My search for my sister, the "keeper of memories"

05/26/20 • 23 min

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Nakuset only goes by one name and it means "The Sun" in her indigenous Canadian culture. Born into an abusive household, her early days were difficult and it wasn't long before she and her sister Sonya were taken into care by social services. This was the 1970s, and there was a widespread policy of taking indigenous children and putting them up for adoption with white families, removing them from their culture in the process. Nakuset was adopted, her sister wasn't. It was a painful process for Nakuset, but her eventual reunion with Sonya as an adult helped her get in touch with her heritage. The two sisters became close, but sadly their respective childhood experiences had left them scarred, and the reunion didn't have a fairy-tale ending. Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Harry Graham Photo credit: Nakuset

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The woman in lockdown with 70 spiders

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The weird world I was warned to keep secret

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Pauline Dakin is a Canadian journalist, broadcaster and a professor of journalism in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Growing up in the 1970s and 1980s, her childhood was marked by many mysterious incidents and unexplained getaways - where her family suddenly had to flee at a moment's notice and she couldn't talk to anyone about what was going on. Pauline tells Jo Fidgen how she managed to uncover her family's extraordinary secret - including a hidden community called the 'weird world'. This interview was first broadcast in December 2017 Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producers: Becky Vincent, Thomas Harding-Assinder, Maryam Maruf Picture: Pauline Dakin Picture credit: Penguin