Burden of Proof: First Nations Girl Kidnapped by a Nun

Canada continues to attempt to right the wrongs it hasdone to Indigenous people. Debbie Paul, a Mi’kmawwoman from Nova Scotia, grew up with no control overher own life: sent to an Indian Residential School asa child, then effectively kidnapped and taken to theUS by a malevolent nun, only to be sent home againunannounced when she experienced abuse in the US.Left without documentation, she couldn’t prove any ofit happened to the Canadian authorities - even though itwas their own system of segregating Indigenous peoplefor schooling that set Debbie on her painful journey.When she applied for compensation, the governmentargued she had no evidence. Debbie’s plight caughtthe attention of a team of CBC Indigenous journalists,who embarked upon a process of talking, listening, andthinking about how to tell her story without reopeningold wounds. Together they went to the US to pieceDebbie’s story together. During the filming process,a special relationship developed between them.Debbie confided, that she would have only told her storyto other Indigenous women. The backstory can onlybe hinted at in this short piece; how the wrenching ofchildren from their families continues to play out overthe generations, and how far Canada still has to gobefore achieving any kind of truth and reconciliation.