Deborah Hayward is a mother and grandmother from Kitamaat Village, B.C. who is sharing her story of growing up in a small fishing village surrounded by family and a close-knit community until the day she was suddenly forced to attend a residential school as a teenager. 

As her life memories resurface, Deborah shares them during daily posts to her 20+ thousand followers on the wildly popular social media platform, TikTok.

My goal was to give Deborah the opportunity to tell her story in a longer form.

We talk about the day she was forced to leave her home, how the separation of her siblings affected her family, then and now, and how she's reclaiming and restoring her native culture on her own timetable and in her own way.

• Follow Deborah's journey on TikTok
• Haisla language website
• Explore Kitamaat Village, B.C.
• I love that Deborah inspired her son, Harry, to start his own TikTok account to share his art!

Connect with me on Twitter, facebook and Instagram 

Listen on apple podcast (iTunes), Stitcher, Player Fm