An Indian in the Cupboard (Why Non-Indigenous Employer Success is Often Temporary)

Yesterday I was really speaking to my Indigenous fans, friends and followers and just really talking about the shame that we inherited and we were taught and how it is possible to put that down. So the counterbalance to that, I guess, is today's video. I'm talking to the non Indigenous followers on my page and of my videos. We gotta talk about your ego, especially if you're an employer. Let's talk about it. Foreign. Hi everybody. My name is Sandy Boucher. I'm Red Thunderbolt, woman of the Loon clan and a proud member of Seine River first nation in Treaty 3 territory in Northern Ontario. And today I wanted to talk to all those employers out there, those non Indigenous employers, especially the ones who think they're on top of their Indigenous engagement game. And you know who I'm talking about? Those corporations or entities, whatever size, that are just bragging about how many Indigenous people they employ. Today's blog post the August 9 blog post that this video is based on is called Don't Get It Twisted. And what I meant by that is these companies will brag about how awesome they're doing. What they don't realize is their success is so often more often than not, tied to the one Indigenous frontline worker they have hired to do their Indigenous engagement. Now, that person usually is Indigenous. They may not be, but if they're not, they're an incredibly humble, approachable, conversational type person. Person. This is the person that the first nations customers, participants, communities, whatever the case may be. This is the person that has built a relationship with those people, with the Indigenous people you're engaged with. This is the person that the Indigenous people trust, not the company. Can I repeat that? They trust your Indigenous frontline worker or whoever your frontline worker is, not the company. But so often the company does get that twisted and they think it's their good work right up until that person on the front line gets sick of not being appreciated for all the value they bring and they leave. And the Indigenous engagement statistics tank. It's ego, pure ego, to take credit for that when you like. And the other thing that frustrates the daylights out of me, why the burnout in that position, that frontline position is so high is because often, especially if it's a corporation, that Indigenous person is not involved in any of the decision making. They may be asked the questions like the Indian in the cupboard that you just bring out, like in the movie. They may be asked a question about Indigenous gagement, but then they're just told to go off and do what they do and all the decisions are made outside of their involvement. Which means for that person on the front lines who feels the trust that the communities and the individuals have with them, they know they have zero say over what the decisions of the company will be, including decisions that may hurt the indigenous people that they are working with. And eventually that person doesn't like the risk and doesn't want to disappoint the people they have built relationships with and they will leave. And sadly more often than not the corporation will hire someone else and do the exact same thing. Again, nothing frustrates me more that when I see like economic conference talking about the economy and making money in business and they will have all these sections, they will have, you know, natural resources and they will have technology and they'll have government services and then they will have indigenous as if we're separate. And yes we have special needs but we're involved in every one of those other areas. And maybe it's time you quit trying to shove us in the cupboard and only bring us out when you want to ask something about indigenous people. What we have to get past is the ego that says indigenous people have a lot to learn because non indigenous have just as much to learn. I hope that makes sense. So don't get it twisted. You're doing amazing in the indigenous engagement game. Maybe you need to take a real hard look at why and appreciate that person and involve them in the day to day operations decisions. Otherwise your stats are temporary. And once you burn that branch, have fun trying to rebuild it. Indigenous we have really good memories. Until tomorrow. I love you. Take care. Let me know what you thought. Comment below. Bye bye.