Journalist Connie Walker from Okanese First Nation won the Pulitzer Prize for her podcast, Stolen: Surviving St. Michael's.
CHESTERMERE, Alb.-A Saskatchewan First Nations woman has won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for best audio journalism.
Journalist Connie Walker, who is from Okanese First Nation, won the award for her Gimlet Media podcast: Stolen: Surviving St. Michael's.
The concept began when Walker learned a surprising story about her late father. She discovered that while performing a routine traffic stop as a RMCP officer (Mountie), her dad recognized the driver as the priest from St. Michael's residential school who had abused him as a child. Overcome with emotion, the officer beat up the priest. He expected to lose his job from his impulsive act, but the priest never reported him, and her father kept the secret to himself for decades, finally telling his brother, who mentioned the incident to Walker after her father died..
Walker wanted to know more about her Cree family's experiences with Canadian residential schools. She tracked down priests from St. Michael's Indian Residential School in Duck Lake, Sask. and spoke with survivors, including her aunts and uncles, about what happened decades earlier.
Gimlet Media described the podcast as: "Connie Walker's most personal investigation yet. In a study on intergenerational trauma, Connie gives voice to many of the victims of the systemic abuse while she seeks out the priest who abused her father."
The Pulitzer citation describes the podcast as "a personal search for answers expertly blended with rigorous investigative reporting."
Expressing delighted surprise about the honor, Walker noted, "I think of all of the people who bravely shared these stories with us. People should know these stories. More people will hear them now."
"Our stories do matter," she said.
The show, which is a Spotify original and can be accessed on Spotify, was also nominated for a Peabody Award for best podcast.
