By Becky Berreth

   “If your intentions are good and you really want to pray, this is the place,” explains Bev Running Bear to the female inmates.

    Every other Saturday morning, Running Bear enters the Pennington County Jail escorted by armed guards. She cringes at the sound of the metal security doors slamming shut behind her. She, along with Mary Tognotti, are part of the jail ministry at St. Isaac Jogues Church, a parish that focuses on Lakota Catholics in Rapid City.

    Five years ago Mary Tognotti started the jail ministry after she retired from her work at Sioux San Hospital. Father Pat McCorkell SJ, approached Tognotti with the idea of starting a talking circle in the jail. One year later, Running Bear joined adding prayer ties, a traditional form of prayer.

    They hold the one hour sessions every week alternating between the talking circle and prayer ties.

    Attendance varies from two to 20 women.

    Tognotti begins the talking circle by burning sage and reciting the Four Directions Prayer. A feather is then passed around. Only the person holding the feather may speak. “It is not about what is being said for these women,” explained Tognotti. “It is about being listened to.” The session ends with the Serenity Prayer.

    When Running Bear begins the prayer ties with a small meditation, she asks the participants to leave any ill feelings or thoughts at the door. “When they make the prayer ties, they must tie little square cloths with the tobacco in them,” she said. “If you are stressed and not thinking about the prayers, the string will break. If that happens, you have to start over from the beginning.”

    For the cloth, she uses the four directions colors: black, yellow, red, and white. The smoke from the tobacco represents the prayers being taken up to God.

   Women in both groups are offered the opportunity to speak and pray about their feelings. Both prayer leaders are surprised at how open some of the women can be. Running Bear believes it is because of the attention they pay to confidentiality and making sure that what is said in that room stays. “I do not even really remember names. Subconsciously I do not think I want to ... it helps keep things confidential.”

    Another thing the two found astounding, was how often the women pray for the protection of their children. “If they pray, many times it is for their children,” said Tognotti. “Some of them are so young and are having a hard time being away from their kids.”

   “But we try to encourage them,” Running Bear emphasized. “We tell them that, if this is the bottom, they are lucky. They can come out of this.”

    Negative attitudes are one obstacle that the two have faced. Tognotti thinks the negativity comes from fear. “They do not know what it is about,” she said. “But someone in the group usually explains it to them.”

    Both women agree that working in the jail has helped them to grow spiritually. The rewards come from working with the inmates. Running Bear recalled a woman who attended the sessions while she was incarcerated. No more than two years after her release, she was back in the jail. “She came into the room and said she was so happy to see that we were still there,” remembered Running Bear. “And she told me how much we had comforted her the first time.”

    Tognotti had a similar experience in a restaurant. The waitress asked Tognotti if she remembered her. “Once I figured out who she was, she hugged me and told me how much the talking circles meant to her,” she said. “They are grateful that we are there during that hard time in their lives.”