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National
Prison inmates readily embrace Indian traditions


Inmates at the McDougall-Walker Correctional Institution in Suffolk, Connecticut, like to sweat.

A group of about 30 who claim Indian heritage regularly take part in sweat lodges, smudging and other Indian traditions. The group is diverse, according to The New York Times, and prison officials don't check the validity of anyone's ancestry. Some of the inmates can't point to a specific tribal affiliation.

The sweats are held once a month. A state-paid chaplain named Mark Allen, who calls himself Two Rivers, leads the group in worship.

Get the Story:
Sweat lodge in the pen (The New York Times 7/1)

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