Today is my first day in prison after a 4 month absence.
I've just returned from prison. I learned one former inmate will be returning since he shot two people in Rapid City a couple days ago. The inmates are always full of gossip that hasn't made the newspaper yet. There were probably gangs or drugs involved. I know lots of gangbangers. They consider me as their honorary grandmother or aunt. It is a compliment since many, many of the men I know were raised by their grandmothers.
I only spent 2 hours in prison today and then another 2 hours hunting down cotton broadcloth to buy for making prayer ties.
Through my work in the prison, I've become quite ecumenical. I take part in pipe ceremonies with the inmates in the mental health section and think Lakota spirituality has a lot of good qualities.
My nickname is "Sr. Mary Rotten." (I enjoy harmless practical jokes and someone once thought I was a nun.) My original nickname at the prison, when I was allowed to bring in tobacco for pipe ceremonies, was "Tobacco Packing Mama." Humor is what makes life in prison bearable. There are always a lot of jokes and teasing going on. My Native name given to me by a medicine man is, "Wawokeye Win." That translates to a woman who helps someone in need without asking for something in return.
After being at the prison 40 hours a week normally, it was a huge adjustment for me to stay home. I could then sympathize with my uncle who always wanted something meaningful to do in his old age.
Regarding your volunteer capacity:
Do you serve the Indian population exclusively or primarily? Do you also address the needs and wants of other prisoners - white, Hispanic, oriental, etc.?
"I assist anyone who asks for help. Besides the Native Americans, I probably help the Muslim's most since they don't have a chaplain. When they get an imam to come in from the community, he needs to be escorted so I do that and stay with him during their service and once a year feasts. I also email the imam to arrange the time for him to come in and send him religious questions from the group. I think I am quite safe in the prison since no one wants to upset both the Natives and the Muslim's, who are predominantly Black. There are only about 20-30 of them, however, compared to about 550 Natives in Sioux Falls prisons. The Natives consider me to be THEIR volunteer so I have to be discreet when I help non-Natives. We have very few Hispanic and oriental inmates."
Is there a national association of prison volunteers? Are you able to share and discuss your experiences with like volunteers at other prisons?
"I don't know of any other volunteers anywhere who work mainly with Native Americans. Since we have such a high percentage, we get calls from other prisons about the ceremonies we allow, etc. Sometimes I am put on the phone to answer the questions. We have 5 more or less full-time chaplains at the prison so we are somewhat of a support group for each other. We meet monthly and discuss things like the inmate who changed religions three times in one day so he could get a loaner guitar. We also have a state-wide chaplains' group which meets in person twice a year."
Have you kept any kind of written journal or record of the experiences like those you've shared with me?
"Not much. I wrote down a few things."
What level of prejudice is there by prison staff toward Indian inmates?
"Our officers are expected to treat all inmates with respect. There isn't any blatant prejudice shown that I've seen. Of course the Indian inmates are certain that some officers treat them badly. To be fair, the inmates also treat some officers badly. I was in a training class once with officers in training. One guy in that class kept shooting off his mouth in a prejudicial way. I informed the warden. He was fired. Someone like that would bring danger on all the officers."
What level of prejudice exists today by South Dakota state government and state residents toward the state Indian population?
"It is still there for sure. Although they make up 9% of our population, there are none on the Board Regents or any other state boards or commissions, West River is worse than here. In Sioux Falls now something like 55% of the elementary students are not white. Times are changing."
Have you ever been professionally interviewed regarding these volunteer true life experiences?
"Not that I can recall. There have been approved newspaper interviews for particular projects. Next week the warden and I will be presenting a check from one of the Indian prison groups to Children's Inn, a shelter for battered women, where there will hopefully be some media coverage."
Have you ever been approached or has it ever been suggested that you share these experiences, at least in part, with the general public in a written form such as a book? I personally believe it would be well received and certainly adaptable to screenplay.
"As a volunteer, I have to abide by the same code of conduct as the officers. Anything we want to publish has to be approved in advance by someone in the DOC office in Pierre."
If you did share your experiences with the public would there be possible repercussions from the state powers that be toward you or the Indian prison population?
"Yes, I could be sued for violating my written contract with the State DOC. Twice inmates have included me in lawsuits they've brought against the prison and the DOC attorney has handled the cases with no cost to me. Once I was sued by an inmate, known to be a snitch, who was badly beaten by other inmates. The victim got it in his head that I put out a contract on him. I didn't. He suffered brain damage in the beating so he doesn't always make sense now. If I actually tried to put out a contract on anyone, the inmates wouldn't listen anyway and would think I was joking. The other time I wouldn't let an inmate into a conference because he had not signed up for it. He threatened me in front of an outside guest (also in front of other inmates, but they would never snitch) and he spent one night in the hole. He claimed I caused him to lose his chance for a parole. He had done many things to cause himself to lose his chance."
I know a few Lakota words now. They don’t have a word for goodbye so they say “Doksha” or “Toksha”, which means see you later.
