Indian Prison Inmates Want to Hold Religious Ceremonies

Indian inmates in Utah State Prison’s minimum security unit say they want to practice their traditional religious customs, but prison officials say sweat lodges and other ceremonies may threaten security.

“What they’re asking is a very routine part of the correctional religious programming that is available in virtually every prison in the country that has any Indian population at all,” said Walter Echo Hawk, an attorney representing the Native American Rights Fund in Boulder, Colo.

The prison provides inmate religious services with one full-time chaplain and three part-time ones. However, those chaplains are not schooled in Indian religions, and 10 inmates have petitioned to exercise their beliefs independently through Native American Church ceremonies.

They also want access to spiritual leaders and medicine men. To worship, the Indians would need a drum to accompany spiritual songs, cedar and sage to burn and bless themselves, and feathers for sending their prayers.

Want to Pass Pipe

Inmates also want to pass a pipe filled with tobacco, a sweat lodge for cleansing themselves and visits from medicine men and spiritual leaders.

“I have no problem with the Native American Church in the prison if it’s anything like a medicine man meeting with them as a bishop or priest would for services,” said Gary DeLand, corrections director. “With sweat-lodge ceremonies that the staff can’t enter, that end is less likely.”

Currently, traditional churches use one prison chapel at different hours. Sweat ceremonies are not possible there because the lodge cannot be contained in another building.

Seek Spiritual Help

“Our main purpose is to get our church and our religion in here for spiritual help,” said inmate Larry McCook, 40, a Ute Indian who is spokesman for inmates associated with the Native American Brotherhood organization.

“Our church is the earth, and the sky is our altar,” he said.

Clifford Duncan, a Ute spiritual leader who is willing to conduct meetings with the Indians, said the sweat ceremonies use no artifacts or instruments. He said he would gather the branches needed for the sweat lodge.

“The branches could be brought in if it was cleared with security,” he said. “They would remain there. None would be taken out.

“What I think they’re up against is they feel resistance from prison officials. In one incident, an official asked Larry if he was sincere about his religion before he came to prison. Larry said, ‘No.’ But many of the non-Indian prisoners didn’t believe either before they went in.”