Sandi L Boucher argues reconciliation in Canada means non-Indigenous people must stop seeing Indigenous peoples as victims to save and start recognizing them as holders of complementary systems and wisdom. She calls out colonial mindsets like underestimation and cultural extraction, asking viewers to defer to Indigenous teachers and support Indigenous-led healing instead.
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I hear it all the time from non Indigenous audiences, or actually non Indigenous mandatory audiences because these people do not want to be in the room. And the things they say are like, I get it, Indigenous people are hurting, but why is it on me to make amends for something I didn't do? I didn't send anyone to residential school. That happened long before I was even born. So why is it up to me when why is this my problem? Why do I have to reconcile with anyone? I get it. I totally get it. And unless you're involved with the child welfare system, there's a really good chance you're not taking Indigenous children away from their families or communities. But there's also a really good chance you are still doing something that the people before you were doing. And if you are, you are part of the problem and should be changing things. 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 I am known for, for creating safe spaces. I work in the realm of Indigenous Canadian reconciliation. I'm either in First Nation communities, helping them to heal and stand strong, remember the strength of our teachings, recognizing our resilience, or I'm working with non Indigenous Canadian corporations, entities, governments, municipalities, schools, hospitals, whatever the case may be, helping them to understand why reconciliation is up to them. And as I alluded to in the opening, it's because so many Canadians in modern day 2025, when I'm shooting this, are still doing something that is totally detrimental to the futures and the present of Indigenous peoples. So what is that? Obviously we're not sending people to residential school anymore. But I swear in 2025, I believe my goal, my mission, my theme is going to be changing the conversation. Because what led to all of the catastrophes was white supremacy. Believing that somehow Indigenous people were less than, that our medicines and medical practices were not as respectable as those rooted in European history. They were still time honored practices. But somehow that didn't happen. That how we educated our kids didn't qualify as education because we didn't write down things in books. No, we actually encouraged our kids to think and remember and build their wisdom. And the fact that we lived in line with Mother Earth and didn't set out to destroy the planet we live on, well, that was just seen as ridiculous. Nowadays we have a lot of well meaning people, even allies, who want to help the hurting Indigenous. But I need you to step back and ask yourself. Are you still looking at us as less than. Are you still looking at us as they don't understand they need our help. If we could teach them our way, then they're going to be able to stand again. If there's one thing I know to be true, if everyone was to rally around the healing of the Indigenous people, helping Indigenous people to return to the glory they enjoyed before the settlers got here, then every single person living within Canadian borders will benefit from the wisdom of two systems. Not just one, but two. Because I think if you're going to be honest and you look at how things are done in mainstream, I'm not saying there's not things that work, there absolutely are. There's also things that don't and our teachings can help fill in those gaps. So we don't need you to save us. I wrote this line, change the conversation from Indigenous or hurt and we need to make up for that as Canadians to We underestimated all that Indigenous bring to the table and we have to bring them back to their glory so that we all benefit from the strength, the resilience and the wisdom and teachings of both sides. Settler descendants didn't condemn us or take our kids, but they continue with the mindset of underestimating us and that has to change. Now there are some people out there then they want to sign up for a sweat lodge and they want to learn all our teachings. They are craving our culture for themselves. They value it I guess, but it's that extraction mentality. They don't want to work with Indigenous people. They want to take it for their own and in some God awful cases they actually want to teach it. Which is the scariest thing I've ever heard. You cannot take an Indigenous teaching and repeat it and not have it tainted by your colonial worldview. You just can't. If you truly want to help someone and value Indigenous teachings, direct them to the Indigenous teacher that you learned from humility teaching. Get out of the middle. This is not about your ego and how much you know. It's about helping your friend, isn't it? I know. I have grown up sitting in rooms listening to elders. It is something I've had the opportunity do to do for Most of my 60 years on this planet. And there is so much wisdom and so much strength and, and so much knowledge the mainstream is just missing out on. If you actually sat next to us not to teach us, not to change us, not to take from us, but to actually just work together, then this country could truly change for the better. For everyone. So it is your responsibility to be part of reconciliation. Because if you're saying, I didn't do anything, chances are you probably are doing exactly what led to the challenges. So the next time you see or hear about something that happened to an indigenous person or community, pay attention to the thoughts that go through your head. Are you realizing that these strong people are facing yet another challenge, and chances are darn good they're going to get past it? Or are you looking down on us again? Those poor Indigenous people? Just remember, we didn't ask for what happened to us. And healing is never pretty, but healing is exactly what we're doing. And there's a whole bunch of people like me that are actually trying to help Canadians. So how could we possibly be the enemy? Food for thought, my friend. Food for thought. Until tomorrow. I love you. Take care. Bye. Bye.
