Sweating It Out: Religious Ritual Helps Inmates Pass Time (From Native Americans, Crime, and Justice, P 222-223, 1996, Marianne O Nielsen and Robert A Silverman, eds. -- See NCJ-168132)

• NCJ Number: 168157
• Author(s): J Espinosa
• Date Published: 1996
• Length: 2 pages
• Sale Source: Westview Press, Inc
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS. From the Durango Herald, May 30, 1993.

Annotation

American Indians at State and Federal prisons across the Nation are rediscovering their indigenous religion; their church is the ceremonial sweat lodge, and the beat for the prayer ceremonies is pounded out with a small drum.

Abstract

Indian inmates are building their own sweat lodges for their ceremonies. "The sweat lodge is a very important and ancient practice of our indigenous people of North America," says Lenny Foster, director of the Navajo Nation Corrections Project. "It's a central part of the ceremony and provides spiritual foundation for ceremonies and practices." Through the sweat lodge, Indians believe they receive insight, cleansing, and purification. Indian inmates believe that as they have become more and more immersed in Indian traditions and religious beliefs, they have found a peace and spiritual perspective that helps them maintain a positive attitude while in prison. Sharing in the ceremonies of the sweat lodge also creates a supportive bond with other Indian inmates.