Searching for my sister, the "keeper of memories"

Lives Less Ordinary

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.6 • 814 Ratings

🗓️ 19 December 2022

⏱️ 24 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Nakuset blocked out painful memories of being removed from her indigenous Canadian family

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 Editor Munazza Khan

If you've been affected by any of the issues relating to mental health in this programme, help is available at Befrienders.org or at bbc.co.uk/actionline.

Transcript

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0:00.0	You are about to listen to a BBC podcast and I'd like to tell you a bit about what goes into making one.
0:06.5	I'm Sadata Sese, an assistant commissioner of podcasts for BBC Sounds.
0:11.1	I pull a lot of levers to support a diverse range of podcasts on all sorts of subjects,
0:16.0	relationships, identity, comedy, even one that mixes poetry, music and inner city life.
0:22.4	So one day I'll be helping host develop their ideas, the next fact-checking, a feature,
0:28.3	and the next looking at how a podcast connects with its audience.
0:32.3	And maybe that's you.
0:33.6	So if you like this podcast, check out some others on BBC Sounds.
0:38.3	I always find it intriguing when somebody has just one name, no surname.
0:44.6	It's like that one name has to carry their whole story, their family history, their cultural underpinning.
0:53.1	It has a lot of work to do.
0:55.1	So I couldn't resist asking Nagaset about her name.
0:59.6	It means the son.
1:01.4	When did you adopt that name?
1:03.5	It was given to me by a migma elder when I was 22.
1:08.3	So because I had lost my culture, I asked him for a spirit name. So he decided to use
1:15.7	Naguset, which means the sun, because he felt that I was strong and that I was bright. And NaguSit
1:22.1	is also a name that's fairly easy for white people to say. Because he had a couple of other names that were like
1:28.2	crazy long and it would just people would be choking try to say them so we went nagu said and
1:34.3	I only go by one name so I don't you know the sun is the son you don't have a last name so the
1:39.8	reason that you dropped your last name is is just because why would the sun have a surname?
1:44.8	Well, it's because I'm making my own identity, right?
	...

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