Drum sticks rest on the drum circle chairs. Photo courtesy Patty Garland
Traditional drum group returns to Pennington County Jail
By Richie Richards
Native Sun News Staff Writer RAPID CITY –– After years of no traditional drum group being present in the Pennington County Jail (PCJ), collaborative efforts by the Sheriff’s Office, PCJ inmates, and community volunteer advocates have succeeded in bringing the traditional Native American music back to the correctional facility. An inmate serving time or waiting to be sentenced has very little options in PCJ for Lakota spiritual practices. Currently, the men inmates do not have a medicine person coming in for prayers and the jail does not allow the burning of sage or tobacco for prayers. So when the jail recently brought back the drum, Native American inmates were more than willing to participate in the prayer songs, powwow songs and songs they grew up with; including Oglala Lakota inmate Wayne Featherman, 28. Featherman is currently serving 225 days for a probation violation and is scheduled for release on Oct. 28. After violating probation twice over the past few months, once for missing a morning portable breathalyzer test (PBT) and once for failing to attend a scheduled treatment meeting, Featherman uses the drumming as a spiritual calming. Featherman has been singing for nearly 3 years; most of which was done with the Elk Nation from Potato Creek and has been singing with the PCJ drum group since June of this year. When drumming, Featherman uses his role as an experienced drummer to listen, learn and teach his fellow inmates who want to join in. “I tell them to listen to the heartbeat of the drum. Don’t be scared to sing loud,” he says. “For me, it brings out what’s on the inside,” continues Featherman, “I tell the others who want to learn that it helps. It feels better when you’re doing it. I touch the drum and rub it on my throat. They ask why I do that, and I tell them I do it to thank the drum. Your voice is there and it stays with the drum.” Before the drumming begins, the inmates sit and listen to the prayers of the older men. There are no leaders of the drum group because of the nature of the changing population of the jail. Featherman has been “in and out of the system for a while” beginning with the former Juvenile Detention Center as a teen and his last visit to PCJ was April, 2015. He credits his inability to fulfill the probation requirements as the main factors for his recent jail stays. The drum gives Featherman and others an opportunity to practice their traditions or pick up a drum stick for the first time. For him, “It helps me with some of my frustration. Sometimes, I feel like hollering and the drum lets me sing loud and let that energy out.” “You have to respect the drum. All your brothers are sitting with you. The other inmates go into the rec room just to hear us sing. They sit there and just listen,” says Featherman.
The exterior of the jail in Pennington County, South Dakota. Photo from Pennington County
Other than drumming and singing, Featherman passes the time by working as a cook in the kitchen. The strict schedule of meals remains the same from week to week, so breaking the monotony by drumming once a week on Tuesdays is a nice break for the father of one daughter (his 7-month old son passed away this past November). Upon his release, Featherman hopes to return to his position as a maintenance worker at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center. Drumming and singing is not viewed as an extra-curricular activity or a reward in a Native American’s life. This is a life-style attached to prayer and ancestral worship ceremonies. The drum represents a continuous heartbeat through time and does not stop beating when a Native American man is serving time. (Contact Richie Richards at staffwriter@nsweekly.com) Copyright permission Native Sun News
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