Flipping the Table on Assimilation!

Assimilation is a thing. The constant never ending pressure to fit in, to go with the crowd, to not want to admit to everyone else in the room that you see things differently. But I thoroughly believe that for Indigenous people to truly know success and happiness as defined by us, it's not forgetting who we are, it's remembering who we are. And if there's one thing that brings me absolute joy, it is looking back on my career of almost 16 years and realizing I'm really good at flipping the table. Let's talk about it. Bonjour. 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 I mentioned in the opening today, I want to talk about flipping the table, going to the other side of the coin, looking at the other side of the feather, whatever metaphor rocks your world. So I'm going to explain what I mean by flipping the table, by walking you through very quickly, my journey. And no, this is not the intense even that Couldn't stop Me video that I released a few weeks ago. This is something more practical, more factual. You'll see what I mean. So for those unaware who haven't been following my career, why have you not been following my career? I digress. Before I started my business as a Indigenous non Indigenous communications guide, I worked in employment and training. So one of those agencies that helps people find a new job, helps them go back to school or even helps them start their own business. And I worked in an Indigenous specific agency and I did that for almost 20 years. If you know my story. I started out as the Secretary, ended up Executive Director. It took nearly 20 years to do that journey and I loved every step of it. And all of it was in Indigenous employment and training agencies. So the thought process, and by the way, these agencies still exist, the thought process is Indigenous people need training, they need skills for them to become more financially secure or independent. They need these skills to thrive in mainstream. It was a very common goal, a very well accepted goal, and I believe it still is for a large part. So that's what I did. And then eventually, after the passing of my mom and realizing that after 20 years I was not seeing a huge difference in our communities, did some research, talked to some elders and knowledge keepers, and I realized that internalized oppression was keeping our people from succeeding. So I set out to be that bridge, the missing link. Not to replace the agencies and but to prepare Indigenous peoples so that they could totally benefit from the Training that those agencies provided. And I did that for a lot of years. It probably wasn't until maybe five years ago, you know, a little bit more, maybe seven years ago when one day the blinders fell off, the fog cleared and I asked myself, where's the corresponding training for Indigenous employers? We're teaching indigenous people how to work in those structures. But if the goal is successful employment, long term employment, shouldn't there be some training for the employers? What to expect, what they might see, how to handle it to support these employees? Because guess what? Advertising, going through the interview process, training someone and then having them leave is incredibly expensive. But I was not seeing the corresponding training. And that's when the spotlight went on. When I asked myself, is this rooted in stereotype? Is this rooted in anti indigenous racism? Are we still the problem to be resolved? So that was the first time I flipped the table. No more was I going into it as indigenous people were the only ones that needed training. I needed to balance that feather. And I've been doing that in ever since. So that was the first step. Yes, I have notes here. But recently when I looked back over my life, I realized, or my career, I should say, I realized I've been flipping the tables without even realizing it since this career started. So my first book, right here, Honorary Indian now decolonized, available on my website, go check it out. Best selling books, blah blah blah is a book, a daily motivational guide sharing our stories, our teachings. It's called Honorary Indian because I was making the reader an honorary Indian by sharing the stories in the same way my mom shared them with me. I was not writing to indigenous people about what they needed to learn. I was writing to fill the gap of what indigenous people may not have received if they weren't lucky enough to be with their families or with their elders. But also because mainstream needed this benefit. So again, I was going against that norm that mainstream has everything of value. Indigenous people must be taught this. Indigenous people must assimilate. So nope, nope, nope, nope. And even. And it's big things like writing a book and it's small things like the fact now at the end of a lot of my social media posts, and definitely at the end of every one of the emails I send, I write miigwech slash thank you, Anishinaabemowin first, then English, Miigwech slash thank you. Because why should English come first? Ask yourself that. Unpack that. And then. So this is continuing. Now I'm looking through this lens at like my career and freaking right out if you look at my website, the through Indigenous Eyes membership, every single one of my video courses, my blog posts, my handouts, every single thing from the perspective of an indigenous person. Now, did I intend to do that? Well, kind of, because it's the only perspective I have. But the idea that I could do that, that that Indigenous perspective had value even in mainstream, is the flipping of the table. And for all the indigenous watching this, write your books, tell your stories, teach your seminars the way you want to in line with your teachings, because God knows this country and this world needs us. Creator knows, God knows whichever. So that, that was another turning of the table. And now, so again, for those that don't know now, this was before lockdown, so I'm going to say 2017, 2018. Ish. I used to have a television program on local community tv. So it was called the Learning Curve. And the idea was educating mainstream on things they may not understand, like the Indian act or what does it mean to be status or all the stereotypes about us and why they're wrong, like all of those things. And I believe, I know they're in my membership. I believe they're on my YouTube channel. Not sure on that. Definitely in my membership. So that's what I did ages ago. But guess what? As of this week, I'm still in the process of setting it up. I am launching a brand new podcast and it's called Walking the Talk. Now, that's a common phrase for least Anishinaabe people, maybe indigenous people as a whole. I don't know about the other nations, but it's easy to talk your talk, you share your words, but are you walking your talk? Are you living what you're preaching? Practicing what you preach, I guess would be the mainstream way of saying it. So for years I have been promoting that. I believe 110% indigenous and non indigenous can work together, can be respectful, can have amazing relationships. I saw it in my parents. My dad a Frenchman from Sabec, my mom a beautiful Anishinaabe, our families from Coochin, First Nation. My dad never wanted to change my mom, my mom didn't want to change my dad. They just coexisted, cherished the similarities and loved the differences. So I have long believed that. But now I'm walking the talk, which I mean to a large extent, I believe I always have. But what this new podcast is going to do, guess what, guess what? I'm not sharing our truths with mainstream anymore, which I've done for years. What I am doing is proving my point. I am going to bring on all of my non indigenous friends that I consider safe spaces for the indigenous watching. I vetted them for you. They're good people. I'm going to show you. We're going to talk about our relationship, what the challenges were. Were there any glitches? How did we make it work so that you can see examples of the healthy relationships that I know we can have. That is walking the talk and that is flipping the table on all of those stereotypes and. And all of those people that insist indigenous people are never going to get it together. We've always had it together, honey. We just do it our way. And if we don't have it together, that's healing. Remember, if a flower doesn't bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower. There's nothing wrong with us, but the environment we're trying to grow in often is much less than good soil. So I'm excited. I hope you're going to check out the podcast. I hope. Check out my membership, check out the offerings on my website, get a copy of my books, whatever the case may be, because I am totally enjoying flipping the table so you can see what maybe up to now you haven't been able to. So exciting. Until next week. I love you. Take care. Bye. Bye.