco Packing Momma.”  One of the Native American counsellors at the prison, tells the men I am the White Buffalo Calf Woman reincarnated.  (She brought them the first pipe and taught them prayer rituals.)  They sometimes call me Pte Ska Win (Buffalo White Woman.)  Recently I was bitten by gnats while filming a documentary for the prison channel.  I was called Wabluska Onanpce Win (Bug Bitten Woman.)  I am sure there are other names I’m called behind my back when they aren’t happy with me.

Mary Montoya