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Cancer survivor Mary Buckman shares a laugh while sewing pink shawls at the Montana Women's Prison in Billings, Mont. Photo by Bob Zellar of the Billings Gazette via AP Member Exchange

Inmates' Pink Shawls Help Cancer Survivors

By Zach Benoit of the Billings Gazette

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Their fingers working steadily, draping fine pink strings over the backs of chairs in a small room in the back of the Montana Women's Prison and then sewing them into shawls laid out on the tables in front of them, about a dozen women began the finishing touches on a special gift for local cancer survivors.

The women — all offenders serving time at the prison, and most of them of American Indian heritage — were putting fringe on shawls for the Pink Shawl Project, a nationwide event designed to increase cancer awareness, especially among American Indian women.

"It just really touched me," Mary Buckman said of the project as she worked on a shawl recently. "I wanted to do this because my life has been touched by cancer."

The shawls, 50 in all, will be presented to local cancer survivors, or those who have been touched by the disease, at a ceremony this fall.

Shawl is a Traditional Native American Garment

Shawls are a traditional part of many American Indian cultures, and bringing a number of groups together to work on the pink shawls has had a profound effect, said Reno Charette, director of American Indian outreach at Montana State University-Billings.

"It's a great way to share cultures," she said. "It's therapeutic, very calming but very labor intensive. By keeping the hands busy, it seems to free the mind."

Even within the confines of a state prison, women aren't shielded from cancer and the impact it can have on the loved ones of those who are diagnosed.

Buckman, like many of the women fringing the shawls on a recent Wednesday evening, is living proof of that. Her mother died of breast cancer and, in 1998, she herself was diagnosed with the disease. Within a year of treatment, it was in remission. It hasn't come back.

'Open the Eyes of the Young to Traditions'

At another end of the room, Alex Balibardin, Cynthia Smells and Jena Kennedy sat around a table fringing and adding to the relaxed, friendly din of conversation that settled over the room. All three women, who have relatives who have been diagnosed with cancer or died from it, said that in addition to working for a good cause, the fringing was a welcome cultural reminder.

"It's very therapeutic," said Kennedy, who is from the Blackfeet reservation. "It eases our minds; it takes us out of this place for a while. With this, getting back to my culture will help me go back to my reservation and talk about life here and open the eyes of the young to old traditions."

Overseeing the group were Charette and Melissa Spotted Bear, from the Billings Clinic Cancer Center and the National Cancer Institute's Community Cancer Centers program. Both women have been working on the local Pink Shawl Project for much of the year.

Spotted Bear said cancer is the second-leading cause of death among American Indians, who are often diagnosed later in life than other segments of the population, which is why the Pink Shawl Project is important.

"What's unique about this group is they're people we don't always get to work with," she said.

"Our hope is to get the message across about cancer."

Bob Paul, the prison's deputy warden, said the inmates have gotten into the work as well.

"They all take it at a very personal level," he said.

Happy to be Giving Instead of Taking

Buckman almost didn't get the chance to participate. She applied to help fringe the shawls but wasn't chosen in the initial group. She appealed to the prison's chaplain, persuading the woman to let her give it a shot.

"I really wanted to do this," Buckman said. "I'm just glad to be giving back to the community instead of taking away from it."

The shawls will be presented at the Pink Shawl Ceremony on Oct. 2 at MSUB's downtown campus. Offenders at the prison will fringe shawls every Wednesday night until the event, which is being put on by Intertribal Clan Mothers, MSUB, the Montana-Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council and the Billings Clinic Cancer Center.

The ceremony will include traditional smudge blessings, readings and drumming.

Zach Benoit is a reporter at the Billings Gazette. This story was provided through the AP Member Exchange.