Another Layer to Pretendians

I swear it seems like it wouldn't be a Monday if I wasn't talking about pretendions or descendants. And why would this week be any different? Here I am again. And we got to talk about yet another aspect that keeps coming up in in the world I live in. Something else that makes this just confusing for so many people. So as always, I guess 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, Canada. And if this is your first time on my channel, thank you so much for checking this out. I know you're here because I said the word pretend. I'm sorry. It's on the minds of so many people. It's in their discussions. And for non indigenous corporations and business owners, it's rapidly becoming one of their biggest fears. They do not want to accidentally hire a pretendian. And then we got a whole bunch of people out there that really good chance they are one. And they're starting to get nervous because if we keep having this conversation they're not going to be able to keep going after indigenous awards and funding. I'm hoping that they realize that maybe they shouldn't do that before they become the next Buffy Saint Marie. Need I say more? So why are pretendions so dangerous? One, they have no cultural knowledge. And what I'm talking about, I am not talking about smudging and sweat lodge and our ceremonies. What I mean by that is a pretendian meaning they are not indigenous, does not have an indigenous worldview. We just look at the world differently. And if you don't understand that, just that phrase that proves you're not indigenous, right? So it also could identify you as a descendant. If you have some indigenous ancestry, you have an indigenous person way back in your family tree. Nothing wrong with telling people that. But if you don't have that indigenous worldview, that means those teachings did not get passed down. They got drowned out by your other cultural knowledge from other different areas. Areas. There is nothing wrong with that. The problem is if you claim to have that indigenous worldview and you don't, that makes you a pretendian. So often corporations, universities, hospitals, they're looking for someone to help them engage with indigenous people. They need that guide to have that indigenous worldview, to have that cultural knowledge. A pretendian is not going to be able to help them. So that's the first way. The second way again is the language. Now if you can find an indigenous consultant or guide to work with who actually speaks their indigenous language. Consider yourself lucky. That's absolutely amazing. I would be careful because I would bet my last buck there are pretendians out there that have managed to learn our language. It doesn't mean they have the world view. So be careful. They should have bloodline along the as well as language. Now I know many indigenous people like me who can offer guidance and support. But because of Canadian history, we don't have our language. My mother refused to teach us. She literally said I am not allowed to teach you this. Right. You can blame Canadian history for that. So I don't have my language, but I don't pretend I do. I practice. I say what I can in my language. I try to learn more words. But I can explain to you why I don't have it. The other thing that pretendians don't have is the familial connection. We are connected to our communities. We are connected to our families. We have those relationships that is a large part of many indigenous cultures. A pretendian doesn't have that. Often they are the only person in their family that is saying they are indigenous. I think you can think of a few examples of that. So again, danger. An Indigenous person has the bloodline, they have the familial connections. Unless they are 60 scoop or fostered out, then there's a reason they don't have it. In the same way I have a reason I don't have my language. But there is proof of that break of that challenge what is most important. And then we're not just talking about people being able to say they're Indigenous. Pretendians aren't sitting in the back of the room. They are presenting themselves as speakers and guides and teachers. And that's when it gets scary because they don't have the worldview and they don't have the lived experience. Now I want to be crystal clear here. Lived experience doesn't mean growing up in poverty on a reserve. That is the lived experience for many Indigenous people. But we have many Indigenous people that have been raised urban. We have many indigenous people that were raised because of foster care or 60 scoop away from that connection. They still have the bloodline. They have probably been discriminated against because they are different. So that's their Indigenous experience. What I would suggest for employers and non indigenous entities is to know why you want to hire an Indigenous consultant or guide. If you want to hire someone because you want to create an amazing working relationship with the first Nation community outside of your city limits, then hire someone. From that community. They are going to tell you what the challenges are. They're going to explain the language to you, even if you're using English. They're going to tell you what words you probably don't want to use that are going to bring up negative connotations for the people in that community. They're going to tell you the history. They're going to be able to help you remember. Stay away from the thinking that all indigenous people are the same. Nothing drives me nuts more than when a local initiative hires an indigenous guide from another province. All of the indigenous nations are so different. The first nation communities themselves are different. So know what you're trying to achieve so you can hire the right person. Now, I promised you there's a whole new level, a whole new challenge to this pretend ian identification thing. And honestly, if I someone had told me this would happen, I would have said, now that's never going to be the case. So wrong. So wrong. Non indigenous people are now carrying indigenous spirit names. They introduce themselves the way I did at the beginning of this video with an indigenous name often gifted to them by an indigenous elder. Now I'm. It doesn't matter whether I agree with that or not. I think you can guess which side of that feather I'm gonna fall on. But if an indigenous elder gave you a name, who am I to say they shouldn't have? That's not the point. The point is that doesn't make you indigenous. That doesn't mean you now have an indigenous voice. That doesn't mean go ahead and use it if you're going to introduce yourself. But the next sentence better be, I am so grateful I was gifted this name, but I am an ally. I am non indigenous. Transparency. If you are misleading people into thinking that you're indigenous, that's the whole problem with pretendions. And if you're a descendian and your indigenous ancestor is generations ago, same thing thing. If you are not making that crystal clear, you are part of this pretending problem. And I pray that every single person watching this video, one, that that doesn't describe you. And two, you're going to get way better at calling out people not online to that person at that event, asking them, are you indigenous? I have asked so many people that question and I get asked that question all the time and it's an important question to ask. I don't get offended by the way, if they get offended that you asked that might be a red flag. Like, yes, it gets annoying to be asked, but it means people are being careful I don't have an issue with that. What I have an issue with and what we have to really, really be careful about is the fact that there are many indigenous agencies out there now that because of staffing needs and staff shortages have hired non indigenous people. These non indigenous people might be gifted a name, they might be picking up on the language, they may have learned how to smudge or whatever the case may be. That does not make them Indigenous. It makes them. I hope they're grateful, it makes them incredibly lucky. But if they have received anything, I hope they received the humility teaching. They should not be bragging about this and they should be making it crystal clear that they're not indigenous because if they don't, that makes them a pretendian. So are you totally confused? Pretend Ians It's a confusing issue which is why I am so adamant that we never want to see non indigenous people deciding who is Indigenous. That is not your place. That would be repeating the nightmare that was Canadian history. You need to form the partnerships with a first Nation community and ask them to help you vet who you hire. They can check out the indigeneity, you check out the other qualifications and together that's an amazing collaboration. That's the kind of things we want to see as part of reconciliation. If you are still trying to do Indigenous engagement with Indigenous people, I hate to tell you you already missed the bus. If you want to know how to speak to the person next door, speak to the person next door and find out. Is that scary? Well, it shouldn't be. And if you think it is scary, maybe you need to unpack the reasons why. If you say something that upsets someone, don't get defensive. Do the research and find out why they might find that offensive. It's a learning curve. You're going to make mistakes. Give yourself permission to do that. But we really need to start communicating so we can stop hiring pretendians and descendants. I hope that made sense. If you're not sure on the definition of those words, I definitely have other videos that you can check them out on my channel. I hope you stick around. I hope you choose to subscribe because we have so many things to talk about and this is a Monday. The week has just started. I'm thrilled that you here. I love you and I will see you tomorrow. Take care. Bye Bye.