Sandi L Boucher, Red Thunderbolt woman of the Loon clan from Seine River First Nation, lays out four core responsibilities for allies: accept you won't be welcome everywhere, pass the microphone, keep your ego out of it, and treat allyship as action, not identity. She warns that even experienced allies slip into ego and overstep.
Questions this video answers
Sandi L Boucher (Red Thunderbolt woman, Loon clan, Seine River First Nation).
June 4, 2024.
Four key points (an ally job description).
Chapters
I do a lot of events in any given year, whether it's keynotes, half day workshops, full day seminars, and often I get asked the same questions over and over. I do not mind that it's a different audience, but it identifies for me that there's a need, that there's a missing piece of information out there that a lot of people are interested in. And one of those pieces of information is how to be a good ally. Well, every now and then one of you amazing people, one of my social media followers helps me to determine what I'm going to do A video on this past weekend a follower on Facebook re shared one of my posts back from 2022 and it described the job of an ally. So I'm turning this into a handout and calling it the Allyship job description or the Ally Job description. I thought you might be interested so I'm going to share it here today. Let's talk about it. 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 as mentioned in the opening in today we're talking about what is the job of an ally? What should an ally do? What should an ally not do? So I don't have a handy dandy index card today I actually printed out the blog post that was shared on the weekend. So there are four key points and then an important summary. And yes, I'm turning this into a handout. And yes, if you would like a copy, totally free of charge, you send me an email at this address and I will be happy to send it to you. So here it is, point number one. Being an ally means you understand that you are not welcome in all spaces, no matter how great an ally you are, and that you are okay with that fact. That is the humility teaching easier for us whose culture promotes it, but one that can be adopted by anyone in practice. Easier said than done, my friend. But think about it. All of these should be revisited on a regular basis. We'll talk about why at the end. 2. Being an ally means you understand that your voice should not be part of some discussions, that it is the indigenous voice or or the voice of whatever group you're in allyship with that is needed and you are again okay with that knowledge. You understand that your role may be to pass the microphone. Again, humility teaching. 3. Being an ally means you understand that when it comes to the work of Indigenous peoples or again any other group, you're in allyship with that this isn't about you. And the second that it becomes about you and your feelings, the second it becomes about you feeling included, or about your rights to speak up or your right to be part of something, you are no longer standing in allyship. And finally, that ally is not a job title. It is not a descriptor of who you are. It is best thought, thought of as a verb rather than a noun, meaning you are an ally in the moment when you are doing something, even if in that moment what you were doing is standing or sitting in silence, holding space for other voices to be heard. And I do hope that all of that makes sense. Remember this indigenous using our voices, standing up for our own, designing and creating the solutions for our families and communities is just as important as the solutions themselves. It is all about part of overcoming oppression. And you empower no one when you do it for us. We need our allies to speak up in the rooms we are not yet able to get into. But more, we need our allies to hold open the door so we can get in. And in the rooms we do get into, especially for the first time, we need our allies to say give her a minute or she isn't finished yet, or let her speak when we are not yet being heard. In other words, we need our allies to create space so that we can stand or speak or question or or refuse. Sit with this information if it confuses you. Our elders have taught us that much clarity can be found just by sitting with something for a time. And while you do that, imagine me sitting next to you in total and complete silence in allyship. Because that is what allies do. They support, they encourage, they hold space so we can all learn. Kind of like what I try to do on this channel. I hope that helps. The journey continues. Now, earlier I mentioned that this document or these points have to be revisited on a regular basis. And in case you're not clear on the reason why, it's not the new allies that tend to step over lines. I most brand new allies or people who want to be allies that I meet are just decided terrified. They are humble, they ask their questions, they wait for direction. There is minimal chance of them doing something wrong. It is the ones that have been an ally for a while. Those that have received information are now moving over to ego and they forget to pass the microphone. They start teaching for us instead of inviting us or introducing us. They overstep the line. They no longer hold space, they take it up. And they're the ones that get upset when they're not included or when they're told it is not their voice that matters. That is not a shot to them. That is literally allyship. So I hope that made sense again. If you would like the Handy Dandy handout then please send me an email. It's off with my graphic designer right now, but as soon as I have it I will send it out to you. I hope that made sense. I can't wait to see the comments. Was this helpful? I hope so. Until tomorrow. I love you. Take care. Bye bye.
