Powwows (wacipi’s in Lakota) are considered to be both spiritual and social. I rarely Indian dance now.  When I’m at a prison powwow, I have to go to the kitchen to get the food for the two powwow meals and help serve it, check people in, etc.   If I dance also, I get too tired.  We have a switch up dance at the powwows where the men dance like women for prize money.  The guys used to tie a bustle on me and have me dance like a man.  It was fun, but they sing very, very long songs so it was exhausting.  Dancers dance for those who can’t – the elderly, crippled or deceased so drugs and alcohol are prohibited wherever they are held but I would guess people find a way to get around that.  They are family gatherings; some people go from one powwow to another all summer dancing for prize money and meeting friends along the way. There are always camping areas next to the powwow arena.

Many of the Native inmates have white or Black ancestors too.  Around here, there is a French fur trader in the past very often.

I’ve attached the basic powwow menu order form and the powwow criteria at male facilities. Due to the fire code, family powwows held in the visit rooms need to be limited. There are two meals because some people come for the first session and some come for the second session. The inmate group may choose which meal they want to have first. Ordinarily one tribe or another will provide buffalo meat for the soup and sometimes for the Indian tacos also. If we can’t get donated buffalo meat, we buy beef. The meals are a big deal not only because the food is from their culture, but also because they can go back for seconds as long as the food lasts. In the dining hall, they can’t do that and I don’t think they ever get beef to eat. They may have soy burgers and they eat chicken often.

I usually join the serving line to make sure everyone gets equal amounts in the servings. Guys may want to give their buddies extra servings or go very light on the servings for guys they don’t like.

To attend any of the cultural meals at the prison, guys must have participated in at least 2 activities of the group in the past 90 days ending 2 weeks prior to the meal (when the meals must be ordered.) This rule started a couple years ago and has cut down attendance at the gym powwows by non-Native inmates who don’t want to attend a pipe ceremony or sweat so they can go to the powwow. I used to (pre-COVID-19) spend a lot of time signing up men and families and then checking to make sure the men are eligible to attend. Some men are Native, but only attend Christian services. Inmates designate for themselves what their race and religion are. We don’t check with the tribes to see if they are enrolled. A fair number of them were adopted or fostered by white parents and know little about their birth families.

Some men want to know about their birth families and have some information about their mother or father so I have assisted them in contacting the enrollment office at their tribe to get a family tree for them. Some learn they are in prison with an uncle, cousin, or sometimes a father they never knew.

There are 4 powwows a year in Sioux Falls at the Hill (old prison) and at Jameson (newer prison.)

The family powwows are especially meaningful. I saw one woman crying during a powwow meal. I went to ask her if she was okay. She told me this was the first meal she had ever eaten with her husband. They were married in prison.

Mary Montoya