From Prison to Purpose: Exhibit highlights Indigenous resilience and reform behind bars

The history of the Native Brotherhood and its role in advocating for access to traditional cultural and spiritual practices in Saskatchewan prisons is the focus of an exhibit at the University of Regina. (Katy Syrota / CTV News)

Erroll Kinistino still remembers the moment that changed his life. At 19, he spent five days inside the Regina Provincial Correctional Centre, a short stay that left a lasting mark.

“I had a prison record,” Kinistino, who is now an elder and advocate, told CTV News. “I became known as a criminal. It was a wake-up call for me to smarten up.”

The experience set him on a different path. One focused on supporting Indigenous inmates and advocating for access to traditional cultural and spiritual practices within Saskatchewan’s correctional systems.

Kinistino said those practices can play a crucial role in helping inmates rebuild their lives.

“It can be done where you can have a change of heart,” he said.

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His advocacy work connects closely with the legacy of the Native Brotherhood, a group formed in 1964 that brought Indigenous prisoners together to address shared challenges and push for systemic change.

The Brotherhood created a space for inmates to reconnect with their culture and spirituality according to Jason Demers, a curator involved in the new exhibit.

“It was a group that was initially formed by Cree speaking Métis men from Alberta,” Demers said. “They were basically able to gather Indigenous prisoners together to talk about what it meant to practice their culture, their spirituality.”

Beyond cultural advocacy, the Brotherhood also focused on mutual support that helped members cope with being separated from their loved ones during their incarceration.

“They advocated through those practices within the prison system,” Demers said. “They supported each other through families and community separation.”

That legacy is now the focus of a new exhibit showcasing writing and artwork created by prisoners, both from the 1960s and 1970s and from more recent years.

The exhibit includes pieces produced by inmates at Saskatchewan Penitentiary, offering the public a rare glimpse into the lived experience of those behind bars.

Demers said the collection highlights the group’s work spanning decades.

“Not only does it demonstrate the line of cultural resurgence and resilience that is kind of drawn straight through from the 1960s and 70s,” Demers said. “It also points to the fact that there is still an over-incarceration crisis.”

That crisis remains particularly stark for Indigenous people, who are disproportionately represented in Canada’s prison population.

Kinistino said the challenges do not end upon release. In some cases, life outside prison can be even more difficult.

“These days you have parole and so many things you got to abide by and curfews and living with a bracelet on your leg,” he explained.

Kinistino believes that strengthening access to cultural practices within correctional institutions can help ease that transition and support long-term healing.

Advocates argue that such initiatives are not new ideas, but rather longstanding calls that have yet to be fully realized.

Demers noted that many of the concerns raised by the Native Brotherhood decades ago closely mirror recommendations made by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada in 2015.

“We really have to be working on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to actions from 2015,” he said. “A lot of the calls that were made by the Native Brotherhood are echoed in those calls, more than four decades later.”

The exhibit aims to build a broader understanding of the systemic issues facing those being incarcerated, while also highlighting the importance of cultural identity in rehabilitation.

For Kinistino, the message is simple. Meaningful change is possible, but it requires commitment both inside and outside the prison walls.

He hopes the stories and artwork on display will encourage more people to recognize the humanity of those who are incarcerated and the value of culturally grounded support systems.

The Native Brotherhood exhibit will be on display at the University of Regina’s Dr. John Archer Library through August.