Savannah Ridley  — 2024

This fellowship experience was incredibly fulfilling. I believe I’m one of two Indigenous kids in the entire journalism program at Toronto Metropolitan University. So, to go from being the only native person in my classes to being surrounded by working Indigenous journalists was surreal. Being a descendant of a Sixties Scoop survivor, I’ve always struggled with feeling Indigenous enough. My time with CBC Indigenous not only bolstered my sense of self, but also granted me the privilege of amplifying the stories of others struggling to reconnect with cultures they’ve been torn from. I hope that my feature was as healing for my sources as it was for me to write it.

Since I’m still a student, this fellowship gave me a taste of the exact future that I want. I pitched stories I deeply resonated with, I got to write a couple of them, and I proved to myself that I’m pursuing what I’m meant to do. 

I got into journalism because of my late grandmother, Edna Gooder. She passed in 2012 but during her time, she was a photojournalist for Turtle Island News. I felt her presence each morning when I walked through the CBC Radio-Canada doors. Whenever anyone asked me about myself, I always ended up talking about her with tears following shortly after. While she’s not on Earth to see it, I am endlessly grateful to the CJF and CBC for giving me the opportunity to make her proud. 

Featured work:

Indigenous organization to lead Red Dress Alert pilot project in Manitoba

60s Scoop survivors say cases of ‘pretendians’ make reconnecting with community even harder