Sask. journalist wins Pulitzer Prize for podcast about her father’s residential school experience | CBC News

A Saskatchewan First Nations woman’s story about her father’s residential school experience has won the world’s top journalism award.

Stolen: Surviving St. Michael’s, a podcast by journalist Connie Walker and the team at Spotify’s Gimlet Media, won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for best audio journalism.

“I feel like I’m still in shock. It’s disbelief. It means so much. It’s an incredible honour,” Walker said Monday.

“I think of all of the people bravely shared these stories with us. People should know these stories. More people will hear them now.”

Walker is a former CBC journalist now working for New York-based Gimlet Media. She’s a member of the Okanese First Nation in southern Saskatchewan.

The team working with Walker included former Saskatoon StarPhoenix reporter Betty Ann Adam, a member of the Fond du Lac Denesuline Nation in northern Saskatchewan.

Walker said it’s important to recognize the history and stories of Indigenous communities, and that these stories are increasingly being told by Indigenous people themselves.

“Our stories do matter,” she said.

Walker said she was inspired by the care Adam took with survivors, and by the determination of another Indigenous team member, Chantelle Bellrichard, who unearthed thousands of pages of documents for the project.

Walker, reached by phone in Seattle, said she’s been on the phone all day with her team, siblings and other relatives.

“It’s been non-stop,” she said. “Lots of happy tears.”

Winners in other categories announced Monday included the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and the Associated Press.