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VOLUNTEER EARNS HONOR FOR HELPING INMATES
Posted to South Dakota Prisoners Support Group by Anne Bates
Jill Callison
Argus Leader
published: 2/8/2003
National public service award to be presented in spring
In the 1950s, some Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts in Sioux Falls formed a dancing group and learned traditional steps from a member of the Yankton tribe.
The young dancers became so popular that they performed at area fairs and even at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for Park Ridge Mall.
Fifty years later, one of those dancers has relearned the steps, and sometimes Mary Montoya dances with another former group member, Royce Adams.
But now Montoya and Adams dance with inmates participating in powwows behind the walls of South Dakota State Penitentiary.
Montoya has met the Native American inmates through the hours she has spent volunteering at the penitentiary during the past 15 years.
In the past three years, however, 61-year-old Montoya has increased her volunteer hours, often spending as much time working with inmates during a week as she does in her professional life as a CPA.
Her service hasn't gone unnoticed. This spring, Montoya will receive a national public service award from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. She first won on a statewide level.
Penitentiary officials who work with Montoya say the honor is well deserved.
"We love her," says Warden Doug Weber. "She's there whenever we need her. She's never ever told us she couldn't help for any reason."
Dennis Block says Montoya regularly puts in 30 hours a week as a volunteer.
Montoya often puts in a full shift from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., then returns for activities such as the quarterly powwows, says Block, the cultural activities coordinator and volunteer supervisor.
"She has been a blessing for us in helping us with the Native American group," he says.
Montoya has helped supply inmates with everything from rocks and wood to books. The rocks and wood are needed during the ritual sweats. The books help fill shelves at the prison library.
"When I started up at the prison, there were almost no books with Native American themes," Montoya says. "Now, there are 160 in that section."
Montoya serves as the prison's "bookmobile," bringing a cart filled with books to the prisoners. With the recent increase in Hispanic inmates, she is compiling a library of religious books for them.
Native American inmates are her primary interest. As of Dec. 31, 23 percent of the male inmates in the prison system were Native American. That's 626 men, with 94 Native American women in the system.
In addition to collecting rocks and wood, Montoya brings in other items. A nonsmoker herself, she is in charge of getting the tobacco needed for the ceremonies.
When they travel West River to visit family, her husband, Leonard Johnson, has become used to making sudden stops.
"I've got my husband trained," she jokes. "When we see sage, he's now accustomed to pulling over to the side of the road."
They also have brought back buffalo meat, filling their car's trunk with wrapped packages.
Every spring, willow branches are cut for the sweat lodges. Montoya attends eight powwows a year, four in the main facility and four at Jameson Annex.
Through her contact with the Native American inmates, Montoya says she has learned that their spirituality permeates every aspect of their lives.
"And in their culture, a person obtains wealth by what they give away, not by what they keep," says Montoya, who also serves as an oblate, a person associated with a religious community, at Blue Cloud Abbey near Marvin.
The Rev. Dave Christenson, pastor of St. Dysmas Lutheran Church at the penitentiary, says Montoya has a rapport with the inmates.
"I think they are equally as impressed with just the love that she shows and the willingness to work with them," he says. "They respect her."
Says Montoya, "I have really been very well treated by the inmates. I've often said that I wish the bag boys who take out my groceries were as polite."
Montoya also works with inmates' families through the Family Connection Hospitality House. She is president of its board. Hospitality House gives inmates' families a low-cost place to stay when they come to Sioux Falls for visits.
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