Prison, rodeo and 'Lost Journals'

By Micah Drew, Jordan Hansen and Keila Szpaller

“Ranchers are facing a real crisis.” — Chelsea Hanjy, executive vice president of the Washington Cattlemen’s Association, on record gray wolf population in Washington.

Last week I got the chance to participate in an activity hosted by the Montana Department of Corrections simulating a person trying to reenter society after being incarcerated.

The event was geared toward young professionals in Helena, and I’m glad I had the chance to go. It is incredibly difficult for people leaving prison, especially after long terms, to come back and pick up where they left off. The world has changed while they’ve been gone, with Montana Women’s Prison Warden Katie Weston saying at one point even things like text messages and email accounts can be difficult for those recently released to figure out.

The activity made the point that time, money and transportation are some of the biggest issues for folks trying to figure out their lives post prison. Mountains of paperwork, the potential to end up back and jail, and how easy it is to slip into homelessness were also on display.

I ended up back in the activity’s jail halfway through after a “wild card” of sorts was given to me between our 20-minute weeks saying there was an old warrant I needed to address. I went to the table that served as the “court” and ended up back in jail.
By the end, the prison was crowded, which showed another issue the state is spending hundreds of millions to solve — prison overcrowding.

I talked to a number of participants at the event, all of whom saw the exercise as valuable. And I thought so too. These are the types of conversations and thoughts we need to keep having as both a state and a nation. Our criminal justice system is complex, and it’s difficult to navigate. I also believe people should have a full opportunity to live a productive life following a prison sentence.

I think events like this help make that more of a possibility and, at the end of the day, anything that helps give us greater empathy as people is more than worthwhile to me.

~ Jordan Hansen

Did you know this fun fact?

The University of Montana Rodeo Team’s student-athletes have earned spots in the College National Finals Rodeo every year since 1990.

In a blog post, UM said the majority of the team comes from high school rodeo in Montana, although all “outstanding” athletes are welcome.

You can see them for yourself next weekend at UM’s Spring Rodeo. Here’s the announcement from UM:

Experience two nights of fast-paced rodeo action, family fun and campus pride as the University of Montana’s Grizzly Rodeo Team closes out the Big Sky season under the lights in Missoula at the annual Spring Rodeo on Friday, May 1, and Saturday, May 2.

Each night starts at 7 p.m. at the Missoula County Fairgrounds. Tickets can be bought online at GrizTix.

The UM Spring Rodeo marks the final stop on the Big Sky Regional Circuit. Cheer on the Grizzly Rodeo Team as they face off against nine other schools from across the Big Sky Region — all competing for a coveted spot at the College National Finals Rodeo in Casper, Wyoming.

The team currently participates in six men’s events and four women’s events. Scholarships and tuition support are available to every student-athlete on the team.  

~ Keila Szpaller

Have you read “The Lost Journals of Sacajawea”?

I am mentioning it because it also appears on the Glacier Book Club list, up for discussion at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 6, via Zoom.

This book challenged me at first. You know when you watch a movie with subtitles, and you have to shift your mind a bit to get into the rhythm? Well, I had to do the same with some of the language in the book.

Once I did, it was an incredible immersion, vivid, full of new connections and descriptions and ways of seeing the natural world through language.

It’s by a Montana author, and here’s how the Glacier National Park Conservancy, the book club host, describes it:

Award-winning author Debra Magpie Earling returns to Glacier Book Club with her novel “The Lost Journals of Sacajewea.“ Earling paints a “devastatingly beautiful” portrait of Sacajewea’s resilience as she grows up in a rapidly changing world and must cope with loss and survival amidst the brutality of white colonization. Serving as an interpreter and guide for Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery, Sacajewea is forced to navigate the harsh landscape of the American frontier as well as her own grief.

Happy reading.

~ Keila Szpaller

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