A Texas prison denied an inmate's request to obtain a lock of each of his deceased parents' hair to perform a Native American ritual that he says will help move them to the next life.
57-year-old William Chance told the Associated Press that his family has been told not to bring him pieces of his mother and father's hair because it could be a security risk. But a federal appeals court considered the request relatively harmless, and has returned the case to a lower court for further analysis.
"The hair is just the connection to their physical spirit," Chance told AP from East Texas' Michael Unit prison. "This is something that our family has always done. The fact I'm not allowed to do that, it makes me feel bad."
Chance is one of about 85 prisoners who practice Native American religious ceremonies about twice a month.
"Sometimes I feel haunted, like I'm letting them down, and I realize my life in the past has been a pretty big disappointment for them," he continued.
The Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed that the Texas prison was right to deny Chance's request for certain items he sought out for ceremonies - among them, a foot-long peace pipe and herbs for burning in a practice called the Smudging Ritual - but that the request for some hair shouldn't have been denied flat-out. The court described the hair as "benign."
Chance was 15 years into his 65-year sentence for aggravated sexual assault when his parents died in 2008 and 2009, AP reported. The inmate, whose grandmother was a Cheyenne from Lame Deer, Mont., asked the state to let him keep 4-inch locks of his mother and father's hair for the "Keeping of Souls" ritual, so he could properly mourn their deaths and move them toward their "path to the creator."
Following the state's denial, the Texas Civil Rights Project submitted a lawsuit on Chance's behalf in June 2011, arguing that the institution was in direct violation of the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, which aims to stop discrimination on religious organizations and individual people.
"The spirit of a person remains in the remnant," Chance said, explaining the ritual. "And your behavior while you're carrying this...you give them a little spiritual power so they can travel on the way."
He added that holding the hairs was akin to having a "guardian angel."
Chance's hair issue has been scheduled for trial in January. Next week, a federal judge in Tyler will hear the details at a scheduling conference.
