A Tiverton man serving a life sentence at the state Adult Correctional Institutions is suing corrections administrators over their refusal to allow him to wear an Apache headband in keeping with the traditions he says he sincerely believes and was taught as a child.
The Rhode Island American Civil Liberties Union, with Roger Williams University School of Law Prisoners’ Rights Litigation Clinic, is suing the state Department of Corrections and its leaders in U.S. District Court on behalf of 59-year-old Wolf Pawochawog-Mequinosh.
What is the lawsuit about?
Pawochawog-Mequinosh identifies as a Native American shaman, also known as a medicine man, and says he was taught his religious practices and traditions by his grandfather, an enrolled member of the White Mountain Apache Tribe, according to the complaint.
Apache men traditionally wear cloth headbands 2 to 3 inches wide that tie in the back, and Pawochawog-Mequinosh believes that wearing one would express his faith and unity with the tribe and spirits, the suit says.