Sandi L Boucher explains why Indigenous storytelling requires listening instead of rushing to conclusions. She critiques the colonial habit of demanding quick answers, arguing that in stories, the teaching is embedded in the narrative itself.
Chapters
Hello again. Today I'm talking about the September 1 blog post, and it's called Another Way. And in the very first video on Monday of this week, I talked about how this space is decolonized and how I look at things through Indigenous eyes that I share with you in an Indigenous way. That's the other way. Let's talk about it. Foreign. Hi, everybody. My name is Sandy Boucher. I'm Red Thunderbolt, woman of the Loon clan, a proud member of Seine River First Nation in Treaty 3 Territory in Northern Ontario. And today I wanted to talk about Another Way. The reality is, as I mentioned in yesterday's video, the quieter summer allowed me to do some work on the membership. And I love I got to add in so many new offerings. Maybe I'll put a list of them down below this video. But as I was putting the things into the membership, remember, decolonizing is like a conscious effort to make sure that we're not giving in to the pressures of the colonized world that is Canada. And as I was putting things into the membership, I was like, you know what? This is really designed a lot either to support Indigenous pride or to really help the growth and learning curve of non Indigenous people. And I was looking at my blog posts specifically and the titles of these blog posts, and it really alludes to the theme of the blog post. Obviously, like, I'm an author, that makes sense to me, but it didn't. They don't refer to the actual fact, like the three steps to do this or the two steps to do that. And as I was putting things into my membership, I thought, you know, what should it like, maybe if I identified what they can learn from each area, then it would make it easier for them just to quickly go to what they need. I hope that sounded as colonized to you as it did to me, because that is the equivalent of sitting in front of an elder and they begin sharing their stories and you interrupt and say, okay, you know what, this is well and good, but can we get to this answer? My membership program, these videos and my work is all about how to learn how you can engage with Indigenous people in a respectful way. And bringing that colonial let's get to the point attitude is not going to help when you're speaking to a storyteller. Now, there are some people that are just as blunt as you. I definitely can be that person. But if an elder is sharing a story and this is a stereotype, the mainstream believes when we start telling a story that we've gone off on a tangent and that is not true. It is a difference in education style. This is covered in my membership. If you listen to the story, the answer to your question is in the story. We're just not that. That's not how we educate people. We teach our youth to listen, to find the answers for themselves. Which is so much more empowering than and just having the answer dictated to you. One promotes a belief in self. The second promotes a belief in whoever gave you the answer. So it's a huge part of our healing and it's part of the respect we need from non indigenous people. So my blog posts will continue to have titles like titles to an amazing mini book. And they are not going to be that blatant step 1, 2, 3. But they will give you enough information to know that reading the blog post or watching the video is always going to be worth your time. If you are serious about improving your Indigenous engagement game and if you're not willing to put in the time, then please don't waste any of our time complaining about how lousy your Indigenous engagement game is. Does that make sense? There's two sides to this feather. The problem is not solely on the Indigenous side. That would be a stereotype that you have to unpack. I hope this week really helped you on your reconciliation journey. I can't wait to see you next week. Enjoy your weekend. I love you. Take care. Bye Bye.
