Penal Press: Indigenous Activism
Beginning in the 1960s, there was an influx of articles written by Indigenous inmates, which corresponded with the establishment of Native Brotherhood organizations inside Canadian penitentiaries. Saskatchewan Penitentiary founded the first Native Brotherhood on 21 February 1964. Native Brotherhood organizations soon spread to other penitentiaries in British Columbia and Manitoba, primarily through word of mouth and inmate transfers, and subsequently arrived in Ontario in 1970. The first Native Sisterhood was founded at the Prison for Women in Kingston in 1971. These inmate-run associations taught each other language, created support groups for alcohol and drug addiction, brought in Elders, and practised traditional ways through events, art, music, and rituals. These organizations successfully advocated and protested for freedom of religion to practice rituals and possess sacred items inside prison in the 1970s and 1980s. Through the penal press, incarcerated Indigenous Peoples were able to maintain networks across Canada, while spotlighting connections between the penal system and their larger lived experiences of colonialism.
Image Caption: An excerpt from Pathfinder’s September/October 1965 issue, showing the article titled “Native Brotherhood” by George Lewis.
Indigenous inmates worked to decolonize the penal press and Canada at large, discussed their lived experiences, expressed creativity through storytelling and illustrations, as well as writing on the struggle for self-governance, Indigenous and treaty rights, and the over-incarceration of Indigenous men and women.
The library contains several titles, which frequently and consistently discuss Indigenous activism within the Canadian penal system. For researchers, these writings provide first-hand accounts of the unique lived experiences of Indigenous inmates, and a history of Indigenous activism which has contributed to political dialogue in Canada to this day.
For a full record of the issues the library holds pertaining to this topic, please refer to the penal press finding aid (PDF).