Indian students at the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point are upset they can't smudge in their dorm rooms.

The school says state fire laws prevent burning inside dormitories. So students can only smudge outside, though they can bring eagle feathers that have been smudged with smoke into their rooms.

“It’s a step backwards, and I am disappointed," graduate student Rory Griffin, a member of the Menominee Nation, told Indian Country Today. “But we’ve been told that there’s nothing we can do because of state and federal fire code laws for residence halls."

Griffin hopes to change state laws to allow an exemption for Indian ceremonies. Some states with anti-smoking laws have carved out similar exceptions.

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Smudge quest continues (Indian Country Today 12/2)