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Outlook: My search for my sister, the 'keeper of memories'

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Nakuset as a child

26/05/2020 GMT

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

BBC World Service - Outlook, My search for my sister, the 'keeper of memories'

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

Three sisters were taken away from their indigenous Canadian mum. But when they reunited as adults it sparked a crisis.

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 was 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. It was a painful process for Nakuset, but her eventual reunion with her sister Sonya helped her get in touch with her heritage. The two sisters became close, but their respective childhood experiences had left them scarred, and the reunion didn't have a fairy-tale ending.    

Christiane Rwagatare has helped women overcome the trauma of war in Rwanda by teaching them to embroider.  The tapestries they've created together have stitched wounds and woven friendships across ethnic divides. Christine's embroidery workshop is called Savane Rutongo-Kibuye.

And keeping with the textile theme we are revisiting Rina Roat's interview from 2019. Rina is a skilled seamstress and a fabulously successful clothes designer. But she grew up very far from the world of fashion, deep in the countryside. She had been abandoned at a young age and was homeless, so she thought about taking shelter at the pagoda, where the monks lived. But girls weren't allowed in, so Rina cut her hair short and pretended to be a boy. She told Outlook's Datshiane Navanayagam her journey from there to becoming an entrepreneur.

Photo: Nakuset as a child
Photo credit: Nakuset

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