A state human rights investigator has thrown out a complaint alleging that Montana's only private prison discriminated against American Indians who want to practice native religious ceremonies.

John Henry Knows His Gun - an inmate at the prison - complained earlier this year that guards and staff at the Crossroads Correctional Facility in Shelby unfairly strip-searched inmates heading to the sweat lodge, didn't let sweat lodge participants have necessary religious items, and made racial slurs toward inmates participating in the sweat, among other allegations.

Katherine Kountz, chief of the state's Human Rights Bureau, concluded Tuesday that the prison treats American Indian sweat lodge participants like any other group at the prison and that some items, like antlers, are properly not allowed inside the prison's sweat lodge.

Knows His Gun filed the complaint with the help of the Montana chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. Kountz's decision paves the way for the group to file a district court suit, if it wishes.

The prison is operated by Corrections Corporation of America and is contracted to hold mostly Montana inmates.

"We're gratified that one of the state's partners in the Montana correctional system has been exonerated in regard to the allegations of discrimination," said Corrections spokesman Bob Anez in a written statement Tuesday.

Kountz found that prison staff did strip search en masse inmates heading into the sweat for several months beginning in August of 2008.

However, that action was in response to an illegal item found in the sweat shop laundry.

The prison's warden stopped the group strip searches when he discovered the searches were conducted en masse. The searches are no longer going on.

She also concluded that a deer antler, which would be used to manage hot coals, was properly removed from the sweat lodge out of safety concerns and that other religions are also denied certain ceremonial objects, like a sword, if they are obviously dangerous.

Kountz said that while some inmates are turned away from the sweat lodge, the lodge is limited in size, just as Christian church services are limited in capacity.

Additionally, the sweat lodge accommodates the most inmates of all the religious ceremonies offered at the prison.

The racial slur was said to have occurred once, when a guard allegedly said something about tossing beef jerky in to the lodge and letting the inmates fight over it "like dogs."

The guard alleged to have made the remark denied doing so, saying his own children were American Indian. Kountz concluded that it was impossible to tell if the incident occurred and said that Knows His Gun couldn't prove it.

CCA issued a statement Tuesday saying the company was "pleased and in agreement with (the) conclusion" of the state's investigation.

The ACLU intends to appeal the decision to the full Human Rights Commission, The Associated Press reported.

Reporter Jennifer McKee: 447-4069 or jennifer.mckee@lee.net